Poverty and food security remain a challenge in many developing countries. Many of the poor live in the Eastern Gangetic Plains of South Asia, and most of them are smallholder farmers.
Various farming innovations, such as improved conservation agriculture, water management and marketing systems to increase productivity and resilience to climate change, are being developed through agricultural research. Conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification technologies have been introduced in the Eastern Gangetic Plains, but the uptake and impact of innovation varies widely.
Adoption and adaptation of new technologies depend on farm management decisions made by farm-households. Most studies have focused on determinants of adoption of simple technologies (e.g., improved varieties, fertilizer use) using conventional socio-economic adoption theories. But innovative ways to explain adoption of complex technologies and farming systems innovations are needed.
Our research aims to provide empirical evidence on the role of behavioural factors including the use of shortcuts, reliance on biases and stereotypes, self-control problems and social preferences on the decision-making by farming households to improve adoption and, hence, alleviate poverty in the region.