sustainability
Article Socioeconomics Determinants to Adopt Agricultural Machinery for Sustainable Organic Farming in Pakistan: A Multinomial Probit Model
Muhammad Waqar Akram 1,2,* , Nida Akram 1 , Hongshu Wang 1,*, Shahla Andleeb 3, Khalil Ur Rehman 3, Umair Kashif 1 and Syed Farhaan Hassan 4
1 College of Economics & Management, North East Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China; [email protected] (N.A.); [email protected] (U.K.) 2 Department of Business Administration, Ilma University, Main Ibrahim Hyderi Road, Korangi Creek, Karachi 75190, Pakistan 3 Department of Environmental Science, Government College Women University, Sialkot 51310, Pakistan; [email protected] (S.A.); [email protected] (K.U.R.) 4 Department Business Administration, Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] (M.W.A.); [email protected] (H.W.); Tel.: +86-13654555395 (M.W.A.); +86-15946002021 (H.W.) Received: 6 November 2020; Accepted: 21 November 2020; Published: 24 November 2020
Abstract: Urbanization and low productivity are real threats to the sustainability of organic farming. The adoption of farm machinery plays a vital role in overcoming these threats to ensure a sustainable and more profitable organic farming model. Farm machinery can also increase farmland yield and reduce the need for labor, although the requirement of significant capital investment often prevents small farmers from buying machinery. There is an increased need to comprehend all relevant elements associated with farming machinery procurement and service delivery. In this article, we provide insight into the impact of different variables of farmers on the adoption of agricultural equipment. A total of 301 organic farmers were surveyed in three districts of Punjab, Pakistan. It was found that the most common machinery concerned herein are tube-well/pumps, tractors, tillage machinery, and thrashers/harvesters. Results from a multinomial probit estimation showed that farm machinery ownership is positively correlated with capital assets, civil infrastructure, alternative sources of power, and credit facility. The findings indicated that policymakers and stakeholders should not concentrate merely on short term planning, such as improving agricultural machinery’s adoption rate. Still, they should also strive to upgrade physical infrastructure and facilities and provide credit services to create an enabling environment that can empower the citizen in adopting large scale use of agricultural machinery for long term sustainability of organic farming.
Keywords: sustainability; organic farming; farm development; farm machinery; labor; farm investment; productivity
1. Introduction According to current projections, the global population is expected to reach 9.6 billion people in 2050 [1]. Consequently, the consumption of staple foods such as wheat, rice, maize, meat, and fish is predicted to proliferate, especially in the third world countries and developing nations [2]. These are the same areas where many people also live below the poverty line of USD 1.90 per day; this group of an impoverished population is predicted to increase to 274.5 million persons [3]. On the contrary, the available area of agricultural land per capita is decreasing sharply. For example, in South Asian
Sustainability 2020, 12, 9806; doi:10.3390/su12239806 www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability Sustainability 2020, 12, 9806 2 of 15 countries such as Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Nepal, the farmland area has reduced from 0.17–0.36 hectors per capita in 1961 to 0.12–0.24 hectors in 2012 [4]. The rapid increase in population and the concurrent decrease in per capita farmland creates serious concern regarding whether organic agriculture can produce a higher yield and sustain the increasing demand. This problem is incredibly real for the South Asia region, which has a high population density. The pressure of food security and the low yield of organic farming may worsen the situation. Furthermore, the simultaneous expansion of other sectors and employment opportunities has resulted in rural-urban migration among the farming community. Consequently, the agriculture sector suffers from a seasonal labor force in rural areas [5,6]. Recently, organic farming (OF) has been facing two main problems. Firstly, the efficiency of OF has often been undermined. Organic farming productivity is 19.3% lower than its counterpart, which translates into an increased threat to food security and organic practice sustainability [7]. The second problem is related to the shortage of rural labor. This is a pertinent issue because OF is considered an incredibly labor-intensive farming method [8]. These arguments strongly support the need to provide specific agricultural machinery for farms that fall short of their limited resource capacity. This will increase their yields and pave the way for more intensified sustainable farming practices [9,10]—usually, organic farmers work on farms of smaller sizes scattered around different areas. For example, the average size of an organic farm in Pakistan is four hectares, much smaller than the Region’s average farm size [11]. These small farmers will be interested in small scale machinery that can replace manual work and old traditional tools to save production costs and reduce difficult or labor-intensive work [10,12]. In addition, organic production can be a good alternative for small and medium-sized farms that have no chance of competing with large-scale and modern farms. However, OF farmers’ low purchasing power restricts them from adapting and procuring modern technologies, thus limiting the farm mechanization among Pakistani farmers [11,13]. As Ponisio et al. [7] suggested, the productivity of OF can increase by 9% through better operations and management practice. Specific farm machinery may be able to make OF more sustainable too. As agricultural yield can be improved through farm mechanization, machinery is increasingly designed and made to accommodate farmers with small and scattered lands to promote agricultural resources’ sustainable use [14–16]. A good example is the utilization of strip and zero tillage, which requires investment in specialized equipment but, in return, leads to a reduction in fuel expenses, the use of water for irrigation, and time [17–19]. Despite the promised advantages, organic farmers still face problems associated with the adoption of specific machinery. These challenges must be addressed for increased mechanization of OF in Pakistan, which can be achieved via promoting the mechanization program’s development. To overcome problems associated with increased mechanization for OF, it is imperative to comprehend organic farmers’ attributes regarding their adoption of or investment into agriculture machinery; in other words, whether the farmers are utilizing such small scale or essential kinds of machinery themselves, as well as renting the machinery to others. This factor is more relevant for organic farmers. Their farms’ size is not as big as conventional farmers, leading to a lower preference for purchasing and owning machinery before this. However, in recent years, an increasing number of small farmers have been able to access agricultural mechanization through the enlistment of individual components [20]. Reviewing organic farmers who possess agricultural machinery can give insight into the influential factors that encourage investment in agricultural machinery. With that information, policymakers and development authorities such as commercial and agricultural bankers and administrators can allocate resources or plan investment more efficiently. Furthermore, this will create more significant insights and contribute to the scarce information surrounding farming mechanization and its associated factors. Sustainability 2020, 12, 9806 3 of 15
There are several other reasons as to why this subject is essential and worthy of research. Agriculture is one of Pakistan’s most significant economic sectors, contributing one fifth or 19.3% of its GDP [21]. While recent trends showed that OF is practiced increasingly in Pakistan, it contributes to only 0.1% of the total organic agricultural output worldwide [22]. Recently, Pakistan has begun exporting organic products to the European Union. It is a lucrative business as the total market size of organic products in the European Union is 8.96 billion dollars [23]. Apart from that, China is another big potential market for Pakistani organic products through the China Pakistan Economic Corridors (CPEC) project. China’s organic market size is nearly 4.19 billion dollars and multiplying [23]. To exploit such opportunities, Pakistan’s OF must overcome the various challenges and improve its efficiency. The main challenges of OF included the high labor intensiveness and the shrinking rural labor forces due to rapid urbanization [5]. It must be highlighted that agricultural automation is an integral approach and advancement objective for Pakistan. Compared to other nations in the region, Pakistan’s agricultural mechanization is considered under-prioritized, relying only on tractors and specific land-preparing instruments due to the sector’s lack of technology [24]. Based on a 2004 survey, Pakistan had a total of 0.41 million tractors and 1.71 million farming implement or machinery, including tillage machines, cultivators, disk harrows/plows, trolleys/trailers, and tube wells/water pumps [25]. These machines’ horsepower is only 0.90 HP, much lower than the international standard of 1.7HP, as described by the Food and Agriculture Organization [26]. This lack of resources leads to a lower yield and it affects the productivity of OF more severely than conventional farming as OF is a lower yield farming method to begin with [27]. Besides, Pakistan is also facing a water scarcity problem, especially considering surface water via canal irrigation in the country experienced a 19% decline over the last year. As a result, tube-well/pump irrigation plays a critical role in Pakistan’s agricultural sector [28]. Other farm machinery can also help the sustainable use of water. For instance, leveling machinery can save a significant amount of water and add USD 143.5 per hector to a farmer’s gross margin. This is especially useful for countries that are heavily dependent on flood irrigation, Pakistan being one of them [29,30]. Consequently, research concerning the mechanization of Pakistan OF can provide valuable information regarding factors influencing its uptake. Despite an extensive search, we found no large-scale studies conducted in recent years that examined organic farms’ mechanization. This study aims to fill this gap in the literature. Through contextual analysis, this research will assess the organic farmers in Pakistan and classify the relevant determinants leading to the adoption of necessary and small scale machinery in OF. We will also examine factors leading to the ownership of agricultural farm machinery. In short, this study will analyze available survey data to investigate the adoption of necessary agricultural types of machinery such as tractors, harvesters/threshers, tillers (generally used for land preparation through the utilization of a tractor), and tube wells/water pumps. We will start with an analysis and discussion of the survey data, followed by an econometric model. After presenting the main findings, we will take a more in-depth look at these findings and evaluate farmers’ ownership of agricultural machinery’s main political implications.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Data Description The data were acquired through a comprehensive survey at the districts of Toba Tek Singh, Khanewal, and Jhang in the Punjab province of Pakistan (Figure1). These districts were selected based on the suggestion of the Lok Sanjh Foundation, the pioneer in the introduction of OF in Pakistan back in 1996. The community in these districts, such as organic farmers, villagers, and other principal stakeholders, were included in the survey. Sustainability 2020, 12, 9806 4 of 15 Sustainability 2020, 12, x FOR PEER REVIEW 4 of 17
FigureFigure 1. 1. SurveySurvey area.
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