The complex dynamics of smallholder technology adoption: the case of SRI in Madagascar

This article explores the dynamics of smallholder technology adoption, with particular reference to a high‐yielding, low external input rice production method in Madagascar. We present a simple model of technology adoption by farm households in an environment of incomplete financial and land markets. We then use a probit model and symmetrically censored least squares estimation of a dynamic tobit model to analyze the decisions to adopt, expand, and disadopt the method. We find that seasonal liquidity constraints discourage adoption by poorer farmers. Learning effects—both from extension agents and from other farmers—exert significant influence over adoption decisions.     

Factors influencing hybrid rice adoption: a Bangladesh case

As rice constitutes the major share in cereal consumption in South and East Asian countries that ranges from as low as 40 per cent in India to 97 per cent in Myanmar, to ensure food security, governments in these countries are encouraging farmers to adopt hybrid rice. This is mainly because hybrid rice provides a yield gain of 15–20 per cent over conventionally bred varieties in general. Yet, despite strenuous government efforts, farmers’ adoption rates have remained low in India, Bangladesh and Vietnam compared with China. Although studies often claim that higher seed costs and inferior grain quality are the major factors limiting hybrid rice adoption, very few studies examine the importance of socio‐economic factors and infrastructure in the adoption of hybrid rice. Using Bangladesh as a case, a comparative analysis has been made on the adoption of hybrid and modern varieties relative to traditional rice varieties and land allocation to these varieties. Econometric results indicate that general land characteristics, loan facilities and general infrastructure, such as roads, irrigation facilities and the availability of government‐approved seed dealers, significantly influence the adoption of hybrid and modern rice varieties and land allocation to these varieties compared with traditional varieties.     

Policy interventions to promote the adoption of water saving sprinkler systems: the case of lettuce on the Gnangara Mound

The potential for improving irrigation scheduling decisions and adoption of more efficient irrigation systems is explored using a bioeconomic simulation model of lettuce production on the Gnangara Mound near Perth, Western Australia. Sandy soils with poor water and nutrient holding capacity are associated with declining marginal productivity of water at high water use, which would create an incentive to reduce water use and to adopt closer sprinkler spacing if farmers had correct information about the declining marginal productivity of water. Incorrect perceptions regarding water–yield relationships lead to over use of water by up to 50 per cent and reduce profits by 475 per crop hectare (12 per cent) in the short run, and remove the incentive to adopt more efficient systems in the long run. Higher water prices create an incentive to reduce irrigation scheduling time in the short term and to adopt more uniform sprinkler systems, and tend to reduce the discrepancies associated with poor information about the marginal productivity of water. The low level of adoption of efficient irrigation systems in the region might be explained partly by historically poor water governance and insufficient extension regarding water productivity and technology.     

The role of education on the adoption of chemical fertiliser under different socioeconomic environments in Ethiopia

Studies on input adoption consider education as one of the most important factors that affect adoption decisions. However, very little is known about the spill‐over effect of intra‐household education on the adoption process and about the impact of education on adoption decisions under different socioeconomic conditions. We investigate these two issues using a discrete choice model. The results indicate that the decision making process is a decentralised one in which educated adult members of the household actively participate in the decision making process. This casts doubt on the traditional assumption that the household head is the sole decision maker. The results reveal that there is a substantial and statistically significant intra‐household spill‐over effect of education on the adoption decision of households. The results of the study also show that the coefficient of the education and the environment interaction variable is negative and statistically significant. This demonstrates that education and socioeconomic environments could be substitutes in modern environments and complementary in traditional ones. This implies that the expansion of education in traditional areas may be more attractive than in modern areas since education is usually the only means to enhance the ability of farmers to acquire, synthesise and respond to innovations such as chemical fertiliser.     

Land Tenure and the Adoption of Conservation Practices

We use a logit adoption model with data on 941 U.S. corn producers from the 1996 Agricultural Resource Management Study to analyze the influence of land tenure on the adoption of conservation practices. We extend previous analyses by distinguishing renters according to lease type and by distinguishing practices according to the timing of costs and returns. We find that cash-renters are less likely than owner-operators to use conservation tillage, but share-renters are not. Both cash-renters and share-renters are less likely than owner-operators to adopt practices that provide benefits only over the longer term (grassed waterways, stripcropping, and contour farming).     

Household adoption behaviour of improved soil conservation: the case of the North Pare and West Usambara Mountains of Tanzania

The mountains in the northeastern part of Tanzania have been experiencing declining soil fertility and severe soil erosion due to increased cultivation and other factors attributed to population pressure. This study gives the main results of an analysis of household adoption behaviour towards the use of improved soil conservation measures. An interdisciplinary analytical framework for analyzing household adoption behaviour is presented. The framework links three components of the adoption decision process: the perception of the erosion problem, the decision to use improved conservation measures and the level of investment or effort devoted to soil conservation among adopters. Data collected from a random sample of 300 heads of households was used to estimate logit models of perception of the erosion problem and of adoption of improved conservation measures, and a Poisson regression model of effort devoted to conservation. The results show that participation in promotional activities of soil and water conservation (SWC) programmes influences the adoption decision process at all three stages. Also, ranking of soil erosion as the priority problem in agricultural production, participation in labour-sharing groups and having off-farm income influence the willingness and ability to use improved soil conservation technologies and the level of soil conservation effort.     

Risk, uncertainty, and learning in adoption of a crop innovation

Risk and uncertainty have often been suggested as causes of poor adoption of rural innovations, but empirical evidence has been scarce. This study focuses on a new crop‐type, chickpeas, in Western Australia to gather such evidence. The empirical models developed are based on a theoretical framework that conceptualizes adoption as a dynamic decision process involving information acquisition and learning‐by‐doing by growers who vary in their managerial abilities, risk preferences, and their perceptions of the profitability and riskiness of the innovation. Learning encompasses improvements in skill as well as reductions in uncertainty. An annual face‐to‐face survey of over 100 farmers was conducted over 3 years, eliciting the farmers' risk attitudes and their subjective distributions of yields and prices. Two limited dependent variable models, Tobit and Probit, are used to estimate the empirical model. There is a high degree of goodness‐of‐fit for both models. The study provides strong empirical support for the primarily economic character of the adoption decision, and highlight the importance of economic risk in the process. The two risk‐related factors with greatest impact on the adoption decision were risk aversion and relative riskiness of the innovation. Risk aversion tended to reduce adoption, and to do so to a greater extent as relative riskiness and scale increased. Results also reveal the key role that trialing of the innovation plays in adoption.     

Digging deep and running dry—the adoption of borewell technology in the face of climate change and urbanization

In this article, we analyze the effects of household location and weather variability on the adoption of borewell technology along the rural–urban interface of Bangalore, India. Understanding these effects can help to design policies that ensure smallholders’ livelihoods and the functioning of ecosystems in drought-prone areas. First, a theoretical framework was developed that conceptualizes how household location and weather can influence farmers’ adoption decisions. Then, an empirical analysis based on a primary data set collected in 2016 and 2017, covering 576 farm households, was conducted. With a semiparametric hazard rate model, determinants of the borewell adoption rate were analyzed. Different rainfall variables were included to capture the effect of changing climate conditions as well as a two-dimensional penalized spline (P-spline) to estimate the effects of household location. Results show that proximity to Bangalore, but also secondary towns accelerate adoption rates. In terms of weather variability, the study finds that a higher amount of total annual rainfall decelerates adoption rates, whereas higher amounts of rainfall during the southwest monsoon (the most important cropping season) accelerate adoption.     

Agricultural technology adoption and child nutrition enhancement: improved maize varieties in rural Ethiopia

Adoption of improved crop varieties can lead to multiple benefits to farm households, including increased productivity, incomes, and food consumption. However, possible impacts of adoption on child nutrition outcomes are rarely explored in the literature. This article helps bridge this gap through an impact assessment of the adoption of improved maize varieties (IMVs) on child nutrition outcomes using a recent household survey from rural Ethiopia. The conceptual linkage between IMV adoption and child nutrition is first established using an agricultural household model. Instrumental variable estimation suggests the overall impacts of adoption on child height‐for‐age and weight‐for‐age z‐scores to be positive and significant. Quantile instrumental variable regressions further reveal that such impacts are largest among children with poorest nutrition outcomes. Finally, by combining a decomposition procedure with system of equations estimation, it is found that the increase in own‐produced maize consumption is the major channel through which IMV adoption affects child nutrition.     

政府推广、社会网络与农户测土配方施肥技术采纳行为

目的 测土配方施肥作为一项国际公认的环境友好型技术,对于减少化肥投入、提高化肥利用率具有积极的现实意义。方法 文章基于江西省1 092份农户问卷调查数据,借助Probit模型和交互项研究法,探讨政府推广与社会网络二者对农户测土配方施肥采纳行为的影响,利用社会乘数计算方法进一步分析社会乘数效应的异质性。结果 （1） 政府推广与社会网络均对农户测土配方施肥技术采纳行为产生显著正向影响,农户技术采纳行为存在集体行动。（2）政府推广与社会网络具有双向放大作用,亲族网络、朋友圈网络均能强化了政府推广对农户测土配方施肥技术采纳行为的影响。（3）不同类型社会网络的社会乘数效应具有异质性,亲族网络社会乘数效应大于朋友圈网络,并且在政府推广介入社会网络后,亲族网络和朋友圈网络的社会乘数效应分别放大了1.326倍和1.208倍。结论 为了促进测土配方施肥技术的推广与应用,应该完善政府推广模式,拓宽技术推广渠道,同时重视社会网络效应,建立稳定的局域网,发挥异质性社会网络的社会乘数效应。     

Modern rice technology and regional wage differentials in the Philippines

Fear has been widely expressed that the modern rice varieties have created large disparities in regional income distribution, as the productivity gap between favorable and unfavorable rice-production environments widened due to differential technology adoption throughout South and Southeast Asia over the last two decades. Technology affects the income of farm population directly through its effects on productivity and factor use, and indirectly through its effect on factor prices. In particular, the ultimate distributional impact of modern varieties will critically depend on the interregional labor-market adjustments through migration in response to regional wage differentials created by the differential technology adoption, since labor is the main resource of the majority of the rural population. We studied favorable and unfavorable rice-growing villages in the Philippines, and found that adoption of modern varieties during the 1970s was positively related to population growth rate. Contrary to popular belief, no association was observed between wage rates and adoption of modern varieties as of 1986. These findings support the hypothesis that the differential adoption of modern rice varieties induced interregional labor migration toward equalization of wage income across different production environments.     

The impact of water price uncertainty on the adoption of precision irrigation systems

We examine whether a firm is more or less likely to adopt precision technology when input prices are stochastic. The results are important to determining whether programs and contracts that reduce input price uncertainty may deter the adoption of conservation practices. An economic model of the technology adoption decision shows that the net effect of input price risk is ambiguous and depends on several factors including the shutdown effect, the mean price effect, the precision expansion effect, and the risk aversion effect. An empirical implementation of the model relies on data on water price and irrigation technology adoption observed in a California irrigation district over the period 1999–2002. The results show that a stable input price increases the adoption of precision technology, but the impact depends on crop choice and land quality characteristics.     

Conservation practice complementarity and timing of on-farm adoption

The adoption of conservation practices is a dynamic process. Factors that vary over time can affect farmers’ decision to adopt and adoption timing. We used a duration model to evaluate the farmer's adoption time for continuous no-till (CNT), cover crops (CCs), and the variable-rate application of inputs (VRA). We found that producers who had previously adopted soil conservation practices were more likely to adopt additional complementary practices. Farmers using crop rotation adopted CNT and CCs approximately 48% and 62% faster than farmers without a crop rotation, respectively. The CC adoption time was also reduced by 70% for farmers who had adopted CNT. Complementarities between conservation practices may enhance the benefits from adoption and allow farmers to adopt bundles of conservation practices more quickly over time. This can be taken advantage of in conservation programs by promoting or requiring practices first that enhance adoption of other practices. We also found important heterogeneity in the adoption speed associated with farm management characteristics, producers’ attitudes, weather patterns, and crop prices.     

农产品电子商务采纳的增收机理研究基于589个新型农业经营主体调查数据

[目的]随着农业资源日益稀缺、环境污染约束趋紧、传统增收动力逐渐减弱,如何拓宽农民增收渠道成为尤为重要的议题。已有不少研究从多角度论证了农产品电子商务能够有助于农业生产经营者获得增收,但农产品电子商务采纳对收入增长影响的内在机理还有待进一步揭示。探究农产品电子商务采纳行为产生增收效应的作用机理及边界条件,将有助于激发农产品电子商务发展的内生动力。[方法]文章基于资源基础理论,构建"农产品电子商务采纳—动态能力—增收效应"中介效应模型,并引入环境动态性为调节变量,以湖北省589个新型农业经营主体的调查数据为样本,进行了有调节的中介效应检验。[结果]实证结果显示农产品电子商务采纳对电子商务应用的动态能力、增收效应均具有显著的积极影响,而动态能力在农产品电子商务采纳与增收效应之间具有中介作用;与此同时,环境动态性对动态能力的中介作用呈现正向调节。[结论]应增强新型农业经营主体的农产品电子商务应用的动态能力,提升农业生产经营全过程的"电子商务适应化"水平,以充分发挥农产品电子商务对农业生产经营者的增收作用。     

Land titling policy and soil conservation in the northern uplands of Vietnam

In Vietnam, a quasi-private property regime has been established in 1993 with the issuance of exchangeable and mortgageable long-term land use right certificates. Using primary qualitative and quantitative data collected in a mountainous district of Northern Vietnam, this paper investigates the role of the land policy in the adoption of soil conservation technologies by farmers. This issue is of crucial importance in the region where population growth and growing market demands have induced farmers to intensify agricultural production. While poverty has been reduced, environmental problems such as soil erosion, landslides, and declining soil fertility have become more severe over the past years. Our findings suggest that despite farmers’ awareness of erosion, soil conservation technologies are perceived as being economically unattractive; therefore, most upland farmers continue to practice the prevailing erosion-prone cultivation system. Focusing on agroforestry as one major soil conservation option, we estimate household and plot-level econometric models to empirically assess the determinants of adoption. We find that the possession of a formal land title positively influences adoption, but that the threat of land reallocations in villages discourages adoption by creating uncertainty and tenure insecurity. The analyses reveal that these two effects interact with each other but are of small magnitude. We conclude that the issuance of land titles is a necessary but not sufficient prerequisite to encouraging the adoption of soil conservation practices. However, current practices remain economically unattractive to farmers. This deficiency needs to be addressed by interdisciplinary research and complemented by strong efforts by local authorities to promote sustainable land use.     

Factors influencing technological practices in the Brazilian agrarian reform

In recent decades, agriculture has responded to technology-related changes with strong productivity growth. Despite this evolution, the adoption of new technologies by small farmers has been a consistent challenge. In the coming years, the adoption of technology should be an essential element for the survival of small producers. To follow this evolution, the objective of this research is to identify factors that influence the adoption of higher levels of technological practices by producers of the agrarian reform in the Midwestern region of Brazil. Technological practices were evaluated based on the adoption of natural or chemical inputs, crop rotation, high yield seeds and mechanization. Higher levels of technological practices were defined as the joint use of these technologies, classified as technological packages. We identified two technological packages, one using natural inputs and the other chemical inputs. Questionnaires were applied to 1,162 settlers and the analytical model used was an ordered logit. Education, technical assistance and exchange experience with neighbors have a positive effect on technology use but do not favor the use of technological packages, which are instead favored by training courses in technology, partnerships with agro-food companies and resources available for investment. Thus, the government’s priority should be to offer good technical support and access to training courses in technology. The financing of production costs did not show any effect on the adoption of technology, in contrast to funding for investments. Consequently, the financing of production costs should be reconsidered to favor greater technological investments.     

Farmers’ objectives as determinants of organic farming adoption: the case of Catalonian vineyard production

This article assesses the decision to adopt organic farming practices. We use Duration Analysis (DA) to determine why farmers adopt organic farming practices and what influences the timing of adoption. We extend previous studies by including farmers’ objectives, risk preferences, and agricultural policies as covariates in the DA model. The Analytical Hierarchy Process is used as a multicriteria decision‐making methodology to measure farmers’ objectives. The empirical analysis uses farm‐level data from a sample of vineyard farms in the Spanish region of Catalonia. Farmers’ objectives are found to influence the conversion decision. Moreover, farmers who are not risk averse are more likely to adopt organic farming. Results point to the policy changes that have been most relevant in motivating adoption of organic practices.     

Adoption and Abandonment of Organic Farming: An Empirical Investigation of the Irish Drystock Sector

There is a considerable literature about the adoption of organic farming. However, possible abandonment of organic farming has received scant attention. Thus, relatively little is known about the exit decisions of farmers. In addition, most studies are based on a static framework where it is not possible to account for changes in farmer decisions over time. This article attempts to fill this gap in the literature by investigating the determinants that affect both adoption and abandonment of organic drystock farming over time. The use of duration analysis allows for the consideration of cross‐sectional and time‐varying factors over the study period from 1981 to 2008. Using this dynamic econometric framework revealed a significant time effect on entry and exit decisions. Overall, the results highlight that where no attempt is made to account for exit decisions and time effects, important information about sustainable farmer decisions may not be taken into consideration.     

Adoption of New Technologies in Ethiopian Agriculture: The Case of Tegulet-Bulga District,Shoa Province

Adoption of agricultural production technologies in developing countries is influenced by a wide range of economic and social factors as well as physical and technical aspects of farming and the risk attitude of farmers. It is important to understand the role of these factors to ensure the development of appropriate technologies and the design of successful development projects. This study examines the impact of such factors on the adoption of single-ox, fertilizer and pesticide technologies as part of a post-drought recovery project in Tegulet-Bulga district in Ethiopia. Models to evaluate the probability of adoption are specified for the respective technologies and are estimated using a logit maximum likelihood procedure, results indicate that the most significant variable affecting the probability of adoption of all three technologies is farm size; the impact is negative for single-ox technology and positive for fertilizer and pesticide use. Economic factors such as income, wealth and debt generally exhibit statistically significant influence on the adoption of single-ox and pesticide technologies as do family size, access to outside information, education and experience. The effect of socio-economic factors on adoption of fertilizer and pesticide technologies is greater in the area which has more access to outside information and off-farm activities (Ankober) than in more ‘self-contained’ area (Seladengay). The impact of the degree of risk aversion of farmers is found to be significant and negative for single-ox technology in both areas, and for fertilizer and pesticide technologies in only one area. The predicted probabilities of technology adoption by an average farmer are found to increase dramatically with the level of education and access or exposure to outside information.     

Utilizing conjoint analysis to design modern crop varieties: empirical example for groundnut in Niger

Preferences for monetary and non-monetary plant traits influence modern crop variety adoption decisions of farmers. To enhance adoption probability of modem crop varieties, it is necessary to identify and locus research on traits that significantly contribute to utility while de-emphasizing insignificant plant attributes. This paper illustrates the potential for applying conjoint analysis to aid the design and targeting of client-responsive modern crop varieties, farmers ranked eight orthogonally-derived plant trail combinations used in an illustrative example. Utilities were estimated using the choice-probability-based method of ordered probit. Results showed that conjoint analysis can differentiate significant and non-significant trails of modern crop varieties. The usefulness of applying conjoint analysis over identifiable disaggregated groups of a sample was also evident. Future application of conjoint analysis to the design and targeting of modern crop varieties should carefully consider sample composition and size to permit the estimation of relevant sub-models for desired farmer segments.