Social Accounting Matrix & Climate-Smart Agriculture

This episode discusses an open-access research article uses India's 2017-18 Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) to model the economy-wide effects of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices. The study examines three CSA interventions—Conservation Agriculture, System of Rice and Wheat Intensification, and Zero Budget Natural Farming—and analyzes their impacts on sectoral outputs, household incomes, water usage, and greenhouse gas emissions. A fourth scenario explores shifting cropping patterns from rice and wheat to less emission-intensive crops like maize, sorghum, and millet. The findings highlight the economic and environmental implications of these interventions, offering policy recommendations for India. The authors utilize a SAM multiplier model to quantify the direct and indirect effects of these agricultural changes on the Indian economy.