RA 00048.pdf - OAR@ICRISAT

26
24
Karnataka
22
2 0
Maharashtra
18
Madhya
Pradesh
16
14
All India
12
10
8
6
Andhra
Pradesh
4
2
0
66-67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78
Years
S o u r c e : T h e F e r t i l i z e r A s s o c i a t i o n o f I n d i a ( v a r i o u s e d i t i o n s ) a n d G o v e r n m e n t o f I n d i a ( 1 9 8 0 ) .
N o t e : O n l y m a j o r p r o d u c i n g s t a t e s a r e s h o w n .
Figure 1. Adoption of HYVs of sorghum in India.
v e l o p m e n t of i m p r o v e d location-specific HYV sorg
h u m cultivars in India in favor of t h o s e w i t h w i d e
adaptability, m a y w e l l be part of t h e explanation
for the ceiling adoption rates we observe in
Figure 1.
An urgent research priority in t h e 1980s is to
undertake studies patterned o n t h e W a l k e r m o d e l
in India and in other countries having " m a t u r e "
s o r g h u m technologies and l o w ceiling adoption
levels. O n l y t h e n will w e b e confident that t h e
plea of Arakeri (1982) for d e v e l o p m e n t of m o r e
l o c a t i o n - s p e c i f i c s o r g h u m g e n o t y p e s i s t h e
appropriate research strategy for achieving t h e
sixfold increase in the area of HYVs in India
projected for the year 2 0 0 0 by t h e National
C o m m i s s i o n on Agriculture.
Farmers' perceptions of t h e risks of adoption of
innovations w e r e s h o w n to be a major d e t e r m i ­
nant of hybrid maize adoption in El Salvador by
W a l k e r (1981). Risk perceptions w e r e far m o r e
important than risk aversion attitudes in explaining
adoption behavior, and, as f o u n d by others, risk
aversion attitudes w e r e not influenced by t h e
socioeconomic characteristics of farmers. Far-
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