Economic impact assessment of conservation agriculture on small and marginal farm households in eastern India

This study compares the economic impacts of conservation agriculture and conventional farming systems in the Lower Gangetic alluvial tract of West Bengal, India. Under conservation agriculture the overall gain in system productivity is 2.40%. The estimated change is attributable to the relative change in input use. Technology had a minor effect on the change in crop productivity, and the reduced use of machine labour, bullock labour, and plant protection chemicals had a significant positive impact. Farms that practised conservation agriculture averaged a 12.88% higher return per rupee of investment than conventional farm families.