Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Subsistence farmers were informed about the conservation effort and provided eco-
nomic support, training, and technical assistance to adopt the conservation produc-
tion system being advanced by the change agents. These efforts are consistent with
the information and decision-making stages of the diffusion model. The barriers
to adoption associated with lack of access to information and technical assistance
within the study region were negated by the contributions of the project sponsors.
Access to economic resources to adopt new production systems was also eliminated
as a barrier by sponsors.
The conservation program being advanced by project sponsors consisted of con-
tour planting of hedgerows composed of fast-growing legumes across sloping land.
Cuttings from the hedgerows were applied to the land, which increased soil fertility.
Legumes used to develop the hedgerows fixed nitrogen in the soil, which further
improved the soil. Over time, the areas upslope from the hedgerows became more
level because of sediments being precipitated from runoff water. The upslope land
leveled by sedimentation made it possible to introduce additional crops that resulted
in a more diversified and more economically viable farm operation. Soil erosion
from cultivated land upslope from the hedgerows was significantly reduced owing to
the slowing of runoff by the hedgerows acting as barriers to water flow. Reduced ero-
sion and increased fertility translated into economic benefits to the adopters, since
improved soil quality increased property values.
The cost of implementing the new conservation production system for participat-
ing farmers was minimal given the contributions of the project sponsors. Increased
demand for labor for manual trimming of the hedgerows and production losses at the
site of hedgerow development were the primary costs associated with adoption for
the farmer. The study reported by Sureshwaran et al. (1996) compared SALT adopt-
ers and nonadopters. Study findings demonstrated that younger farmers who were
operating larger farms tended to adopt the SALT production system more frequently.
These findings are consistent with other diffusion studies because younger people
tend to be more willing to assume the risks associated with the adoption of innova-
tions. While the costs associated with adopting SALT were low, there was some
risk associated with changing existing production practices. The authors suggest
that younger people were more interested in long-term impacts of change than older
people. The farm size variable is also consistent with the diffusion model because
operators of larger farms are better able to assume any economic losses if the con-
servation production system failed to produce the expected outcomes.
The income and education of study participants were not significant in explain-
ing adoption, as the diffusion model suggests. The reason for these findings is that
little variance existed between adopters and nonadopters in terms of income and
education. The study subjects were subsistence farmers who possessed little income
and practically no education. Land tenure was shown to facilitate adoption. This is
also consistent with the diffusion model because farmers must be able to capture the
benefit streams of their investments in conservation. The authors conclude that con-
servation efforts such as SALT should focus their efforts on younger farmers with
larger land acreage who have land tenure rights to the land they are operating. They
also note that assistance in the form of education, training, technical aid, and eco-
nomic subsidies will be required when attempting to motivate subsistence farmers
