Asian Journal of Agricultural Extension, Economics & Sociology

Navigating the Climate Change Challenge: Harnessing Climate-smart Agriculture for a Sustainable Future

Arun Kumar, Saurabh Chandra — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Climate change has become one of the most consequential pressures on global agricultural systems, threatening crop and livestock productivity, rural livelihoods, and food security across regions of differing development status. Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) has been advanced over the past decade as an integrative framework intended to reconcile three frequently competing objectives: sustainably raising agricultural productivity and incomes, strengthening the adaptive capacity and resilience of farming systems, and reducing or removing greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural production wherever feasible. This critical review synthesises recent peer-reviewed evidence on the conceptual foundations, technical practices, adoption determinants, institutional architecture, and regional manifestations of climate-smart agriculture. It traces how climate variability and long-term warming are altering crop yields, water availability, pest and disease dynamics, and livestock productivity, and examines how practices such as conservation agriculture, agroforestry, climate-smart irrigation, crop diversification, climate-resilient cultivars, precision and digital technologies, and improved livestock management contribute to adaptation and mitigation outcomes. Particular attention is given to the socioeconomic and institutional determinants that shape uptake among smallholder farmers, including credit access, land tenure, extension services, gender relations, and the role of indigenous and local knowledge systems. The review further considers the international policy and financing architecture surrounding CSA, the persistent gap between adaptation finance commitments and realised flows, and the unevenness of regional experience, with particular reference to sub-Saharan Africa and South and South-East Asia. Throughout, it engages critically with conceptual ambiguities and equity concerns that have been raised regarding the climate-smart agriculture paradigm, including concerns about insufficient attention to structural inequality and the political economy of agricultural transformation. The review concludes that climate-smart agriculture offers a useful, if imperfect, organising framework for agricultural adaptation and mitigation, whose practical value depends heavily on context-specific institutional support, financing, and attention to distributional consequences, rather than on the diffusion of any single technological package.

Employability Challenges and Solutions from the Perspective of Agricultural Graduates in Andhra Pradesh

A. Kalaivani, Kadiri Mohan — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Background: Agricultural education produces skilled human resources, yet agricultural graduates continue to face difficulties in securing suitable employment. Empirical evidence on graduates’ perceptions of job-seeking constraints and institutional responses remains limited in Andhra Pradesh.

Aims: This study identified the challenges faced by agricultural graduates in obtaining employment and documented their suggestions for improving employability through academic and extracurricular support.

Study Design: Exploratory research design.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in Andhra Pradesh during 2025.

Methodology: Data were collected from 120 B.Sc. (Agriculture) graduates who had completed their degree programmes during the academic years 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24 from S.V. Agricultural College, Tirupati, and Agricultural College, Bapatla, under Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University. Sixty respondents were randomly selected from each college. An unstructured questionnaire with open-ended questions was administered through Google Forms. Responses were read, coded, grouped into thematic categories and analysed using multiple-response analysis. Frequencies and percentages were calculated based on the total number of respondents, and challenges and suggestions were ranked according to frequency.

Results: The leading challenges were lack of awareness of available job opportunities other than sales and marketing roles (32.50%), high competition due to limited vacancies in the government and private sectors (30.83%), and limited career guidance and placement support during graduation (26.67%). Other challenges included insufficient efforts to enhance personal skills, employer preference for experienced candidates, low pay scales, limited industry-specific exposure, weak professional networks and mismatch between available jobs and graduates’ expectations. Students suggested regular campus recruitment drives (35.00%), industry-linked internships and industrial visits (28.33%), certification courses in frontier agricultural technologies, personality development sessions, industry-relevant courses, stronger placement cells, alumni interactions, and participation in seminars and hackathons.

Conclusion: The findings indicate the need for stronger placement support, industry exposure and skill-oriented curricular inputs to improve agricultural graduate employability.

Assessment of Farmers' Preference for Moth Bean Traits and Production Constraints in Villupuram District, Tamil Nadu, India

Shibi Sebastian, S. Ganapathy — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Moth bean (Vigna aconitifolia), locally known as Nari Payiru, is an important pulse crop cultivated by resource-poor farmers in Villupuram district, Tamil Nadu, mainly during the winter season. The study assessed farmers' varietal and trait preferences, yield dynamics, production economics, marketing behaviour and major production constraints in the crop. Data were collected from 120 respondents through focus group discussions in the high-production blocks of Vikravandi, Mailam, Vallam and Marakkanam. Yield and cost-related information was validated through front-line demonstrations at Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Villupuram, and the data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Garrett's ranking technique. Among the evaluated varieties, TMV 1 was ranked first by farmers, followed by CAZRI Moth bean 6. Farmers prioritised maturity duration, plant habit and drought hardiness as preferred traits. Moth bean cultivation in the study area was characterised by low-input, rainfed management, with average yields of 1,500-1,600 kg/ha, although yields as low as 200 kg/ha were recorded under adverse climatic conditions. At an average cultivation cost of Rs. 46,400/ha and an average sale price of Rs. 80/kg, the gross income was approximately Rs. 1,27,600/ha, with a benefit-cost ratio of 2.75. The major constraints were climate-related yield variability, price fluctuation, yellow mosaic virus, insect damage, seed availability and marketing issues.

Role of Agricultural Policies in Promoting the Sustainability of Food Security in Benin

Euloge Adimi, Silvère Tovignan — Sat, 27 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Food security remains a central challenge for agricultural and social development in Benin, particularly in a context marked by climate variability, economic pressure and persistent rural vulnerability. This study examined the role of agricultural policies in promoting the sustainability of food security in Benin. A qualitative approach was adopted, combining a documentary review with semi-structured interviews conducted with 11 stakeholders involved in the formulation or implementation of agricultural and food-security interventions. The respondents were drawn from macro- and meso-level institutions, including the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, the Departmental Directorate of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Territorial Agencies for Agricultural Development and non-governmental organisations operating in food and nutrition security. The analysis was organised around the four pillars of food security: availability, access, utilisation and stability. It also considered the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainability. The findings show that agricultural policies in Benin have mainly contributed to improving food availability through support for production, input access, agricultural infrastructure, technical assistance and the promotion of priority value chains. Food utilisation is also supported through institutional mechanisms, sanitary standards, nutrition awareness, dietary diversification and culinary demonstrations. However, access to food remains weakened by household income constraints, price instability, limited market differentiation for agroecological products and insufficient economic empowerment of vulnerable groups. Stability is the most fragile pillar, as interventions often depend on project-based support and face limited financial and human resources for long-term follow-up. The study concludes that agricultural policies integrate sustainability principles, but their implementation remains uneven and insufficiently balanced across all food-security pillars.

Students’ Confidence, Personality Development, and Communication Competence: Essence of Communication and Public Speaking Workshop

Jyoti, Aliza Zahir, Seijal, Debanjana Mukherjee, Akash Dhami, Prabhat Singh — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Effective communication and public speaking skills are essential for students’ academic participation, confidence and professional readiness. This study assessed undergraduate students’ perceptions of a three-day communication and public speaking workshop conducted at NAHEP, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, from 16 to 18 April 2026. A descriptive survey design was used, with purposive sampling to select students who were interested in developing communication competencies and had not previously attended formal public speaking training. Of the 40 students enrolled, feedback was obtained from 21 consenting respondents, giving a response rate of 52.5%. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire comprising 12 five-point Likert-scale items and open-ended questions on perceived confidence changes and suggestions for improvement. Responses were analysed using percentage analysis, mean score, standard deviation and weighted mean ranking in Microsoft Excel. The findings indicated favourable participant evaluations across workshop content, trainer communication, activities, pacing, learning environment and overall satisfaction, with mean scores ranging from 4.38 to 4.76. The learning environment received the highest mean score, whereas activities related to speaking confidence received the lowest but still positive mean score. Self-reported low confidence declined from 57.14% before the workshop to 0.00% after the workshop, while high confidence increased from 9.52% to 47.62%. The results suggest that structured, activity-based workshops may support students’ perceived communication confidence, although findings should be interpreted cautiously because of the small sample, self-reported data and absence of a control group.

Economic Analysis of Production and Marketing of Organic Turmeric in Kandhamal District of Odisha, India

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Aims: This study analysed organic turmeric farming in Kandhamal district of Odisha, India, by assessing growers’ awareness of organic practices and production constraints, estimating production economics and resource-use efficiency, and examining marketing channels, price spread and marketing efficiency.

Study Design: The study followed descriptive and exploratory research designs.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in 2024 in five major turmeric-producing blocks of Kandhamal district: Daringbadi, G. Udaygiri, Phiringia, Raikia and Nuagaon.

Methodology: A multistage purposive sampling procedure was used to select 10 villages across the five blocks. Probability Proportional to Size sampling was applied to select 30 farmers from each village according to land-size classification, giving a total sample of 300 organic turmeric growers. In addition, 50 market intermediaries were selected through judgemental sampling. The data were analysed using chi-square tests, one-way ANOVA, Garrett ranking, benefit-cost ratio, Cobb-Douglas production function, marginal value product analysis, Kendall’s W statistic and Acharya’s modified marketing efficiency method.

Results: Farmers showed high awareness of basic practices, including planting time, but lower awareness of specialised bio-inputs such as Bijamruta. Organic turmeric cultivation generated an average gross income of ₹4,29,900.98 per hectare, with an average yield of 7,103.85 kg per hectare and a benefit-cost ratio of 1.92. Labour was a major cost component, and high labour cost was the leading production constraint. Resource-use efficiency results indicated over-utilisation of seed, bullock ploughing, mulching and primary processing materials, while labour for land preparation, sowing and weeding was under-utilised. Although 80 per cent of growers used the traditional intermediary channel, the direct-to-processor channel had the highest marketing efficiency (11.10) and the highest producer’s share in the consumer rupee (92.37 per cent).

Conclusion: Organic turmeric cultivation in Kandhamal is economically feasible, but its performance is constrained by labour cost, resource-use inefficiencies, transportation cost and limited regulated market access.

Marketing Efficiency, Price Spread and Marketing Constraints Faced by Banana Growers in Maharashtra, India

Sandip Patil, Lovepreet Singh — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Banana (Musa spp.) is a major commercial fruit crop in India and contributes to farm income, rural employment and fruit-market trade. This study examined marketing channels, marketing efficiency, price spread, producer share and the primary marketing constraints faced by banana growers in Maharashtra. Primary data were collected from 400 banana growers using a structured, pre-tested interview schedule. Channel-wise cost and margin analysis, producer share in the consumer’s rupee, price spread, Shepherd’s Marketing Efficiency Index and Garrett’s ranking technique were used for the analysis. The findings showed that Channel II (Producer-Trader-Retailer-Consumer) was the predominant marketing channel, accounting for 47 per cent of farmers and 3,980 quintals of marketed produce. The highest producer share (83.67 per cent) was recorded in Channel I (Producer-Consumer), whereas the highest price spread (Rs 468/qtl) and the lowest producer share (60.61 per cent) were observed in Channel III (Producer-Exporter-Overseas Market). Transportation was the largest marketing cost component (Rs 120/qtl). Grade-I bananas accounted for 52 per cent of marketed surplus and formed the major share of exportable produce. Garrett ranking indicated that labour shortage and price fluctuation were the most important production and marketing constraints, respectively. The results suggest that collective marketing through FPOs, improved transport systems, storage facilities, grading practices and direct market channels may improve producer share and marketing efficiency.