Wheat Growers in Ethiopia's Bale Zone Adoption of Better Wheat Varieties

Abstract

In Ethiopia, wheat is a crucial crop for food security. One strategy aimed at closing the nation's ongoing food
disparity is the adoption of better wheat varieties, which will increase smallholder farmers' output and
productivity. A number of institutional and socioeconomic issues that are empirically unknown in the research
area prevent farmers from adopting better wheat varieties. Analyzing the factors influencing farmers' decisions
to adopt enhanced wheat varieties in the research area was the aim of this study. For this study, a mix of
quantitative and qualitative techniques, including focused group discussions, key informant interviews, and
household surveys, were used. The results of the probit model demonstrated that the adoption decision of
improved wheat varieties was significantly influenced by the following factors: the household head's sex, the
size of the land and livestock holdings, the amount of credit available, the availability of market information, the
frequency of extension contacts, the household head's educational attainment, cooperative membership, and
perceptions of yield capacity. Therefore, in order to achieve greater adoption of better wheat varieties and
higher production and productivity of smallholder farmers, policy and development interventions should focus
on improving such an institutional and economic support framework.