Tura, Motuma and Aredo, Dejene and Tsegaye, Wondwossen and Rovere, Roberto La and Tesfahun, Girma and Mwangi, Wilfred and Mwabu, Germano
(2010)
Adoption and continued use of improved maize seeds:
case study of central ethiopia.
African Journal of Agricultural Research , 5 (17).
pp. 2350-2358.
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Abstract
The literature on agricultural technology is limited on the issue of the continued use of an agricultural
technology after it is adopted. This paper analyzes the factors that explain adoption as well as
continued use of improved maize seeds in one of the high potential maize growing areas in central
Ethiopia. Using a bivariate probit with sample selection model approach, the study provides insights
into the key factors associated with adoption of improved maize seed and its continued use. The result
revealed that human capital (adult workers, off-farm work and experience in hiring labor), asset
endowment (size of land owned), institutional and policy variables (access to credit, membership in
cooperatives) all strongly influence farmers’ decisions to adopt improved maize varieties, while
continuous use of the seed is influenced by the proportion of farmland allocated to maize, literacy of the
household head, involvement in off-farm work, visits by extension agents, farmers’ experience,
household land size, and fertilizer usage. Accordingly, policies and interventions that are informed
about such factors are required to accelerate adoption and continued use of improved maize seeds in
order to increase farm yields and remedy shortage of food and fight food poverty and insecurity more
effectively and more sustainably.
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