Title page 1

Contents 4

About the Editors 10

Contributors 11

Foreword 14

Acknowledgments 16

1. Mechanizing Agriculture in Bangladesh: Trends, Challenges, and Policy Priorities 17

1.1. Introduction 17

1.2. Evolution of Machinery Ownership in Bangladesh 21

1.3. Empirical Results from Panel Data: Materials and Methods 24

1.3.1. Evolution of Agricultural Machinery Use, 2011-2018 25

1.3.2. Econometric Model Specifications 27

1.3.3. Descriptive Statistics 29

1.4. Econometric Results 32

1.4.1. Farm Productivity 33

1.4.2. Mechanization and Labor 37

1.4.3. Mechanization and Gender 39

1.4.4. Mechanization and Farm Profitability 42

1.5. Comparative Analysis of Mechanization in Bangladesh and Other Asian Countries 48

1.5.1. Current Outlook of Agricultural Mechanization and Emerging Lessons 49

1.6. Conclusion 51

References 53

Appendix 58

2. What Determines a Farmer's Adoption of Agricultural Machinery: Assessing Demographic Factors and Asset Ownership of Smallholder... 59

2.1. Introduction 59

2.2. Methodology 64

2.2.1. Sampling Design 64

2.2.2. Study Details 65

2.2.3. Data Analysis 67

2.3. Ownership and Service Provision 70

2.4. Results and Discussion 71

2.4.1. Age 75

2.4.2. Education 76

2.4.3. Family Members Engaged in Agriculture 77

2.4.4. Household Members Working Off-farm 78

2.4.5. Livestock 78

2.4.6. Wealth Assets 79

2.4.7. Communication Assets 80

2.4.8. Farm Size 81

2.4.9. Machine Ownership 81

2.4.10. Service Provision and Rental Markets 86

2.5/2.4. Conclusion and Recommendations 100

References 103

Appendix 109

3. Pump Power: The "What, How, When, and Why" of Irrigation Machinery Adoption in Bangladesh 114

3.1. Introduction 114

3.2. Methods 116

3.2.1. Sampling Strategy 117

3.2.2/3.1.2. Analytical Approach 118

3.3. Results and Discussion 121

3.3.1. Access to Irrigation 121

3.3.2. Binary Estimates of Pump Set Adoption 123

3.3.3. Historical Status 124

3.3.4. Current Status 128

3.3.5. Drivers of the Current Adoption Status 132

3.4. Conclusions 137

References 139

4. Path Choices of Agricultural Mechanization: An Assessment of Findings at the Household Level Survey 143

4.1. Introduction 143

4.2. Literature Review 146

4.3. Conceptual Framework 148

4.4. Methodology and Data 154

4.4.1. Empirical Strategy 154

4.4.2. Descriptive Statistics of Variables 154

4.5. Results 156

4.5.1. Impact of Transaction Cost on Agricultural Mechanization 156

4.5.2. Impact of Land Scale on Agricultural Mechanization 159

4.5.3. Robustness Checks 162

4.6. Discussion 165

4.7. Conclusions and Policy Implications 166

4.7.1. Conclusions 166

4.7.2. Policy Implications 167

References 169

Appendix for Path Choices of Agricultural Mechanization in People's Republic of China 173

5. Farm Machinery Ownership in India: Regional Distribution and Influencing Characteristics 176

5.1. Introduction 176

5.2. Data Description 180

5.3. Methodology and Model Specification 181

5.4. Results and Discussions 185

5.4.1. Distribution of Agricultural Machinery across Land Size Categories 185

5.4.2. Distribution of Agricultural Machinery across Agro-ecological Regions 191

5.4.3. Gini Coefficient of Machinery Ownership 196

5.4.4. Multivariate Probit Regression 198

5.5. Conclusions and Policy Recommendations 206

References 209

6. Adopting Improved Mechanization Technology in the Beekeeping Industry: Evidence from Assam, India 215

6.1. Introduction 215

6.2. Review of Literature 217

6.2.1. Farmers' Technology Adoption Decisions 217

6.2.2. Adoption of Beekeeping Technology 218

6.3. Materials and Methods 220

6.3.1. Study Area 220

6.3.2. Study Design, Sample Size, and Sampling Method 220

6.3.3. Data Collection 221

6.3.4. Data Analysis 222

6.3.5. Conceptual Framework 222

6.3.6. Theoretical Framework 223

6.3.7. Empirical Framework 225

6.4. Results and Discussion 226

6.4.1. Socioeconomic Features of the Respondents 226

6.4.2. Factors Determining Adoption of Technology in Beekeeping 229

6.5. Conclusion and Policy Implications 236

References 238

7. Efficiency and Sustainability of Agricultural Mechanization Services in Smallholder Farming in Nepal 244

7.1. Introduction 244

7.2. Materials and Methods 248

7.2.1. Conceptual Framework 248

7.2.2. Sampling Frame and Survey Data 250

7.2.3. Analytical Framework 251

7.3. Results 254

7.3.1. Descriptive Analysis of Farm Machinery 254

7.3.2. Machinery Operational Efficiency 256

7.3.3. Machinery Diversity Index 262

7.3.4. Drivers of Machine Operational Efficiency 265

7.3.5. Sustainability of Service Provider-Custom Hiring Centers 269

7.4. Discussion 271

7.5. Conclusion 273

References 275

Appendix 282

8. Challenges and Opportunities with Promoting Agricultural Machinery for Conservation in the Eastern Gangetic Plains 285

8.1. Introduction 285

8.2. Method 290

8.2.1. Selection of Participants for Focus Group Discussions and Key Informant Interviews 291

8.2.2. Design of Focus Group Discussions and Key Informant Interview Guides 292

8.2.3. Conduct of Focus Group Discussions and Key Informant Interviews 292

8.2.4. Recording and Analysis of the Results 292

8.3. Results 294

8.3.1. Factors Affecting Adoption of Unpuddled Transplanted Rice and Direct-Seeded Rice During the Kharif Season 294

8.3.2. Factors Affecting the Adoption of Zero Tillage/Strip Tillage Wheat and Maize 300

8.4. Discussion 307

8.4.1. Cross-Cutting Issues 307

8.4.2. Cognitive Factors and Behavioral Insights for the Design of Interventions 310

8.5. Conclusion 313

References 316

9. Factors Determining Farmers' Decisions to Adopt Agricultural Mechanization Services: A Review 321

9.1. Introduction 321

9.2. Literature Collection 323

9.2.1. Collection Strategy 324

9.2.2. Definition of Agricultural Mechanization Services Use 325

9.2.3. Descriptive Results 326

9.3. Determinants of Agricultural Mechanization Services Use 330

9.3.1. Sociodemographic Factors 334

9.3.2. Household Endowment Factors 336

9.3.3. Land-Related Factors 338

9.3.4. Institutional Factors 340

9.4. Identifying Research Gaps 341

9.4.1. Measurement of Agricultural Mechanization Services 341

9.4.2. Unexplored Influencing Factors 341

9.4.3. Limited Geographic Locations 342

9.5. Conclusions and Implications 342

References 344

Table 1.1. Asset Ownership Characteristics, by Machine Ownership (2008 and 2019) 23

Table 1.2. Household and Farm Characteristics, by Year 29

Table 1.3. Farm Input Use in Boro Season, by Year 30

Table 1.4. Farm Productivity, Cost of Production, and Return from Boro Rice Cultivation (nominal values) 32

Table 1.5. Mechanization and Farm Productivity 34

Table 1.6. Mechanization and Agricultural labor Use 38

Table 1.7. Mechanization and Gendered Labor 40

Table 1.8. Mechanization and Farm Profitability 45

Table 2.1. Agricultural Machines Used Across Bangladesh 65

Table 2.2. List of Machinery Types Used Across Bangladesh 66

Table 2.3. Description of Variables Used, along with Mean and Standard Deviations 69

Table 2.4. Coefficients for Typologies and Household Demographics 72

Table 2.5. Regression Output for Determinants of Machine Ownership: OLS Regression Approach 83

Table 2.6. Regression Output for Determinant of Machine Service Provision: Ordinary Least Squares Regression Approach 86

Table 2.7. Regression Output for Determinants of Machine Hiring by Customers: OLS Regression Approach 93

Table 3.1. Survey Locations 118

Table 3.2. The Possibility of Access to Irrigation Water in 2021, Presented by District, Upazila, and Union as % of Respondents 122

Table 3.3. Current Binary Adoption Rates (2021) for Each Pump Set and Pump Set Grouping 124

Table 4.1. Summary Statistics 155

Table 4.2. Estimation Results of Probit Model 157

Table 4.3. Average Marginal Effects Based on Probit Model 158

Table 4.4. The First-Stage Regression Results of the IV Probit Model of Land Scale 160

Table 4.5. The Second-Stage Regression Results of the IV Probit Model 161

Table 4.6. Probit Model for Replacing Proxy Variables of Transaction Cost 163

Table 4.7. Second-stage Regression Results of the IV Probit Model with Alternative Transaction Cost Proxy Variables 164

Table 4.8. Scale Inflection Points of Mechanization Paths Calculated by Related Studies in People's Republic of China 165

Table 5.1. Review of Studies on Machinery Adoption 179

Table 5.2. Classification of Farm Households Based on Size of Operational Land Holding 180

Table 5.3. Distribution of Sample Households across Agro-Ecological Regions 181

Table 5.4. Explanatory Variables Used in Multivariate Probit Regression 182

Table 5.5. Farmers Reporting Ownership of Selected Farm Machinery and Equipment across Farm Size Classes (in percentage) 186

Table 5.6. Average Value of Agricultural Machinery and Equipment per Household across Farm Size Classes (in US dollars) 189

Table 5.7. Investment per Household on Agricultural Machinery and Equipment across Farm Size Classes (in US dollars) 190

Table 5.8. Percentage of Farmers Reporting Ownership of Selected Items of Agriculture Machinery and Equipment across Agro-ecological Regions 192

Table 5.9. Average Value of Agricultural Machinery and Equipment per Household across Agro-ecological Regions (in US dollars) 195

Table 5.10. Investment per Household on Agricultural Machinery and Equipment across Agro-ecological Regions (in US dollars) 196

Table 5.11. Gini Coefficient of Ownership of Selected Machinery by Cultivator Households across States of India 197

Table 5.12. Probit Regression Analysis of Determinants of Ownership of Selected Agricultural machinery and Equipment 199

Table 6.1. Area-wise Distribution of Beekeepers in the State of Assam, India 221

Table 6.2. Description of the Variables Used in the Study 224

Table 6.3. Descriptive Statistics of the Variables for the Study 227

Table 6.4. Results of the Logit Model of Adoption of Technology in Beekeeping 230

Table 6.5. Specification Test of the Logit Model of Adoption of Technology in Beekeeping 236

Table 7.1. Attributes of Different Types of SP-CHCs 263

Table 7.2. Factors Affecting Machine Operational Efficiency of Service Provider-Custom Hiring Centers: Fractional Regression 267

Table 7.3. Factors Affecting Service Provider-Custom Hiring Centers' Plans to Expand Mechanized Area: Probit Model 270

Table 9.1. Measurement of Agricultural Mechanization Services Use in the Reviewed Literature 326

Table 9.2. Overview of Reviewed Literature of 28 Papers 327

Table 9.3. Occurrences of Keywords in the Reviewed Literature 329

Table 9.4. Overview of Determinants Influencing Agricultural Mechanization Services Use 331

1. Mechanizing Agriculture in Bangladesh: Trends, Challenges, and Policy Priorities 58

Table A1. Summary of Indicator Variables 58

2. What Determines a Farmer's Adoption of Agricultural Machinery: Assessing Demographic Factors and Asset Ownership of Smallholder... 109

Table A2.1. Comparison between User Typologies and Assets 109

Table A2.2. Comparison of Machine Ownership Across Districts 112

Table A2.3. Comparison of Machine Service Provision Across Districts 112

Table A2.4. Comparison of Farmers Who Hire Machines Across Districts 113

4. Path Choices of Agricultural Mechanization: An Assessment of Findings at the Household Level Survey 7

Table S1. The First-Stage Regression Results of the IV Probit Model of the Square of Land Scale 174

Table S2. Weak IV Test Results 174

Table S3. Average Marginal Effects of Probit Model after Changing Proxy Variables 175

5. Farm Machinery Ownership in India: Regional Distribution and Influencing Characteristics 213

Table A1. Percent of Agricultural Households across States Reporting Ownership of Selected Agricultural Machinery and Equipment 213

Table A2. State-wise number of Agriculture Machinery and Equipment per 100 Hectares of Operated Agricultural Land 214

7. Efficiency and Sustainability of Agricultural Mechanization Services in Smallholder Farming in Nepal 282

Table A7.1. Average Number of Machines Owned by Service Provider-Custom Hiring Centers and Number of Days Each Machine Operated... 282

Table A7.2. Summary Statistics of the Variables Used to Assess the Sustainability of the Service Provider-Custom Hiring Centers 283

Table A7.3. Factors Affecting Communities' Preference to Form Different Types of Service Provider-Custom Hiring Centers 284