Abstract
Adoption of new agricultural technologies is always at the center of policy interest in developing countries. In reality, despite the visible benefits of many of the new agricultural technologies, including machinery and management practices, farmers either do not adopt them or it takes a long time to begin the adoption process and scaling up. To enhance the provision of irrigation using surface water and to enhance irrigation efficiency, Bangladesh has been trying to introduce the axial-flow-pump (AFP) appropriate for surface water irrigation, which can lift up to 55% more water, conditional on the water head, than a conventional centrifugal pump. Despite the visible benefits of the AFP, the uptake of the AFP for irrigation is low in the targeted zone of Bangladesh. The present study demonstrates that the new technology must be modified to adapt to local demand and specifications. Most importantly, the price of the new technology must be competitive with the prices of the existing available substitute technologies to ensure a rapid uptake and scaling up of this new agricultural technology.
Highlights
11% of the 7.42 billion world population is extremely poor
The present study demonstrates the problems related to the diffusion of a new agricultural technology despite the visible gain from the adoption of it
Using primary data collected in the 2014–15 boro rice season from 70 irrigation service providers in a demonstration experiment of the axial flow pump (AFP) in eight districts in Bangladesh, this study examined the factors affecting the willingness to purchase an improved agricultural technology in a developing country
Summary
11% of the 7.42 billion world population is extremely poor. They are concentrated mostly in the rural areas of Southern Asia and sub-Saharan African countries, 78% of whom rely on agriculture for their livelihoods [1,2]. No of service providers Average price willing to pay (BDT) % Service provider from Bhola District % Service provider from Barishal District % Service provider from other than Bhola and Barishal districts Land area (ha) provided irrigation services in 2014-15 boro season No of client farmers in 2014-15 boro season Age, service provider Years of schooling, service provider % Service provider with non-farm sector as the major occupation Years of experience as an irrigation service provider Years of schooling, spouse No of earners in the family % Used two-wheeled tractor to run AFP % Irrigated only boro rice Discharge diameter of the pump (inches) Pump length (feet). The sampled service providers have highly ranked the water lifting capacity, and the fuel and labor cost-saving attributes of an AFP compared to the centrifugal pump (Table 3). They said that the AFP should come with a generic chassis which will be compatible with existing popular engines (Fig. 3). It shows that on average a sampled AFP user offered BDT 9672.9 for an AFP
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