Effect of climate smart agriculture adoption on wheat net returns in South Punjab, Pakistan

The purpose of this research to evaluate the impact of CSA (climate smart agriculture) adoption on net returns from wheat production in South Punjab. The Food and Agriculture Organization led CSA in 2010 as a substitute for conventional farming. It is considered an innovative cleaner production agriculture system. CSA also aims to enhance agricultural productivity and strengthen farmers’ capacity to counter adverse weather conditions. Therefore, the existing study intends to find out the effect of CSA on wheat net returns and the aspects that affect the adoption of CSA techniques. The study was conducted in three districts Multan, Vehari, and Khanewal. The study used a multistage sampling method to choose the 450 respondents comprising 225 CSA adopters and 225 non-adopters. The data was collected using a properly designed structured questionnaire. The study used a crop budget tool to find out the effect of CSA on wheat net returns. The hypothesis tested the moderating effect of the adoption of CSA with the use of multiple regression analysis with the socioeconomic variables. The logit model was used to estimate the factors influencing the adoption of CSA practices. The outcomes of this study indicate that distance from the main road, age, distance from the farm, and household size negatively affect farmer’s adoption behavior. Education, landholding, off-farm income, and links with extension services positively affect farmers’ adoption behavior. The current study also shows that education, income, size of landholding, number of livestock, access to credit, contact with extension services, and use of CSA techniques enhance wheat net returns positively and strongly. The research proposed crucial recommendations to enhance CSA techniques’ implementation.