Adoption of Improved Wheat Varieties and Its Impact on Farm Income of Smallholder Wheat Producers in Gololcha District of Bale Zone

Abstract

The objective of this study was to analyze the factors influencing farmer’s decision in adoption of improved wheat varieties and estimate the impact of adoption on farm income in Gololcha district of Bale zone. The study used cross-sectional data collected from a sample of 202 farm households selected through multistage random sampling procedures following probability proportional to sample size technique. Both qualitative and quantitative data obtained from primary and secondary sources were used. The primary data were collected from randomly selected respondents, focus group discussants and key informant interviewees whereas secondary data were collected from Gololcha district office of agriculture. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and econometric models as well as qualitative data analysis techniques such as narration and quotation. The survey result showed 91(45%) sample household heads were adopters of improved wheat varieties in 2018/19 production year. Based on the nature of data, probit model was used to identify factors affecting farmer’s adoption decision in improved wheat varieties. The probit model result showed that sex of household head, land holding size, livestock holding size, access to credit, access to market information, frequency of extension contacts, educational level of household head, membership in cooperatives and perception on yield capacity significantly and positively influenced adoption decision of improved wheat varieties. Propensity score matching (PSM) model was also employed to evaluate the impact of adoption of improved wheat varieties on farm income. The result of the PSM estimation showed that adoption of improved wheat varieties has significant impact on farm income of adopter households by earning 24.12 % increase in annual farm income as compared to the non-adopter. Based on the findings of this study it can be concluded that policy and development interventions should give emphasis towards improvement of such economical and institutional support system so as to achieve wider adoption of improved wheat varieties, increased production and productivity of smallholder farmer. For instance, the positive significant effect of variables such as access to credit, access to market information and frequency of extension contacts on adoption of improved wheat varieties implies the need of intervention that can strength rural credit crevice provision, increasing frequency of extension visits and provision of reliable and timely market information to enhance farmers’ adoption decision in improved wheat varieties. The positive and significant influence of perception on adoption also suggests the need of considering the attributes farmers use when choosing varieties to enhance farmers’ adoption of improved wheat varieties.