Reducing Imbalanced Fertilizer Use in Bangladesh

To understand the impact of intervention programs on fertilizer use in developing countries.

At a Glance

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About This Innovation

Innovation Stats

Innovation Type: 
Approach/Process/System/Operational
Innovation Stage: 
Stage 1: Concept
Country Created In: 
Bangladesh
Country Implemented In: 
Bangladesh
Related Programs: 
Development Innovation Ventures (DIV)
Sector: 
Agriculture
Soil Management

Status Update

Soil testing services and leaf color charts are being made available by governments in developing countries, including Bangladesh, so it is important to understand the impact of these programs on fertilizer use and returns of farmers, and to explore whether these services can be scaled up through the private sector.

How it Works

Harvard plans to study heterogeneous treatment effects to understand some of the channels through which these interventions work, and to improve the understanding of why farmers fail to achieve balanced fertilizer use. By providing some people additional information on long-term costs of Imbalanced use, and through collecting data on the rates at which people discount the future, we will be able to estimate the relative Importance of these causes of misuse.

Strategy for expanding use of your innovation

We also plan to estimate demand for these technologies through estimates of wllllngness-to-pay for these by farmers.

Next Steps

It is also important to understand the heterogeneity within farmers on who benefits from leaf color charts and soil testing, so that any shortcomings can be addressed during the scale-up and through further innovations in the future.