This work assessed the impact of soil and water conservation practices on farm productivity and risk exposure using data from 1204 plots in the semiarid tropics of India. The results show that training, access to credit and extension services are key determinants of adoption of soil bunds. Furthermore, the results also suggest that soil bunds not only improve the crop revenue but also reduce its variability. Most interestingly, we show that soil bunds also reduce the chances of downside risk, i.e., crop failure. Therefore, in view of increasing climate change and variability in the semiarid tropics, it can be suggested that soil bunds could be an important adaptation strategy for improving productivity and reducing risk exposure.

The fertilizer sales data, on 319 districts over 30 months from April 2015 to September 2017, in Metric tonnes (Mt) is used to estimate the effect of the DBT intervention. Out of these 319 districts, DBT was implemented in 17 districts, which can be termed as treatment districts, and remaining districts are control. The analysis indicated that the DBT scheme has had a mixed impact on monthly fertilizer sales. While the monthly urea and DAP sales got reduced by 6727 Mt and 684 Mt respectively after the implementation of the DBT scheme, that of MOP and SSP did not change significantly.