Factors Affecting Farmer's Adoption of Hybrid Rice Varieties in Bangladesh -Regional Differences in Farmer's Union and Government Extension Services-

Abstract

Abstract This study finds out socio-economic factors that affect farmers to adopt hybrid rice varieties and the level of adoption in 8 divisions, Bangladesh using Tobit model and the Double Hurdle model. In the Tobit estimation, factors such as household head age, farmers union membership, plot size, the number of extension services by the government and NGOs, and usage of mobile for information collection positively affect the farmers adoption rate of hybrid rice varieties. However, the results show that the signs and the coefficients of each district are different from those of the estimation including all the divisions. The estimates in Barisal district, the southern part of Bangladesh, are consistent with the overall estimation while the estimates in Rangpur, the northern part, are no longer consistent in terms of farmers union membership and other factors. Also, many of significant factors that affect the adoption rate in the first stage of the Double Hurdle model are no longer statistically significant in the level of the adoption in the second stage of the model. As a result of the estimations, various socio-economic factors listed above help farmers adopt hybrid rice varieties. However, the factors no longer affect the level of the adoption. Therefore, consequent studies need to focus on the relationship between the level of adoption and socio- economic factors.