Abstract:
n Ethiopia, lower productivity of potato production has been one of the significant contributors
to food insecurity. Considerable efforts have been made by the government, NGOs and
researchers in generating, introducing and disseminating appropriate potato technologies to
boost the production and productivity of potato though the adoption outcome is not as expected.
Encouraging the use of improved potato varieties is the important policy measure to address the
problem. However, this is made possible if and only if, information on the adoption of improved
potato varieties by smallholder farmers is known in advance. The objective of this study was to
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identify factors that determine adoption and intensity of adoption of improved potato varieties in
Shashemene district. A multi-stage random sampling procedure was used to select 120 sample
potato producers from the district using probability proportional to size. Descriptive statistics
and econometric model were used to analyze data. Double-hurdle model was used to analyze
factors affecting smallholder farmers’ adoption decision and the intensity of adoption of
improved potato varieties. The findings demonstrate that Educational level, livestock holding,
and farm income positively affected farmers adoption decision whereas, households labor
availability negatively affected it. On the other hand, age of household heads, farm income, land
size cultivated, participation in social organizations, and participation in off/non-farm activities
affected the proportion of land allocated for improved potato varieties positively whereas,
distance to the nearest market center affected it negatively. Based on the results obtained, the
study suggests that the government and stakeholders should focus on strengthening the provision
of formal and informal education, arranging experience sharing program, enhancing farmer’s
farm income, enhancing farmer’s resource endowment, improving livestock production,
strengthening the participation of farmers in social organization and non/off-farm activities,
improving rural family planning and strengthening the existing rural-urban infrastructure
development.
