conserving technology. Many farmers became interested in the prospect of enhanc- ing their stagnating bottom line. Selected researchers were interested in and excited by the prospect of enabling change in farmers’ fields. Policymakers were interested in technological solutions to enhance the sustainability of South Asia’s cereal bowl while avoiding more demanding institutional changes.
The success story of zero tillage in Haryana combines many of these elements. The herbicide tolerance of the weed Phalaris minor was so severe that it helped break through the enormous reluctance of farmers to even try zero-tillage technology. Key champions picked up the technology and promoted it despite initial resistance. The private sector made many improvements to the prototypes of the implements based on interaction with and feedback from farmers. The innovation process therefore benefited from many “hinge-of-fate” moments in which coincidence and personali- ties enabled progress (Harrington and Hobbs 2009).
Scaling Out the Impact of Zero Tillage
Scaling-out strategies will need to build on the local context and stakeholders to establish a dynamic innovation system. On the vast Indo-Gangetic Plains, strategies to expand zero tillage to new regions will thus differ between the more intensive northwestern plains and the eastern plains and between India and neighboring Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh. More concerted efforts and resources are needed to strengthen the R&D in these neighboring countries and on the eastern plains. The experience in Pakistan highlights the importance of bringing on board all rel- evant stakeholders, including policymakers and extension workers. More research is particularly needed to create year-round zero-tillage (double-no-till) options for rice–wheat systems and to understand and address environmental and social issues. The zero-tillage experience on the Indo-Gangetic Plains provides a number of useful guidelines for future efforts to replicate it elsewhere. The key to success is having a financially attractive intervention. No matter how attractive an interven- tion is from the environmental or social point of view, without the private interest to stimulate demand and supply, it will not fly. The development of viable and dynamic innovation systems that can deliver and adapt interventions such as zero- tillage drills will be essential to replicate and extend the success that has been realized in reducing tillage for wheat.
Agricultural scientists and development practitioners therefore need to move away from linear processes to more participatory interventions. Experts often have strong convictions about proposed interventions and what is best for the system. Yet the key to change is creating the demand and enabling it to transform the system. Sowing the seeds for a successful business model is critical. Showing that the tech- nology can deliver its promise in the farmers’ villages and on their fields is critical, as is the idea that it can be actively facilitated through on-farm adaptive and partici-