Willingness and determinants of farmers'adoption of new rice varieties

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate farmers' willingness to adopt new rice varieties and the factors influencing their seed‐selection behaviors.

Design/methodology/approach

The Logit model was used to analyze farmers' willingness and the determinants of the behaviors in selecting and using new varieties. A total of 402 farming households in the main rice‐producing areas of Sichuan Province were surveyed.

Findings

The results indicate that rice yield and sales, agro‐technicians' popularization, kith and kin's seed purchase behaviors have a positive impact on farmers'choice, while the present production income has a negative effect. But previous seed purchasing behaviors, soil characteristics, media publicity, seed companies' recommendation and age of farmer have either positive or negative impact on farmers' choice.

Research limitations/implications

The paper is however unable to explain the general situation of China so it considers Sichuan province as a case. Increased sample quantities may be necessary in further research.

Originality/value

The paper proposes an hypothesis of farmers' willingness and determinants in choosing new rice varieties and verifies it by Logit model. It first analyzes the farmers'decision‐making behavior in choosing new rice varieties in Sichuan, and investigates the farmers' behavior more scientifically.

Citation

Li, D., Liu, M. and Deng, G. (2010), "Willingness and determinants of farmers'adoption of new rice varieties", China Agricultural Economic Review, Vol. 2 No. 4, pp. 456-471. https://doi.org/10.1108/17561371011097759