Adoption/Diffusion Processes, Persistence, and Socioeconomic Impact of New Inputs and Peanut Varieties

Approach

The goal of NCS 07S was to work with the Peanut CRSP projects and management entity to identify impacts of implemented research, and measure adoption of new technologies, the persistence of the technologies (how long will they improve production), and the impacts of new technologies (production inputs or new varieties).

Achievements

The survey results from the study of the adoption of peanut technologies in Jamaica were generated and published in a final report. The studies determined: 1) that the practice of growing the CARDI/Payne peanut cultivar had shown a pronounced decline due to less desirable market quality; 2) that labor saving technologies introduced by the project (along with the new cultivar) continue to be used by local farmers, that include backpack sprayers, shellers, and skinners for use in growing the Valencia cultivars; 3) the adopters of new technologies tended to be located in the social centrality areas; 4) farmers were suffering from an inelastic market and tended to store the crop in hopes of higher prices; and 5) in some instances, whole communities of farmers switched from peanut to other crops since 1990. It is important to note, however, that Peanut CRSP labor-saving technologies introduced with the cultivar work was impacting the industry in the Caribbean. The researchers completed a second report on the adoption of collateral technologies, which was based on more intensive regression analyses. In the Philippines, the focus was on the assessment of factors that determine farmers’ propensities to adopt differing levels of technology. The study covered four cultivars that were released with Peanut CRSP support from 1983 to 1995. Noted was that the Peanut CRSP funded research has significantly impacted farmer adoption of improved cultivars and also nearby communities, which were not targeted by the Philippine extension service through their Department of Agriculture. Specifically, there was a 17% adoption during 1994-1995 in targeted areas, and 6.5% adoption in nearby communities. These figures were 35% and 20%, respectively, in 1998-1999. These are excellent developments, a tribute to Peanut CRSP.

Focus

Socioeconomic forces