Elsevier

Technology in Society

Volume 55, November 2018, Pages 126-135
Technology in Society

Perception and adoption of a new agricultural technology: Evidence from a developing country

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2018.07.007Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Highlights

  • Technology adoption is core of agricultural development.

  • Despite visible benefits many technologies are not adopted by farmers.

  • The study used primary data to examine why this can be the case.

  • The study shows that technology must be compatible to local environment.

  • Price of new technology must be competitive to the alternatives.

Abstract

Adoption of new agricultural technologies is always at the center of policy interest in developing countries. In reality, despite the visible benefits of many of the new agricultural technologies, including machinery and management practices, farmers either do not adopt them or it takes a long time to begin the adoption process and scaling up. To enhance the provision of irrigation using surface water and to enhance irrigation efficiency, Bangladesh has been trying to introduce the axial-flow-pump (AFP) appropriate for surface water irrigation, which can lift up to 55% more water, conditional on the water head, than a conventional centrifugal pump. Despite the visible benefits of the AFP, the uptake of the AFP for irrigation is low in the targeted zone of Bangladesh. The present study demonstrates that the new technology must be modified to adapt to local demand and specifications. Most importantly, the price of the new technology must be competitive with the prices of the existing available substitute technologies to ensure a rapid uptake and scaling up of this new agricultural technology.

Keywords

Adoption
Axial-flow-pump
Centrifugal pump
Farmer
Irrigation
Low-lift-pump
Technology
Perception
Price
Society

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