The Adoption of Agricultural Technology - Food Security Group

small test of farmers' skills (for example, of the mathematics necessary tocalculate a dosage of herbicide). Informal education may be important aswell, and in certain cases adoption studies enquire about such things asattendance at short courses organized by the extension service (see thesection on "Information," p. 41). It may also be interesting to ask about thefarmer's own history of innovation and of trying new ideas.Many (but certainly not all) adoption studies show some relationshipbetween technology adoption and the educational level of the farmer. Themore complex the technology, the more likely it is that education will playa role. Thus the diffusion of a new variety among farmers may not dependat all on their education level, while the diffusion of a chemical input maybe more rapid among farmers who have at least some minimum amount ofschooling. The important point is that if such a relation is demonstrated,we must then ask how strong that relationship is and what the practicalimplications might be. If a particular technology finds its waypredominantly to farmers with a certain level of education, then severaloptions should be considered. One is to try to simplify the technology (ordevelop alternatives) so that it is more accessible. Another option is toconcentrate extension resources on farmers with less education and to trainthem in the use of the new practice. And a third option is to use this resultin making a case for more investment in extension services, training, orrural schools to accelerate the use of agricultural technology-which isbecoming ever more complex.Age. Another farmer characteristic that is often examined in adoptionstudies is age. A farmer's age may influence adoption in one of severalways. Older farmers may have more experience, resources, or authoritythat would allow them more pOSSibilities for trying a new technology.Experience in a particular farming area or with a given crop may not bestrictly correlated with age, however, and it may be worth asking morespecifically about experience. On the other hand, it may be that youngerfarmers are more likely to adopt a new technology, because they have hadmore schooling than the older generation or perhaps have been exposed tonew ideas as migrant laborers.In either case, it is unlikely that the demonstration of a relation betweenage and adoption per se will be of immediate utility. It is more important tosee if the relationship is due to farmers' experience or education or if theassociation with age is more la reflection of characteristics of the farmhousehold, including the distribution of authority, labor availability, orsources of income. An example of this type of analysis is shown in Box Bat the end of this chapter.-31