ABSTRACT
The promise of conservation tillage and other innovations for increasing stagnant yields in food grain production in South Asia is evident from successes observed throughout Latin America and the global North (Unger, 1984). The impoverishment of Indian soils in the wake of the Green Revolution seems an obvious invitation for transition to techniques that stabilize erosion, conserve soil nutrients and moisture, and create a better biological environment for plant growth (Lal, 2000). The rapid adoption of these techniques in the contexts of North America and southern Latin America is notable, since it demonstrates a lack of typical constraints on diffusion, including infrastructure and pricing effect. One might therefore expect that once the benefits of no-till production are known and understood by local producers, adoption should occur rapidly in the Indian context.
