The Adoption of Agricultural Technology - Food Security Group

Chapter 6ConclusionsThere is an urgent need to develop more productive technology for farmersin developing countries. The resources available to public and privateinstitutions, and to the farmers themselves, are very limited, however.Thus it is imperative that the process of technology generation be made asefficient as possible. One way of improving the efficiency of agriculturaltechnology development is to doa better job of describing and analyzingtechnology adoption.There is no single method for studying technology adoption. Indeed,concerns with adoption and acceptability must form a part of thetechnology generation process from its early stages. Agricultural researchthat does not include a continual dialogue between farmers andresearchers will have little chance of success.As technology is developed and made available, there are several ways offollOWing its progress. This manual has described one important method,the formal survey. Its advantages include the ability to provide systematic,quantitative information to those who must take decisions about researchor extension efforts, and its ability to formally test hypotheses that explainadoption patterns.Formal adoption studies can proVide valuable information to research,extension, or rural development institutions that wish to assess theirprogress and take advantage of farmer experience. Adoption studies arealso valuable tools for improving the efficiency of communication betweeninstitutions responsible for research, extension, and agricultural policy.And finally, an adoption study can play an important role indemonstrating the impact of a research or extension effort and in justifyingcontinued or expanded support from funding sources.Properly managed, adoption studies can contribute to improving theefficiency of agricultural research, technology transfer, input provision,and agricultural policy formulation. Formal adoption studies should thusbe an important part of the methodology of institutions involved inagricultural development.-84