Adopting Improved Farm Technology

Adopting Improved Farm Technology

Author: Rafael Celis

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 1991

Total Pages: 440

ISBN-13: 9780896293199

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The physical, institutional and policy environment; The determinants and effects of technology adoption; Determinants of other factors influencing technology adoption.


Direct and Spillover Effects of Agricultural Technology Adoption Programs

Direct and Spillover Effects of Agricultural Technology Adoption Programs

Author: Julián Aramburu

Publisher:

Published: 2019

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

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This paper estimates the impact of an agricultural technology adoption program on agricultural production and income using an experimental approach. The context of analysis is the Program for the Support of Innovation in Agricultural Technology (PATCA II) implemented in the Dominican Republic. The program aimed to increase the agricultural productivity and income of smallholder farmers by encouraging the adoption of a technology. We exploit a two-stage randomized experiment conducted at the geographic and farmer levels to estimate the effects of adopting improved pasture and irrigation technologies. To measure the effectiveness of the program, we combined rich microeconomic data obtained from a comprehensive household survey with administrative data to measure both direct and spillover effects. The sample includes 2,499 farmers, including direct beneficiaries, indirect beneficiaries, controls, and farmers within the social network of direct beneficiaries. We find different patterns of adoption and significant impacts on production-related outcomes for both of the technologies analyzed. The results show adoption of improved pastures increased agricultural income and that the effects intensify over time. In the case of irrigation, treatment had adverse effects on total household income and agricultural production; however, there is evidence of a change in the production portfolio of program beneficiaries from temporary to permanent crops as a function of time of exposure to the technology. Whereas irrigation can be implemented immediately after treatment, income benefits take time to materialize, for instance, as permanent crops reach the initial point of harvest or maturity. These results imply the existence of a dynamic learning-by-doing process. Also, the assessment of indirect or spillover effects did not validate the hypotheses that knowledge spillovers might take place among farmers in close geographical and social proximity to program beneficiaries. The results present evidence that liquidity constraints are critical determinants of technology adoption for smallholder farmers in the Dominican Republic.


Publicly Funded Agricultural Research and the Changing Structure of U.S. Agriculture

Publicly Funded Agricultural Research and the Changing Structure of U.S. Agriculture

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2002-03-18

Total Pages: 314

ISBN-13: 0309170346

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) requested that the Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources of the National Research Council (NRC) convene a panel of experts to examine whether publicly funded agricultural research has influenced the structure of U.S. agriculture and, if so, how. The Committee to Review the Role of Publicly Funded Agricultural Research on the Structure of U.S. Agriculture was asked to assess the role of public-sector agricultural research on changes in the size and numbers of farms, with particular emphasis on the evolution of very-large-scale operations.


Determining Factors and Impacts of Modern Agricultural Technology Adoption in West Wollega

Determining Factors and Impacts of Modern Agricultural Technology Adoption in West Wollega

Author: Merga Challa

Publisher: GRIN Verlag

Published: 2014-09-16

Total Pages: 96

ISBN-13: 3656744033

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Master's Thesis from the year 2013 in the subject Agrarian Studies, Wollega University (School of graduate studies), language: English, abstract: This study analyzed factors affecting modern agricultural technology adoption by farmers and the impact of technology adoption decision on the welfare of households in the study area. The data used for the study were obtained from 145 randomly selected sample households in the study area. Binary logit model was employed to analyze the determinants of farmers’ decisions to adopt modern technologies. Moreover, the average effect of adoption on household incomes and expenditure were estimated by using propensity score matching method. The result of the logistic regression showed that household heads’ education level, farm size, credit accessibility, perception of farmers about cost of the inputs and off-farm income positively and significantly affected the farm households’ adoption decision; while family size affected their decision negatively and significantly. The result of the propensity score matching estimation showed that the average income and consumption expenditure of adopters are greater than that of non-adopters. Based on these findings it is recommended that the zonal and the woreda leaders extension agents farm and education experts, policy makers and other development oriented organizations have to plan in such a way that the farm households in the study area will obtain sufficient education, credit accessibilities and also have to train farmers to make them understand the benefits obtained from adopting the new technologies. These bodies have also to arrange policy issues that improve farm labour participation of household members and also to arrange the ways in which farmers obtain means of income outside farming activities.


Credit constraints and agricultural technology adoption: Evidence from Nigeria

Credit constraints and agricultural technology adoption: Evidence from Nigeria

Author: Balana, Bedru

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2020-08-19

Total Pages: 28

ISBN-13:

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The agricultural sector in Nigeria is characterized by low productivity that is driven by low use of modern agricultural technologies, such as improved seed, chemical fertilizer, agrochemicals, and agricultural machinery. Poor access to credit is claimed to be one of the key barriers to adoption of these technologies. This study examines the nature of credit constraints among smallholder farmers – whether smallholders are credit constrained or not and the extent to which credit constraints emanate from supply-side or demand-side factors. Using multinomial probit and seeming unrelated simultaneous equations econometric models with data from the 2018/19 Living Standards Measurement Study-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) for Nigeria, the study investigates the factors affecting credit access and the effects of these credit constraints on adoption of four agricultural technologies – inorganic fertilizer, improved seed, agrochemicals, and mechanization. The results show that about 27 percent of survey households were found to be credit constrained – 12.8 percent due to supply-side factors and 14.2 percent due to demand-side factors. Lack of access to information and communication technology, extension services, and insurance coverage are the major demand-side factors negatively affecting smallholder’s access to credit. Registered land tiles and livestock ownership enhance credit access. Credit constraints manifests themselves differentially on the adoption of different agricultural technologies. While adoption of inorganic fertilizer and improved seed are significantly affected by credit constraints from both the supply and the demand-sides; use of agricultural machinery is affected only by demand-side factors, while use of agrochemicals is not affected from either supply or demand-side credit factors. From a policy perspective, our findings indicate that improving credit access via supply-side interventions alone may not necessarily boost use of modern agricultural technologies by smallholder farmers in Nigeria. Demand-side factors, such as access to information, extension services, and insurance cover, should equally be addressed to mitigate the credit constraints faced by smallholders and increase their adoption of modern agricultural technologies and improve their productivity.


Stimulating agricultural technology adoption: Lessons from fertilizer use among Ugandan potato farmers

Stimulating agricultural technology adoption: Lessons from fertilizer use among Ugandan potato farmers

Author: Nazziwa-Nviiri, Lydia

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2017-02-17

Total Pages: 36

ISBN-13:

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In the context of a growing population in an already densely populated area, agricultural yields will need to increase without putting additional stress on the environment. The adoption of modern inputs by smallholders is an important ingredient of agricultural transformation. In this study we explore plot-level, household-level, and institutional-level characteristics associated with agricultural technology adoption behavior among smallholder farmers. The aim is to uncover correlations that can guide the design of policies and incentives that are likely to increase adoption. We explicitly differentiate between fixed costs that are likely to affect the decision to use the technology and variable costs that are more relevant for the decision regarding use intensity. In addition, we examine how the importance of each of these characteristics differs with asset status. To do so, we use data from about 1,880 potato plots cultivated by 500 randomly selected potato growers in southwestern Uganda. We first categorize households into poorly endowed and well-endowed asset classes based on their access to productive assets. We then estimate double-hurdle models for take-up and use intensity of fertilizer for each group. The results show that the factors associated with the decision to use fertilizer are often different from those associated with the decision about how much fertilizer to use and that the characteristics correlated with fertilizer adoption differ between asset-poor and asset-rich farmers. For instance, asset-poor female-headed households are less likely to use fertilizer, but if they do, they use more of it than male-headed households. Our results also suggest fertilizer packaging and distribution are important factors in fertilizer adoption decisions due to their impact on costs related to both indivisibilities and uncertainty about the quality. We derive a range of policy recommendations.


The gap between technology awareness and adoption in Sub-Saharan Africa: A literature review for the DeSIRA project

The gap between technology awareness and adoption in Sub-Saharan Africa: A literature review for the DeSIRA project

Author: Kazembe, Cynthia

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2021-03-02

Total Pages: 10

ISBN-13:

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This paper reviews different studies on technology adoption in sub-Saharan Africa to understand the determinants of low adoption of improved technologies, with a special focus on Malawi. This will in turn help explain why there is a gap between awareness and adoption of agriculture technologies. As evidenced from the results of the FGDs conducted in Malawi in 2018, despite the visible benefits of the new technologies, farmers often do not adopt or take a long time to adopt them. This creates a gap between awareness of agriculture technologies and their adoption. The existing literature from sub-Saharan Saharan Africa, demonstrates that adoption, as a decision-making process, is affected by farmers’ access to information, their financial and human capital, incentives and external programs, plus farmers’ attitude to risk.


The Impact of Cooperatives on Agricultural Technology Adoption

The Impact of Cooperatives on Agricultural Technology Adoption

Author: Degnet Abebaw

Publisher:

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

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Using cross-sectional data and a propensity score matching technique, this paper investigates the impact of cooperatives on adoption of agricultural technologies. Our analysis indicates that cooperative members are more likely to be male-headed households, have better access to agricultural extension services, possess oxen, participate in off-farm work, and have leadership experience. We also found that geographic location and age of household head are strongly associated with cooperative membership. Our estimation results show that cooperative membership has a strong positive impact on fertilizer adoption. The impact on adoption of pesticides turns out to be statistically significant when only agricultural cooperatives are considered. Further analysis also suggests that cooperative membership has a heterogeneous impact on fertilizer adoption among its members. The results suggest that cooperatives can play an important role in accelerating the adoption of agricultural technologies by smallholder farmers in Ethiopia.


Improving the Welfare of Smallholder Farmers through Biotechnology

Improving the Welfare of Smallholder Farmers through Biotechnology

Author: Nassul Ssentamu Kabunga

Publisher: Cuvillier Verlag

Published: 2011-12-02

Total Pages: 167

ISBN-13: 3736939558

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Despite economic growths observed over the last half-century, global poverty and hunger still remain big challenges to overcome. Most of the poor people live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for livelihood. Advancements and access to agricultural innovations and skills are thus essential components for mass poverty alleviation. Apparently, a wide range of agricultural technologies are readily available for potential uptake; some of these technologies are specifically devised to address productivity improvements in crops that would otherwise be difficult to breed conventionally. However, the rate and scale of adoption of these technologies in developing countries is still less than expected. Technology adoption rates are even much lower in sub-Saharan Africa, a region that is persistently characterized by stagnated economic growth rates and deteriorating welfare conditions for its citizens. Literature on agricultural technology adoption and its actual or potential impacts in developing countries is vast. However, the general understanding of these effects is still hampered by the limited scope of robust economic studies. Particularly, most new technologies require farmers to substantially change traditional production practices in order to make significant gains, which often also requires access to new information and complementary input resources. The failure for existing studies to give considerable empirical detail to information and other related institutional constraints as well as the role of complementary inputs limits avenues for wider policy making. Moreover, it is reasonable that impact studies address broader welfare outcomes such as, the net effects of new technology on household income and food security. Although relatively more empirical evidence is available for income, quite little is known about the effect of new technology on improving household food security. The latter could be partly due to the conceptual complexities and costs involved in estimating household food security.