The Drivers of the Double Cropping System Adoption in the Tropics

The practice of the double-cropping system (DCS), whereby farmers plant two different crops in the same field, in succession, within the same crop year, has been growing in the tropical regions of Brazil for the last 40 years. The DCS, also known as the ‘‘safrinha’’ system, has been responsible for an important revolution in cropping production in the tropics, a region historically challenged by low agricultural productivity. The system allows the intensification of land use, raises total production per hectare per year, and improves asset use efficiency, for example machinery, facilities, and human capital. The goal of this paper is to better understand the DCS system for tropical agricultural managers. Specifically, the manuscript achieves that goal by exploring the decision-making by farm managers through direct semistructured interviews with experienced DCS managers. The direct engagement is unique as it intentionally complements previous more indirect survey-based and econometric methodologies. The setting is Mato Grosso Brazil, the center of DCS farming in the tropics. The findings directly apply to producers in other tropical regions of the world, where some of the poorest countries reside. Policymakers and investors can integrate the findings from this paper to better design farming systems to improve productivity and profitability among small and medium sized farmers operating in the tropics.