Abstract:
Food insecurity and low agricultural productivity of important crops continue to be major problems in all developing countries of world including Pakistan. These problems are further intensified by the expanding population, diminishing resources, and changing climate. Although there are several agricultural technologies (AgTs) available globally as means of enhancing agricultural production and food security, they have largely failed in Pakistan like other developing nations. This is as a result of the fact that the absorption of AgTs is a multi-stage, multi-actor, multi-stage, multi-stage, multi-dimensional, highly localized process. All through the adoption process of AgTs, small - scale farmers frequently encounter challenges involving sustainability, adoption restrictions, and scaling-up, all of which vary by location. This suggests that in order to properly direct agricultural strategy and policy interventions, it is necessary to assess sustainability, adoption limits, and scaling-up of AgTs in a systematic and concurrent manner. Furthermore, understanding the local contexts requires taking into account the perspectives of the farmers themselves, who are the major players in the AgT adoption process. Diagnosing this, the study employs a case study methodology, employing the scaling-up assessment (ScalA) technique and three focus group talks with a total of 33 smallholder farmers to systematically and concurrently analyses thesustainability, adoption restrictions, and scaling-up of three AgTs (usage of fertilizers, improved seeds, and small-scale irrigation) in District Toba Tek Singh. According to the findings of the study, farmers believe that all three AgTs are sustainable in the study region. Adoption rates for fertilizer usage are judged to be medium, high for enhanced seeds, and low for small-scale irrigation. Farmers' utmost key barriers to adoption include a lack of technical physical inputs, marketing facilities, and know-how. Although small-scale irrigation is the most constrained of the three AgTs, scaling-up is thought to be well fulfilled for the use of fertilizers and better seeds but only partially satisfied for these two AgTs. Farmers' lack of faith in the AgTs' additional value beyond project activities, marketing resources, and technical physical inputs is one of the major obstacles scaling up that they face. The ultimate success capacity to use fertilizers plus better seeds is excellent, and also the average for small-scale irrigation. Farmers' perspectives help to explain why a bundle of AgTs is absent in the study region and serve as a foundation for addressing targeted agricultural and policy solutions in Toba Tek Singh.
Page(s):
27-27
DOI:
DOI not available
Published:
Journal: Abstract Book on International Conference on Life Sciences (ICLS-23) 11-12 May 22-23, Volume: 0, Issue: 0, Year: 2023
Keywords:
Food security
,
Adoption
,
Sustainability
,
Toba Tek Singh
,
Scaling up