Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
Institute for Food and Resource Economics, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
PLoS One. 2021 Oct 28;16(10):e0259319. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0259319. eCollection 2021.
Productivity growth in smallholder agriculture is an important driver of rural economic development and poverty reduction. However, smallholder farmers often have limited access to information, which can be a serious constraint for increasing productivity. One potential mechanism to reduce information constraints is the public agricultural extension service, but its effectiveness has often been low in the past. Digital technologies could enhance the effectiveness of extension by reducing outreach costs and helping to better tailor the information to farmers' individual needs and conditions. Using primary data from India, this study analyses the association between digital extension services and smallholder agricultural performance. The digital extension services that some of the farmers use provide personalized information on the types of crops to grow, the types and quantities of inputs to use, and other methods of cultivation. Problems of selection bias in the impact evaluation are reduced through propensity score matching (PSM) combined with estimates of farmers' willingness to pay for digital extension. Results show that use of personalized digital extension services is positively and significantly associated with input intensity, production diversity, crop productivity, and crop income.
小农农业的生产力增长是农村经济发展和减贫的重要推动力。然而，小农往往获取信息的机会有限，这可能严重限制生产力的提高。减少信息约束的一个潜在机制是公共农业推广服务，但过去其效果往往不佳。数字技术可以通过降低推广成本和帮助更好地根据农民的个体需求和条件调整信息，从而提高推广的效果。本研究利用来自印度的原始数据，分析了数字推广服务与小农农业绩效之间的关系。一些农民使用的数字推广服务提供了关于种植作物类型、使用投入品的类型和数量以及其他耕作方法的个性化信息。通过倾向得分匹配（PSM）与农民对数字推广的支付意愿估计相结合，减少了影响评估中的选择偏差问题。结果表明，个性化数字推广服务的使用与投入强度、生产多样性、作物生产力和作物收入呈正相关且显著相关。
