Reducing Imbalanced Fertilizer Use in Bangladesh: Milestone 1

The project is being implemented in collaboration with the Center for Development Innovation and Practices (CDIP), a local research partner. The initiative focuses on two main interventions: the distribution of leaf color charts (LCC) and plot-specific soil testing (PST). The LCC intervention involves the distribution of leaf color charts to farmers, which are used to determine the nitrogen status of rice plants. The charts were imported from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) at the Philippines and were distributed to farmers along with training sessions led by extension workers from the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) and CDIP staff. The baseline survey was conducted with 1547 farmers, and a shorter survey was conducted with an additional 500 farmers due to concerns about statistical power. The treatment was randomized at the individual level, with 50% of the farmers receiving the LCC treatment. The PST intervention involves soil testing and sample collection, which will be conducted together with the baseline survey around July 2013. Recommendations based on the soil samples will be distributed to farmers through individual counseling sessions conducted by CDIP. The endline survey will be conducted after harvest in 2014, collecting data on all inputs, prices, and yields for all indicators. The evaluation strategy for the project involves a randomized control trial, with two treatment arms: LCC and PST. The LCC study is being conducted first, immediately followed by the PST study with a different sample. The power calculations indicate that the project will be able to detect an impact of 4.25% change in yields for the LCC intervention and 6.01% change in yields for the PST intervention. The cost-effectiveness methodology will be used to determine the benefits per farmer from the adoption of LCC and ST separately. The benefits will be calculated through the randomized evaluation, including gains in yield, cost savings in fertilizers, and gains in estimated profits. The cost per farmer for both LCC and ST will also be computed. The estimated cost for the project to provide an LCC and training to a farmer is $2.25, while the estimated cost for soil testing is Tk 50 ($0.60) for farmers at the subsidized price. The project aims to provide recommendations for all crops farmers are interested in growing for all three growing seasons of the year. On average, if farmers cultivate crops for 2 seasons a year and use the recommendation for 5 years, then the subsidized cost is $0.281/crop/farmer and the non-subsidized cost is $1.37/crop/farmer. The project will determine the cost-effectiveness of the intervention by calculating the magnitude of impact from a certain dollar amount spent on each intervention.