Agriculture with a strong dependence on weather is highly vulnerable to climate change (FAO, 2021; Sikka et al., 2022). With changing climate intensifying hydroclimatic extremes of floods and drought, adaptation in agriculture is extremely important (United Nations, 2019; IPCC 2022). Without adaptation, agricultural yields could decrease by 30% by 2050, impacting livelihoods and food security, especially in less developed countries where smallholder farmers have limited capacity to adapt (GCA and WRI, 2019). Given the centrality of water in climate change adaptation efforts, climate smart agriculture water management is critical to building water resilience and adapting to climate change (Sikka et al., 2022). The efficacy and benefits of a range of climate smart agriculture water interventions for adaptation have been widely reported and established (Evans and Giordano, 2012; Alam et al., 2021; Sikka et al., 2022).
The successful scaling of these interventions is needed to achieve transformational and visible impacts in building climate change adaptation (Sikka et al., 2022; Aggarval et al., 2018). However, the widespread adoption of agricultural water management interventions and technologies has been slow and limited (Shiferaw et al., 2009; Palanisami et al., 2015; Alam et al., 2021). Multiple studies over time and in different contexts have evaluated the factors influencing the uptake of different adaptation strategies and technologies in agriculture (Balasubramanya et al.,2023; Pathak et al., 2019; Palanisami et al., 2011; Reddy, 2016). Several factors including socio-economic (e.g., land size, experience), biophysical (e.g., soil), technology (e.g., cost, availability), and institutional (e.g., capacity building, subsidies) have been identified (Pathak et al., 2019; Nair and Thomas, 2022; Balasubramanya et al., 2023).
However, psychological factors have been often overlooked in many studies (Nair and Thomas, 2022; Balasubramanya et al., 2023; Namara et al., 2007). This is a gap as several studies have shown that psychological factors significantly influence the adoption of interventions (Alam et al., 2022a; Daniel et al., 2020; Hatch et al., 2022). For instance, farmers' perceived behavioral control, belief about cost and benefits, and risk perception have been shown to significantly influence their adoption decisions (Arunrat et al., 2017; Yazdanpanah et al., 2014; Alam et al., 2022a,b). Thus, neglecting psychological factors can lead to a lack of understanding of why some farmers adopt interventions while others do not, despite similar socio-economic and environmental conditions.
Several behavioral theories, grounded in social science, exist to evaluate the influence of psychological factors on farmers' adoption behaviors (Schlüter et al., 2017; An, 2012; Alam et al., 2022b). The risk, Attitude, Norms, Abilities, and Self-regulation (RANAS) model (Mosler, 2012) is one among them. The RANAS model assumes that multiple socio-psychological factors (i.e., risk, attitude, norm, ability, and self-regulation) impact behavioral outcomes (i.e., behavior, intention, use, and habit). Although initially developed for the WASH sector, the RANAS model is being increasingly used to understand farmer irrigation behavior or adoption of water management interventions (Alam et al., 2022a; Hatch et al., 2022; Klessens et al., 2022; Daniel et al., 2020; Stockler and Mosler, 2015). RANAS's strength is that it combines important socio-psychological factors from other important behavioral theories, can be adapted for a range of behaviors, and provides a systematic approach with a standardized questionnaire (Callejas Moncaleano et al., 2021).
This study, using the RANAS behavioral model, examines the factors that influence the adoption of agricultural water interventions in a semi-arid region (Saurashtra) in India. Specifically, adoption of two dominant and contrasting agricultural water interventions in the region: drip irrigation and borewells are analyzed. Drip irrigation, increasing efficiency of on farm water application, is a demand management strategy and is extensively promoted by the government with enabling policies and subsidies (Sikka et al., 2022; Nair and Thomas, 2022). While micro irrigation generally consists of both drip and sprinkler irrigation, in the studied region, drip irrigation is the dominant form, and therefore, we have used the terms "drip" and "micro irrigation" interchangeably in the paper. On the other hand, drilling borewells to tap deeper aquifers is a supply-augmenting intervention that farmers adopt in response to the drying of wells or depletion of aquifers (Patil et al., 2019; Kattumuri et al., 2017). Access to groundwater has played a crucial role in expanding irrigation and production globally, especially in South Asia (Mukherji, 2020) and now increasingly in Africa (Cobbing and Hiller, 2019). However, over time, this has led to the depletion of aquifers (Mukherji, 2020).
This paper evaluates the factors that govern the adoption of drip irrigation and borewells in the Saurashtra region. The findings of this study provide insights into the key factors that need to be addressed to promote the adoption of water interventions among farmers. It informs the development of effective policies and programs to improve water management in the region and elsewhere.