Towards climate action at farm-level: Distinguishing complements and substitutes among climate-smart agricultural practices (CSAPs) in flood prone areas

In recent times, climate change has become a serious threat to crop production in many parts of the globe. Particularly, in Bangladesh, climate-smart agriculture practices (CSAPs) are promoted as a practical tool for mitigating and adapting to climate change in an effort to enhance productivity. Despite myriad studies on determinants of CSAPs adoption, complements and substitutes among CSAPs are seldom emphasized and recognized, thus up till now policy has not been cogently informed on how to satisfactorily promote adoption of multiple CSAPs in salinity risk hotspots. Therefore, the aim of this present study is to examine the factors that affect the likelihood and intensity of adoption of multiple CSAPs in Bangladesh with special emphasis on compliments and substitutes. To this end, survey and plots level observation data were collected from 600 farm households and 1260 plots in flood prone areas, respectively. Also, five CSAPs are under consideration – use of stress tolerant varieties (STV), intercropping with legumes (ICL), minimum tillage (MT), crop rotation with legumes (CRL) and furrow irrigated bed planting (FIBP). Multivariate and ordered Probit models were applied to achieve the objectives of the study. In the interest of effective climate action, we find two sets of complementary CSAPs (STV × ICL × MT or STV × ICL × FIBP) and substitutes (CRL with ICL and MT or FIBP with MT). Key determinants of complements are sources of information, training on CSA, extension service, and government support. Therefore, the study strongly recommends effectively coordinating the functions of multiple stakeholders such as farmers, agricultural institutions, agricultural service providers, and concerned government departments at the local level to enhance successful adoption of multiple CSAPs (compliments). This is pivotal especially against the background of the sustainable development goals on climate action as it could potentially recuperate the dynamism of agriculture in salinity risk hotspots of Bangladesh.