Journal of Agricultural Economics and Development Vol. 4(3), pp. 037-043, March 2015 ISSN 2327-3151 ©2015 Academe Research Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Analysis of adoption spell of improved common bean varieties in the central rift valley of Ethiopia: A duration model approach

Yitayal Abebe* and Adam Bekele

Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, Melkasa Agricultural Research Center, P. O. Box 436, Adama, Ethiopia.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: sinkyitayal@gmail.com.

Accepted 3 February, 2015

Abstract

This paper assesses the spread and farm household level determinants of adoption lag of improved common bean varieties in the central rift valley of Ethiopia with descriptive, parametric and non-parametric duration models. Results of descriptive method indicated that 83% of the total respondents were adopters of improved beans varieties with uneven adoption pattern. Non-parametric duration analysis showed that speed of adoption of beans was rapid in the early years and wanes eventually. Compared to male headed households, female headed households were found to be slow to adopt improved bean varieties in the early periods of awareness about the technologies. Parametric duration models suggest that the size of cultivated land, proximity to extension office and remoteness to fertilizer market hastened adoption, while dependency ration and livestock ownership contributed to increase in the adoption spell. In general, results imply that to influence the adoption behavior of smallholder beans farmers, policies and strategies should be made to account for the demographic, asset and institutional factors associated to the particular crop.

Key words: Adoption spell, adoption pattern, improved common beans, duration model.