Heterogeneous information exposure and technology adoption: the case of tissue culture bananas in Kenya

Classical innovation adoption models implicitly assume homogenous information flow across farmers, which is often not realistic. As a result, selection bias in adoption parameters may occur. We focus on tissue culture (TC) banana technology that was introduced in Kenya more than 10 years ago. Up till now, adoption rates have remained relatively low. We employ the average treatment effects approach to account for selection bias and extend it by explicitly differentiating between awareness exposure (having heard of a technology) and knowledge exposure (understanding the attributes of a technology). Using a sample of Kenyan banana farmers, we find that estimated adoption parameters differ little when comparing the classical adoption model with one that corrects for heterogeneous awareness exposure. However, parameters differ considerably when accounting for heterogeneous knowledge exposure. This is plausible: while many farmers have heard about TC technology, its successful use requires notable changes in cultivation practices, and proper understanding is not yet very widespread. These results are also important for other technologies that are knowledge‐intensive and require considerable adjustments in traditional practices.     

加入合作社对农户绿色生产技术采纳的带动效应——基于福建柚农的调查数据

[目的]在农业生产资源趋紧和环境承载压力的双重考验下,合作社能否以及如何带动农户采纳绿色生产技术成为亟待回答的重大现实问题。[方法]文章基于福建省501户柚农的调查数据,以施用有机肥、生物农药和测土配方施肥3种绿色生产技术采纳为例,运用内生转换模型分析加入合作社对农户绿色生产技术采纳的影响及其作用机理。[结果]（1）加入合作社能促进农户采用绿色生产技术,在反事实假设条件下,加入合作社农户若未加入时,其绿色生产技术采纳积极性和采纳强度会降低,未加入合作社农户若加入时,其绿色生产技术采纳积极性和采用强度会提高,用工具变量法进行稳健性检验后,结论仍然成立。（2）加入合作社促进农户采纳绿色生产技术主要通过提升农户绿色生产认知这条路径实现,其中介效应占比为20.7%。（3）加入合作社对农户绿色生产技术采纳的影响存在群组间差异,加入合作社对规模较小农户、参与完全横向合作模式农户的带动效果更显著,合作社产前的统一农资和规定农药化肥清单、产中管理的生产检查和田间技术指导、产后的统一包装和销售等管理和服务,以及合作社分红,对农户绿色生产技术采纳的带动效果更显著。[结论]要大力支持合作社发展,鼓励农户加入...     

采纳生态种养技术对农户脆弱性的影响——以长江中下游地区稻虾共作技术为例

目的 脆弱性是贫困的深层次原因,也是贫困的重要表现,识别和降低农户的脆弱性是解决相对贫困、长效性脱贫问题的关键。方法 文章基于湖北、湖南、安徽3省974份农户调研数据,运用内生转换模型,分析了农户采纳稻虾共作技术对其脆弱性的影响。结果 （1）农户采纳稻虾共作技术能切实降低其脆弱性,采纳该技术的农户较未采纳时脆弱性降低280.659%,未采纳该技术的农户若采纳该技术脆弱性将降低44.255%。（2）非农就业水平在农户技术采纳和脆弱性之间起到正向的调节作用。（3）农户的个体特征、家庭特征、社会服务便利性及村庄特征均会显著影响农户的稻虾共作技术采纳决策和脆弱性。结论 农户采纳稻虾共作技术能有效降低其脆弱性,但随着农户非农就业水平的提高,稻虾户反而更脆弱,因此要完善农技推广机制,健全非农就业保障和帮扶机制,进而发挥稻虾共作技术长效脱贫功效。     

Technology Adoption and Pest Control Strategies Among UK Cereal Farmers: Evidence from Parametric and Nonparametric Count Data Models

This paper examines the intensity of technology adoption and integrated pest management strategies employed by UK farmers, using both parametric and nonparametric methods. We employ a unique survey dataset collected from UK cereal farmers to assess the determinants of technology adoption in relation to pest management. Our preferred model specification is nonparametric, with models estimated yielding broadly similar results, with some important qualitative differences. All models indicate that total area farmed is positively related to the number of technologies adopted, whereas the number of years of experience of the farmer is negatively related. We also find evidence with our nonparametric specification of significant statistical differences for number of adoptions by region across the UK.     

Farmer-to-farmer technology diffusion and yield variation among adopters: the case of improved cowpea in northern Nigeria

This article examines the magnitude and sources of yield variation among adopters of improved cowpea varieties in northern Nigeria promoted through farmer‐to‐farmer diffusion. The results reveal important efficiency differences between the lead farmers who have contacts with breeders and the follower farmers who get technology and information from the lead farmers. Differential adoption of the package of seed, insecticide, fertilizer, and recommended cereal‐cowpea cropping pattern provides much of the explanation for yield variation among adopters. The component often missing, and hence accounting for much of the yield variation, is the crop management technology relating to the cereal‐cowpea cropping pattern. No efficiency variation is attributed to the source of technology and information, such as whether improved cowpea was obtained from breeders or lead farmers. Technology source has a rather indirect influence on efficiency through its effect on package adoption where breeders promote greater package adoption among the lead farmers than the lead farmers do among the follower farmers. Possible ways of disseminating crop management technological information through the farmer‐to‐farmer technology diffusion are recommended to better exploit the yield and profitability potentials of improved cowpea varieties in northern Nigeria.     

A Real Options Approach for the Investment Decisions of a Farm‐Based Anaerobic Digester

The profitability of anaerobic digesters (ADs) for Ontario dairy farmers are examined using real options under current and proposed government pricing policies and investment uncertainty. In the case of a renewable energy initiative such as an AD with large sunk costs and volatile returns, the value of deferring investment may be significant enough to offset the returns suggested by the net present value (NPV) approach. For a 150 cow herd, net revenues should be approximately $1.1 million before the AD is installed using the real options approach as compared to $0.5 million with the NPV approach. An AD is close to generating a positive NPV for a 600 cow herd if for either a 1% increase in the electrical price or decrease in the cost. However, farmers need not invest today and there is a value to delaying this decision from potential improvements in the technology that increase the efficiency and/or decrease operating costs of the AD. The real options analysis indicates that this option to delay investment has a value of approximately $300,000 for a typical Ontario dairy farm. Thus, either significant grant funding or higher feed‐in‐tariff rates are required to induce the increased adoption of AD technology in Ontario today even for the largest of dairy farms. Considering the probability of government support potentially ending, increases the value of investing today but a significant option value to defer still exists.     

The role of systems thinking in cover crop adoption: Implications for conservation communication

To address critical water quality problems, significant public and private sector resources in the U.S. have been directed to promoting and supporting the adoption of conservation practices. Cover crops, in particular, have been a focus of outreach and policy efforts due to their multiple benefits for crop production, carbon sequestration, soil health, and water quality. We hypothesize that Indiana’s state and local agencies have emphasized a systems approach to conservation planning and farm management, which has been successful in reaching a subset of farmers and has established Indiana as a national leader in cover crop adoption. We contend that the systems approach to conservation adoption is not a salient message to farmers who have yet to implement conservation, thus adoption (particularly cover crops) may be stagnant. Early work on systems thinking (ST) in conservation is dominated by qualitative research. Here, we make a first attempt to quantify the relationship between ST and cover crop adoption through producer surveys administered in three Indiana watersheds – St Marys, Big Pine, and Upper White. We found that farmers who adopted cover crops were more likely to be systems thinkers than farmers who had not adopted cover crops. These results have significant implications for conservation planners and educators across the U.S. and internationally who are working to implement additional conservation acreage – a whole farm systems approach to conservation messaging may not be an effective method for farmers who have yet to implement conservation.     

Modern variety adoption and risk management in drought prone areas: insights from the sorghum farmers of eastern Ethiopia

Adoption rates of improved or modern varieties (MV) of sorghum in eastern Ethiopia are generally low. Although these MV may represent an effective means of coping with droughts, given their early maturing traits, landraces could prove to be more drought‐tolerant and better adapted to marginal production conditions. Whether MV adoption is a risk reducing technology is very much an empirical question which this article investigates using a unique dataset from eastern Ethiopia in a year of extreme weather conditions. Results show that risk‐factors coupled with access to markets and social capital drive farmers’ decisions to adopt MVs. On the one hand, it appears that farmers use MVs to mitigate moderate risks. On the other hand, farmers who have been most vulnerable to extreme weather events are less likely to use MVs suggesting that MV adoption does not necessarily represent an effective means of coping with drought. Finally, findings show that MV growers are more likely to be affected by sorghum failure once controlling for exogenous production factors.     

自然风险对农户技术采用行为的影响——以荔枝为例

[目的]由于近年来台风灾害、高温干旱、低温冷害、阴雨天等异常气候对荔枝产量、品质造成了不可低估的损失,有必要研究农户荔枝生产中应对自然灾害的防灾减灾技术的采用情况及其影响因素。[方法]通过对荔枝主产区广东、广西、海南的257荔枝种植户的入户调查,运用二元选择模型实证分析自然风险对农户采用荔枝间伐、高接换种、水肥药一体化技术行为的影响。[结果]农户间伐技术采用率最高,其次为高接换种技术,水肥药一体化技术采用率最低;广东省一半以上的农户采用了间伐技术,广西间伐技术采用率次之为39.0%,而海南省仅15.2%的农户实施了间伐;广西一半以上的农户采用了高接换种技术,而广东省采用率为34.0%,海南省农户基本没有采用高接换种技术;水肥药一体化技术采用率由高到低依次为广东、海南、广西。[结论]是否受灾与影响农户是否采用高接换种技术显著正相关;受灾减产比例与农户是否采用间伐技术、高接换种技术呈反比;地区虚拟变量与农户是否采用间伐技术、水肥药一体化技术显著负相关。     

资本禀赋、生态认知与农户水土保持技术采用行为研究——基于生态补偿政策的调节效应

本文基于黄土高原地区陕西、甘肃和宁夏3省份1152户农户调查数据,构建资本禀赋、生态认知、生态补偿政策和农户水土保持技术采用行为的理论模型,运用Heckman样本选择模型进行实证分析,揭示资本禀赋、生态认知、生态补偿政策对农户水土保持技术采用行为的影响机理。研究结果表明:(1)资本禀赋中,农用机械数量、林地面积对农户水土保持技术采用及采用程度都具有显著的正向影响,耕地面积对采用程度有显著的正向作用,总收入对采用行为有显著的负向作用,相互信任对采用行为有显著的正向作用;(2)农户生态认知对其水土保持技术采用行为具有显著的正向作用;(3)生态补偿政策对农户采用水土保持技术具有显著的正向作用,并且对资本禀赋、生态认知与水土保持技术采用及采用程度关系中具有正向调节效应。     

Adoption of Food Safety Practices in Milk Production: Implications for Dairy Farmers in India

This study investigates the status, estimates the cost, and identifies the determinants of compliance with food safety measures in milk production in India. The study is based on the cross section primary data collected at the farm level in 3 states of India, namely, Bihar, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh, in the year 2007. These states capture the geographical and institutional diversity of milk production and marketing in the country. The study shows that the status of compliance with food safety measures at the dairy farm level is not encouraging and a lot of efforts are needed to bridge this gap. The adoption intensity of food safety practices shows wide inter- and intraregional variations. This intensity depicts a positive relationship with herd size. The additional cost of compliance with food milk safety measures reveals an inverse relationship with herd size. The adoption intensity of food safety practices has been found to be influenced by the dairy farmers' characteristics. Herd size, education level, expertise in dairying, and integration of dairy farmers with modern milk supply chain have positive influence on the adoption intensity of food safety practices at the farm level. The positive relationship between adoption intensity of food safety measures and farmers' realization of milk price would influence farmers for greater adoption of these measures.     

Participatory trials and farmers' social realities: understanding the adoption of legume technologies in a Malawian farmer community

This article presents results from a study exploring the reasons for low adoption of legume technologies to improve soil fertility by farmers from a community in central Malawi who took part in participatory trials. This study explores the influence of gender roles in agriculture and land ownership and socio-economic differentiation in the community. Because most women do not own land and are traditionally responsible for legume crops, they have little interest in managing soil fertility for maize crops. Men are not interested in using legumes in maize-cropping systems. Some are too poor: this group needs to complement their subsistence maize production with paid labour on the farms of better-off farmers; restricting the labour availability for their own farming activities. Wealthier farmers have access to, and prefer to use chemical fertilizer and cattle manure. Take-up rates among the middle group of farmers were also low. This study discusses how these (and other) factors influence the (non-)adoption of maize-legume technologies in Malawi and the effectiveness of participatory research. It emphasizes how differentiated farmer-realities affect the uptake of technologies identified as promising in participatory field evaluations.     

A dynamic adoption model with Bayesian learning: an application to U.S. soybean farmers

Adoption of agricultural technology is often sequential, with farmers first adopting a new technology on part of their lands and then adjusting their use of the new technology in later years based on what was learned from the initial partial adoption. Our article explains this experimental behavior by using a dynamic adoption model with Bayesian learning, in which forward‐looking farmers take account of future impacts of their learning from both their own and their neighbors’ experiences with the new technology. We apply the analysis to a panel of U.S. soybean farmers surveyed from 2000 to 2004 to examine their adoption of the genetically modified (GM) seed technology. We compare the results of the forward‐looking model to that of a myopic model, in which farmers maximize current benefits only. Results suggest that the forward‐looking model fits data better than the myopic model does. And potential estimation biases arise when fitting a myopic model to forward‐looking decision makers.     

Estimating Input Complementarities with Unobserved Heterogeneity: Evidence from Ethiopia

The level of technology adoption is often characterised as low in Africa. Recent evidence, however, points to the coexistence of substantial heterogeneity across farm households and the lack of a suitable mix of inputs for farmers to take advantage of input complementarities. We use a random coefficients multivariate probit model to quantify the complementarities between agricultural inputs and alternative forms of unobserved heterogeneity effects in modeling farmers' technology adoption decisions. The empirical analysis reveals that, conditional on various types of unobserved heterogeneity effects, farmers' technology adoption decisions exhibit strong complementarity for some inputs. The analysis also reveals substantial unobserved heterogeneity effects. We show that ignoring these behavioural features (unobserved heterogeneity and input complementarity) has important implications in quantifying the effect of some policy interventions that are meant to facilitate technology adoption. In particular, ignoring these features leads to significant overestimation of the effectiveness of extension services.     

设施蔬菜绿色生产技术采纳影响因素与经济效益研究——以河北省定兴县为例

[目的]农业资源环境是农业产品质量保障的基础,农业科技创新有力支撑农业产业发展,探究农业绿色生产技术的影响因素与经济效益,对保障农业产业绿色发展,提高农户绿色生产积极性具有重要意义。[方法]文章基于2020年河北省定兴县实地调研所得的219份农户数据,通过二元Logistic模型分析农户采纳绿色生产技术的影响因素,在此基础上运用倾向得分匹配方法研究技术采纳对农户家庭经济效益的作用水平。[结果]（1）虽然定兴县绿色生产技术推广取得一定成效,共有67.58%的农户采纳一种或多种绿色生产技术,但采纳程度有待提高。（2）农户的年龄、受教育程度、大棚类型、是否加入合作社、是否接受技术培训以及政府是否给予指导显著影响农户技术采纳决策。（3）采纳绿色生产技术的农户与未采纳组相比每公顷年均收入增加28.44%;测土配方技术、病虫害绿色防控技术分别带来26.52%和14.90%的增收效应,并分别在1%和5%的水平上显著,节水灌溉技术和废弃物循环利用技术增收效果不显著。[结论]绿色生产技术能显著提高农户收入,因此政府要加强对绿色生产技术的推广,通过技术培训、经济激励、构建技术推广体系等措施提高农户绿色生产...     

生猪养殖户从众行为存在性及形成机制研究——以四川省1127家养殖户仔猪补栏为例

[目的]多数养殖户在经营管理上往往注重短期利益,对生猪市场变化的反映是趋同的,容易在价格上涨时"一哄而上",在价格下跌时"一哄而下",这种从众行为对生猪供给造成了巨大冲击,不利于生猪生产和猪肉供给的稳定。[方法]文章以四川省12个生猪调出大县1 127个生猪养殖户为调查对象,运用二元Logistic回归法,构建了从众行为的检验模型,研究了养殖户仔猪补栏中的从众行为及其形成机制。[结果](1)养殖户仔猪补栏中存在明显的从众行为,即养殖户仔猪补栏决策明显受到其他生猪养殖者生产行为的影响;(2)从众行为服从逻辑追随律和先内后外律。当其他生猪养殖者生产效益越好时,养殖户仔猪补栏的从众行为越明显;生产规模相同的养殖户之间从众行为亦更为明显;(3)信息获取性从众和投机性从众是引起从众行为形成的内在原因;(4)生产规模及养殖技术对从众行为存在重要影响。[结论]厘清了养殖户生产中出现"一哄而上,一哄而下"群体性行为的原因,为理解生猪养殖者从众行为及生猪价格形成机制提供新的视角,丰富了农户行为及农产品价格形成机制的研究成果。     

The effect of information sources on technology adoption and modification decisions

This article focuses on adoption and modification decisions on improved maize storage technologies in southern Benin. Modification implies changing a technology to adapt to farmers' circumstances. A sample selection framework is used to account for selectivity bias as some farmers were not aware of the new technologies. Using this framework, the study investigates the effect of alternative information sources on adoption and modification decisions. Farmers are either informed by extension agents or by other farmers. The empirical results show that there are differences in adoption and modification decisions between these two groups.     

农户IPM技术采纳行为影响因素分析——基于安徽省芜湖市的实证

本文基于安徽省芜湖市以本地就业为主的386户稻农调研数据,采用Logit模型分析了农户IPM技术采纳行为的影响因素。研究表明,农民田间学校能够显著促进农户IPM技术采纳程度;户主非农兼业对化学防治型、生物防治型IPM技术采纳有显著正向影响,但对物理防治型IPM技术采纳影响不显著;耕地规模越大的农户越偏好物理防治型IPM技术,也越厌恶生物防治型IPM技术;农户耕地块数越多化学防治型、生物防治型IPM技术的采纳程度越低;但农民的健康意识、环境保护意识对农户IPM技术采纳影响不显著。     

Forecasting the Adoption of GM Oilseed Rape: Evidence from a Discrete Choice Experiment in Germany

This paper explores farmers’ willingness to adopt genetically modified (GM) oilseed rape prior to its commercial release and estimates the ‘demand’ for the new technology. The analysis is based upon choice experiments with 202 German arable farmers. A multinomial probit estimation reveals that GM attributes such as gross margin, expected liability from cross pollination, or flexibility in returning to conventional oilseed rape significantly affect the likelihood of adoption. Neighbouring farmers’ attitudes towards GM cropping and a number of farmer and farm characteristics were also found to be significant determinants of prospective adoption. Demand simulations suggest that adoption rates are very sensitive to the profit difference between GM and non‐GM rape varieties. A monopolistic seed price would substantially reduce demand for the new technology. A monopolistic seed supplier would reap between 45% and 80% of the GM rent, and the deadweight loss of the monopoly would range between 15% and 30% of that rent. The remaining rent for farmers may be too small to outweigh possible producer price discounts resulting from the costs of segregating GM and non‐GM oilseed rape along the supply chain.     

Adoption of soil and water conservation technologies in the Rwizi catchment of south western Uganda

Soil and water conservation technologies, such as mulching, grass strips and retention ditches, have been promoted in many areas of Sub-Saharan Africa. However, technology adoption rates have remained unsatisfactory. In this study, a logit model was used to examine the adoption of soil and water conservation technologies in the Rwizi catchment of Uganda using cross-sectional survey data from 271 smallholder farmers. Findings revealed that the likelihood to adopt these conservation technologies by smallholder farmers is explained by land size, tropical livestock units, access to extension services, value of gross output, gender of the household head and location of the farmers. Our results further showed that the quadratic term in land size was significant and negative, highlighting an acreage threshold to adoption. In general, our findings underscore the importance of information access and landownership in adoption of soil and water conservation technologies in the Rwizi catchment of Uganda.