The Adoption of Agricultural Technology - Food Security Group

Cha ter 5MethodsforAnalyzingAdoptionPatternsThe results of an adoption survey require careful analysis andpresentation. The form and focus of the final report will depend very muchon the purpose of the study. If the purpose is only to document the degreeof adoption, then thought must be given to the factors discussed in Chapter2 regarding the definition of adoption, the best way to present the degreeof present adoption, and the necessity of analyzing historical adoptionpatterns. This type of analysis is useful for considering the rate of progressof a technology generation effort and for helping to investigate the impactof such an effort.But very often we also wish to analyze the adoption patterns and to try toexplain why a technology may be reaching certain farmers and not others.Some of the pOSSible reasons for differences in adoption were outlined inChapter 3. Explaining adoption patterns requires additional analysis,which is the subject of the present chapter.There are two principal strategies for helping us understand why farmersaccept or reject a particular technology. One is to seek the opinions andobservations of the farmers, and the second is to do a statistical comparisonof adoption behavior with the characteristics of the farm, farmer, orinstitutional environment. Both of these are valid aspects of surveyanalysis. This chapter discusses the analysis and presentation of this typeof data.Farmers' OpinionsFarmers usually know what they like and what they do not like about anew technology and are able to express their opinions. These opinions willreflect their own experience. If the adoption study encourages farmers toproVide an honest assessment and does not make them feel that thequestioning represents a test of knowledge of "modern agricul ture" or"recommended practices," then very useful information will be obtained.Open questions, such as "Do you like variety X?" or "What problems doyou find with reduced tillage?" may not be effective, however. The formaladoption study will be based on the experience of an inrormal survey(where these open questions are more appropriate), and the questionnaireshould refer more to speCific characteristics or the technology that havebeen identified. Box 25 (at the end of this chapter) shows farmers' opinionson two technologies; in one case adopters were asked to explain thereasons for using a technology, while in the second case rarmers who didnot adopt were asked to explain their choice.Farmers' decisions regarding new technology can rarely be reduced to asimple set or opinions, however. Farmers use a range of criteria in decidingwhether to change their practices, and a number or models and theories-67