Adoption of hybrid seeds and fertilizers among Colombian corn growers

Abstract

The study described in the following chapter is one of a series aimed at enlarging understanding of the factors impinging on the adoption of new cereals technology can help governments and development assistance agencies to increase farmer income, hence the interest in a topic. Interest increased as controversy about effects of introducing new technologies attracted widespread attention to the theme. CIMMYT, with its mandate defining its role in the development and diffusion of maize and wheat technology, quickly assumed a participant's role in the discussion. The concern and the interest emanating from the critical importance of the theme stimulated CIMMYT to look for a modus operandi through which patterns could be identified. Better understanding of these relationships would influence CIMMYT efforts to develop new technology, the orientation of its training program, and the approach taken in counseling governments about national programs. In order to better comprehend what influences farmer response to new technology, CIMMYT set out to facilitate to research on which this and the other studies of the series based. We decided to examine eight cases in which maize or wheat technology had been introduced to farmers. In identifying programs for study, we limited consideration to those in which the technology had been available to farmers for no less than five years and in which no less than 1000,000 hectares of land might have been affected. Eight programs were selected for study. For maize the focus was on Colombia, El Salvador, Kenya west of Rift Valley, and Mexico's Plan Puebla. For wheat, programs in India, Iran, Tunisa and Turkey were considered. CIMMYT's maize and wheat staff participated in the selection of these programs. With their knowledge of programs around the world it was possible to choose a varied set of experiences-e.g. programs with and without irrigation, with and without effective price guarantees, with massive extension effort and with virtually none.