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General

Study Overview

Title:

Grain Legume Cluster Development to Improve Pulses Farming in Bihar

Study is 3ie funded:

No

Study ID:

RIDIE-STUDY-ID-5a746ac69f12b

Initial Registration Date:

02/02/2018

Last Update Date:

06/13/2018

Study Status:

Ongoing

Location(s):

India

Abstract:

Despite India being the world's largest consumer of pulses, domestic supply falls far short of domestic demand. There are potentially untapped opportunities to improve take-up and production of pulses farming, especially in Bihar. In an experiment with 158 villages across 5 districts in Bihar, we study the effects of 3 program models of the Aga Khan Foundation and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Grain Legume Cluster Development Program on adoption, area, production, and use of best practices related to pulses farming. The program models vary in support and inputs provided to farmers which include seed, extension services, and demonstration plots.

Registration Citation:

Stein, D. and Anderson, E., 2018. Registry for International Development for Impact Evaluations (RIDIE). Available at: 10.23846/ridie134

Categories:

Agriculture and Rural Development
Economic Policy

Additional Keywords:

Secondary ID Number(s):

Principal Investigator(s)

Name of First PI:

Daniel Stein

Affiliation:

IDinsight

Name of Second PI:

Ellen Anderson

Affiliation:

IDinsight

Study Sponsor

Name:

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Study Sponsor Location:

United States

Research Partner

Name of Partner Institution:

Type of Organization:

Location:

Intervention

Intervention Overview

Intervention:

Various inputs and extension support for pulses farming are provided to farm households across 158 villages and 5 districts in Bihar. This includes establishing demonstration plots to show best practices in pulses farming, establishing village-level farmer groups, distribution of free pulses seeds, and extension services such as farmer group trainings and information, education, and communication activities. IDinsight and implementers established 3 different program model, additive in the number and intensity of these interventions, which were randomly assigned to villages.

Theory of Change:

Although pulses are a source of vegetarian protein and a potentially viable source of income, there are various barriers farmers face in cultivating pulses. On the production side, these include but are not limited to lack of timely availability of certified seed and other inputs, lack of knowledge of best farming practices, and lack of knowledge on the nutritional and soil health benefits of pulses. In this vein, providing farmers with certified seed for timely planting will lead to higher take-up and production of pulses farming. Equipping farmers with knowledge of best practices such as line sowing, seed treatments, recommended types, amounts, and timing of application for fertilizer, weedicide/herbicide, insecticide, and fungicide, pest and disease mitigation, and timing of irrigation in accordance with crop stages will lead to higher adoption and production of pulses. Finally, knowledge of the benefits from pulses farming will convince farmers to either switch from other crops to pulses, plant pulses on otherwise fallow land, and/or mix and intercrop pulses with other crops.

Multiple Treatment Arms Evaluated?

Yes

Implementing Agency

Name of Organization:

Aga Khan Foundation (India)

Type of Organization:

NGO (International)

Program Funder

Name of Organization:

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Type of Organization:

NGO (International)

Intervention Timing

Intervention or Program Started at time of Registration?

Yes

Start Date:

05/10/2017

End Date:

Evaluation Method

Evaluation Method Overview

Primary (or First) Evaluation Method:

Randomized control trial

Other (not Listed) Method:

Additional Evaluation Method (If Any):

Other (not Listed) Method:

Method Details

Details of Evaluation Approach:

The evaluation consists of a four arm cluster randomized control trial. There are 3 treatment arms, one for each program model - high, medium, and low intensity, and one control group. An initial village meeting was held in all treatment groups and control in order to provide a sampling frame from farmer attendees. Randomization was done on the village level. Random assignment was stratified by block helping to provide balance across groups.

Outcomes (Endpoints):

Primary Outcomes: Take-up of pulses cultivation Areas under pulses cultivation Total pulses production Secondary Outcomes: Adoption of best practices related to pulses cultivation Production and yield of pulses crops Cost effectiveness of the program models

Change History for Outcomes (Endpoints)

Changed On	Previous Value
06/13/2018	Primary Outcomes: Take-up of pulses cultivation Areas under pulses cultivation Total pulses production Secondary Outcomes: Adoption of best practices related to pulses cultivation Cost effectiveness of the program models

Unit of Analysis:

Household

Hypotheses:

Farmers will be more likely to adopt pulses cultivation under the high intensity model as compared to the medium intensity; farmers will be more likely to adopt under the medium intensity model as compared to low intensity; and famers will be more likely to adopt under low intensity as compared to control.

Unit of Intervention or Assignment:

Village

Number of Clusters in Sample:

158

Number of Individuals in Sample:

2300

Size of Treatment, Control, or Comparison Subsamples:

Control – 59 villages; Treatment 1 – 32 villages; Treatment 2 – 34 villages; Treatment 3 – 33 villages

Supplementary Files

Analysis Plan:

IDinsight Bihar Pulses Pre-Analysis Plan_Production Update.docx

Change History for Analysis Plan

Changed On	Previous Value
06/13/2018	IDinsight Bihar Pulses Pre-Analysis Plan.docx

Other Documents:

Data

Outcomes Data

Description:

Household survey, randomly sampled from list of farmers who participated in a Kharif season agriculture discussion held by implementing NGO

Data Already Collected?

Yes

Data Previously Used?

No

Data Access:

Not restricted - access with no requirements or minimal requirements (e.g. web registration)

Data Obtained by the Study Researchers?

Yes

Data Approval Process:

Approval Status:

Treatment Assignment Data

Participation or Assignment Information:

Yes

Description:

Data Obtained by the Study Researchers?

Data Previously Used?

Data Access:

Data Obtained by the Study Researchers?

Data Approval Process:

Approval Status:

Data Analysis

Data Analysis Status:

No

Study Materials

Upload Study Materials:

Registration Category

Registration Category:

Prospective, Category 3: Data for measuring impacts have been obtained/collected by the research team but analysis for this evaluation has not started

Completion

Completion Overview

Intervention Completion Date:

Data Collection Completion Date:

Unit of Analysis:

Clusters in Final Sample:

Total Observations in Final Sample:

Size of Treatment, Control, or Comparison Subsamples:

Findings

Preliminary Report:

Preliminary Report URL:

Summary of Findings:

Paper:

Paper Summary:

Paper Citation:

Data Availability

Data Availability (Primary Data):

Date of Data Availability:

Data URL or Contact:

Access procedure:

Other Materials

Survey:

Survey Instrument Links or Contact:

Program Files:

Program Files Links or Contact:

External Link:

External Link Description:

Description of Changes:

Study Stopped

Date:

Reason: