Research Series Issue 62: The spillover effects of seed producer groups on non-member farmers in mid-hill communities of Nepal

Rice farmers in the mid-hills region of Nepal are vulnerable to drought, which can drastically reduce yields. Stress-tolerant rice varieties (STRVs) can mitigate this vulnerability, as can having a high seed replacement rate and using best management practices (BMPs) in rice cultivation.

In 2013, IFAD established and trained 12 seed producer groups (SPGs) across three districts in Nepal to improve local access to STRV seed. This paper presents propensity-score–weighted regressions used to estimate the spillover effects of SPGs on the adoption of STRVs and BMPs, as well as on the seed replacement rate of non-member households in villages with an SPG, or that are next to a village with an SPG, compared to randomly selected villages in the region.