INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BUSINESS, SOCIAL AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

ISSN: 2309-7892, Volume: 2, Issue: 1, Page: 13-19, July-September, 2014

Invited Paper
ADOPTION OF IMPROVED RICE CULTIVATION PRACTICES BY FARM ERS IN
RELATION TO THEIR CHARACTERISTICS

M.S.M.M. Sumon1 , S.C. Shovon2, A. Mahjuba2, H. Mehraj3 and AFM Jamal Uddin3 *

M.S.M.M. Su mon, S.C. Shovon, A. Mahjuba, H. Mehraj and AFM Jamal Uddin (2014). Adoption of I mproved Rice
Cultivation P ractices by Farmers in Relation to their Characteristics. Int. J. Bus. Soc. Sci. Res. 2( 1): 13-19. Retrieve
from http://www.ijbssr.com/currentissueview/140103040

Received Date: 30/06/2014 Acceptance Date: 09/07/2014 Published Date: 09/07/2014

Abstract
The study was conducted to determine the adoption of improved rice cultivation practices by
far mers and to explore its relationships with characteristics of far mers at three villages of
Mohadipur Union, P alashbari Upazila, Gaibandha, Bangladesh. Randomly 116 (8% of 1453)
far mers were selected from three villages as sample for the study. Maximum 62.93% of
respondents had medium while 20.69% had low and 16.38% had high adoption of improved rice
cultivation practices. Education, training exposure, organizational participation, extension media
contact and cosmopoliteness had significant positive relationship with the adoption of improved
rice cultivation practices. Family size, farm size and annual income had no significant positive
relationship with the adoption of improved rice cultivation practices.
Key words: Adoption, improved rice cultivation practice, relationship, farm ers characteristics.
Introduction
Rice is the staple food of Bangladesh and about 90% of the population depends on rice as their m ajor
food (IRRI, 1981). Agricultural land is decreasing day by day in Bangladesh thus future production must
be achi eved with less land. Success of any technology depends on its dissemination among potential
users. Adoption of new technologies by farmers varied due to the factors rel ated to farm ers like poverty,
lack of knowledge (Robert et al., 1989). Organized delivery of inputs and outputs, provision of technical
advice, effective training, stable prices and credit for participating farmers are important for farmers
adoption of innovation (Adams, 1982) also involves awareness, interest, evaluations, trial and adoption
(Rogers, 1962; Van Den B an and Hawkin, 1996). Extent to which farmers adopt innovation and its
impact in terms of yield, income and increase in living standard (Diederen et al., 2003).
Considering these points, current study was undertaken to determine the extent of adoption of improved
rice cultivation practices by farm ers and its relationship to the farmers charact eristics.
Methodology
Durgapur, Garanata and Bishramgaci villages of Mohadipur Union of Palashbari Upazila under
Gaibandha District in Bangladesh were selected as locale of this study. Randomly 116 (8% of 1453)
farmers were selected from three villages as sample for this study (Table l). A reserve list of 10
respondents was also prepared for covering the positions in case of the absence of the select ed
respondents during interview (Table l).
Table 1. Distribution of the population, sample and number of farmers in reserve list
Name of villages Population size Sample size Reserve list size
Durgapur 476 38 3
Garanata 508 41 4
Bishramgaci 469 37 3
Total 1453 116 10
Selection of Dependent and Independent Variables: Age, education, family size, farm size, annual
income, training exposure, organization participation, extension media contact and cosmopoliteness of
respondents were sel ected as independent variabl es and adoption of improved rice cultivation practices
was dependent vari able.

*Corresponding Authors Email: jamal4@yahoo.com

1
Department of Agricultural Extension and Information Sy stem, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University , Dhaka-1207, Bangladesh
2
Department of Agricultural Botany , Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University , Dhaka-1207, Bangladesh
3
Department of Horticulture, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University , Dhaka-1207, Bangladesh
Sumon etal. 14

Age: One score was assigned for each year of his/her age.
Education: One score was assigned for each completed year of schooling. If a respondent did not know
reading and writing, his/her education score was assigned as zero (0). Respondent was scored 0.5 i f
he/she only could sign his/her name.
Family size: Assigned score one for each member of the family.
Farm size: Farm size was measured by using following formula
FS = A1 + A2 + (A3 + A4 ) A5 + A6 + A7 + A8
Where; FS = Farm size, A1 = Homestead land, A2 = Land under own cultivation, A3 = Land given
to others on share cropping (borga), A4 = Land taken from others on share cropping (borga), A5 =
Land given to others on lease, A6 = Land taken from others on lease, A7 = Pond and A8 = Garden
Annual income: Annual income was measured on the basis of total yearly earnings. Total yield from all
sources in preceding year were converted into cash income (taka) according to prevailing market price
and added together to obtain total income of a respondent.
Training exposure: Training exposure of a respondent was measured on the basis of number of days of
training received on rice cultivation from different sources in the last five years. Score one was assigned
for receiving one day training.
Organizational participation: The following scale was used for computing organizational participation
score:
Categories of participation Score
No participation 0
Participation as ordinary member 1
Participation as executive member 2
Participation as executive officer 3
In case of membership in two or more organizations, scores were computed by adding scores obtained
for each organization according to the categori es of his/her m embership. Finally, organizational
participation score was measured by summation of the s cores obtained from all the select ed
organizations.
Extension media contact: all extension media contact were measured in following manners
Extent of contact Weighting system
Not at all 0
Rarely 1
Occasionally 2
Frequently 3
Regularly 4
Cosmopoliteness: The scale used for computing cosmopoliteness score was presented below
Extent of visit Assigned Score
Not at all 0
Rarely 1
Occasionally 2
Oftenly 3
Regularly 4
Measurement of dependent variable: Adoption of improved ri ce cultivation practices was the
dependent variable of the study. The selected technologies were: Modern M echani cal Cultivation (MC),
High Yielding Variety (HYV) practice, Line and/or spacing of seedling (LS), Urea Super Granular
(USG), Controlled irrigation (CI), Integrated Pest Management (IPM), Leaf colour chart (LC), Organi c
fertilizer and/green manure (OG). For this study years of use of adopt ed practices (No. 4) was chosen for
measuring the adoption of improved rice cultivation practices.

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Adoption of Improved Rice Cultivation Practices 15

Measurem ent of Adoption was presented below

Sl. No. Measurem ent of Adoption
01. Adoption and non-adoption
02. Number of practices adopted
03. Percent of Applicable practices adopted
04. Years of use of adopted practices
05. Innovativeness scale
06. Guttman scale of adoption
07. Trace line scale of adoption
08. Adoption quotient
Years of use of adopted farm practices: For this study the length of the period of' use of the innovation
was taken into consideration. The adoption score for this study was measured by using the following
formula:
AS = AP MC + APHYV + AP LS + AP USG + APCIM + AP IPM + AP LC + AP OG
Where, AS = Adoption Score, AP MC = Adoption Period for Modern Mechanical Cultivation, APHYV
= Adoption Period for High Yielding Variety, AP LS = Adoption Period for Straight-row and/or
proper Spacing of seedlings, AP USG = Adoption Period for Urea Super Granular, AP CIM = Adoption
Period for Controlled Irrigation Method, AP IPM = Adoption Period for Integrated Pest Management,
AP LC = Adoption Period for Leaf Colour Chart and AP OG = Adoption Period for Organic fertilizer
and/Green manure
Hypothesis of the Study: There are no rel ationships between each of the s elect ed characteristics of the
rice farmers and their adoption of improved rice cultivation practices.
Data Collection and Statistical Analysis: Data were collect ed during the period from 01 to 30 June,
2013. All possible efforts were established rapport with respondents. Information was duly checked in
order to minimize errors. The qualitative data were convert ed into quantitative by means of suitable
scoring techniques for the purpose of analysis. For describing the independent and the dependent
variables, the respondents were cl assi fied into several cat egories in respect of each of the variable. The
computer software SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 11.5) was used to analyze the
data.
In order to explore the rel ationships between adoption of improved ri ce cultivation practices and select ed
characteristics of rice farmers, the Pearson Product Moment Correlation was us ed at 5% level o f
significance as the basis of rejecting any null hypothesis. If the computed value of co-effici ent of
correlation r was equal to or greater than table value at designed 5% level of signi ficance for relevant
degrees of freedom, null hypothesis was reject ed and it was concluded that there was signi ficant
relationship between the concerned vari ables. However, when the computed value of co-effi cient o f
correlation was found to be smaller than tabulated value at 5% level of signi ficant for relevant degrees of
freedom, it was concluded that null hypothesis could not be rejected and hence there was no relationship
between the concerned variables.
Results And Discussion
Characteristics of the Rice Farmers
Age: Age of the respondents was ranged from 24 to 70 years with average 44.39 years having 11.91 SD
(Standard Devi ation). Maximum 46.55% of the respondents fell in the young aged cat egory compared to
44.83% middle, 8.62% old aged cat egory and 91.38% of respondents comprised young to middle-aged
categori es (Table 2). Young people generally show more favorable attitude towards new ideas and older
farmers because might have valuable opinions in regard to adoption of improve rice cultivation practices
becaus e of their longer farm experi ence.
Education: The education score of the respondents ranged from 0 to 15 with average 3.86 having 3.69
SD. Maximum 31.03% of respondents had primary education, 23.28% illiterate and secondary education,
17.24% can sign only and 8.62% having above secondary education (Table 2). As education enlightens a
person, it may contribute to the adoption of improve farm practices. The findings indicate that education
of an individual is likely to be more receptive to the modern facts and ideas; they have much mental
strength in deciding on a matter related to problem solving or adoption of technologies in their daily life.
Thus, farming community in the study area may be well considered as a suitable ground for the adoption
of technologies, or execution of change programme what ever needed.
Family size: The family size of the respondents ranged from 2 to 9 with a mean of 3.97 and 1.90 SD.
Small families constituted the maximum proportion (69.83%) of the farmers, while 22.43% had medium
family and the remaining 7.76% had large family (Table 2). The findings of the study revealed that
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Sumon etal. 16

overwhelming majority (92.78%) of the farmers have small to medium family size. The people of the
study area were very much al ert to keep their family size small. Small size family can educate their
children properly and can enjoy other social amenities.
Farm si ze: Farm size was varied from 0.07 to 2.11 hectares with average 0.73 hectares having 0.43 SD.
The respondents were cl assi fied into three cat egories based on their farm size as followed by DAE
(DAE, 1995). Maximum proportion (78.45%) of the farm ers had small farm compared to 22.43% had
medium farm and none of them had large farm.
Annual income: Annual income of the respondents ranged from Tk. 68 to 373 thousand with a mean of
Tk. 204.66 thousand and SD 75.07 thousand. Maximum proportion (56.90%) of the respondents had
medium annual income compared to 31.90% fell in high income group and 11.20% in low income group
(Table 2). Thus, the majority (88.20%) of the respondents had medium to high family income indicating
that improved rice cultivation practices were usually practiced by the farmers having comparatively
higher economic standard. The average income of the farmers of the study area is much higher. This
might be due to the fact that the farmers of the study area were not only engaged in agriculture. They also
earn from other sources such as s ervice, business etc. farmers with the low income generally hesitate to
adopt innovations in their own farms because of their lower risk bearing ability and their inability to
make necess ary financial investment.
Table 2. Salient features of the respondents with their characteristics
Range Farmers
Measuring

Observed
Unknown Possible
unit

Charact eristics Categories Number Percent Mean SD

(N=116) (%)

Young aged ( 35) 54 46.55

Actual

24-70
Years

Age Middle aged (35-50) 52 44.83 37.81 10.14

Old (> 50) 10 8.62
Illiterate (0) 27 23.28
Year of schooling

Can sign only (0.5) 20 17.24

Primary education
Unknown

36 31.03
(1-5)
0-15

Education 3.86 3.69

Secondary education (6-
27 23.28
10)
Above secondary
6 5.17
education (>10)
Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown

Small ( 4)
members

81 69.83
No. of

2-9

Family size Medium (5-7) 26 22.43 3.97 1.90

Large (> 7) 9 7.76
68-373 0.07-2.11

Small ( 1 ha) 91 78.45

(in ha)
Actual

Farm size Medium (1-2.99) 25 21.55 0.73 0.43

Large ( 3.00) 0 0.00
Low ( 120) 13 11.20
(000)
Taka

Annual income Medium (121-240) 66 56.90 204.66 75.07

High (> 240) 37 31.90
Low ( 4) 93 80.17
obtained
Days

0-12

Training exposure Medium (5-8) 20 17.24 2.25 2.54

High (> 8) 3 2.59
Low ( 8) 99 85.34
Scores

0-30

0-24

Organizational
Medium (9-16) 12 10.34 4.53 4.92
participation
High (> 16) 5 4.32
Low ( 8) 35 30.17
Scores

0- 40

3-25

Extension media
Medium (9-16) 61 52.59 11.41 4.86
contact
High (> 16) 20 17.24
Low ( 9) 35 30.17
Scores

0-28

6-21

Cosmo-
Medium (10-18) 70 60.34 12.56 4.38
politeness
High (> 18) 11 9.49

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Adoption of Improved Rice Cultivation Practices 17

Training exposure: Training exposure score of the respondent farmers ranged from 0 to 12 with mean
and SD of 2.25 and 2.54 respectively. Maximum 80.17% of the respondents were in low training group
while, 17.24% of them had m edium training and only 2.59% had high training exposure. Training helps
the farmers to acquire deep knowl edge and improve skills about the respected aspects. Trained farmers
can cope with and handle smoothly the adverse situation in their cultivation. So, they show favourabl e
attitude toward adoption of innovation.
Organizational participation: The maximum organizational participation score of the respondents was
24 and the minimum score was zero 0. However, the average was 4.53 and the SD was 4.92. Maximum
proportion (85.34%) of the rice farmers had low organizational participation while 10.34% had medium
organizational participation and the rest 4.32% had high organizational participation. The findings
revealed that, an overwhelming portion (95.66%) of the farmers had in low to medium organizational
participation in the study area. The extent of organizational participation in the study area was not
satisfactory. The same result was found in respect of cosmopoliteness and ext ension contact. The DAE
extension personnel should be more alert about their clients communication behaviour. They must have
motivation strategy to make their client more cosmopolite, active to extension partner and active
organizational participatory.
Extension media contact: The computed extension media contact scores of the respondents ranged from
3 to 25 with an average 11.41 and SD of 4.86 against the possible range of 0 to 40. Maximum proportion
(52.59%) of the farmers had medium media contact, while 30.17% had low media contact and 17.24% of
the respondents had high media contact. The findings of the study indicate that majority of the
respondents (82.76%) had low and medium extension contact with various information sources for
getting necessary agricultural inform ation. Bashar (1993), Pal (1995) and Hussen (2001) observed
almost similar findings regarding media contact for getting agricultural inform ation.
Cosmopoliteness: Cosmopoliteness scores of the respondents ranged from 6 to 21 against the possible
range of 0 to 28 with an average of 12.56 and the SD of 4.38. Majorities (60.34%) of the respondents
were medium cosmopolite compared to 30.17% of them were low cosmopolite and the remaining
9.49% were high cosmopolite. Data also revealed that overwhelming majorities (90.51%) of the
respondents had low to medium cosmopoliteness.
Adoption of improved rice cultivation practice (IRCP)
Adoption score of improved rice cultivation practices was ranged from 9 to 48. The average score was
25.45 with a SD of 8.89. Maximum 62.93% of respondents were medium adoption, 20.69% were low
adoption and 16.38% were high adoption (Table 3). A majority (79.31%) of the farmers had medium to
high adoption of IRCP. Farmers were trying to adopt improved rice cultivation practices though they had
to face various socio-economic di fficulties and had limited resources. DAE and other extension
organizations, especially the NGOs should provide more technological supports to the farm ers. In such
cases, it is expected that the farmers will be able to adopt improved ri ce cultivation practices with better
perform ance.
Table 3. Distribution of the farmers according to their adoption of improved rice cultivation practices
Respondents
Categories (Scores ) Mean SD
Number Percent
Low adoption ( 17) 24 20.69
Medium adoption (18-34) 73 62.93
25.45 8.89
High adoption ( 35) 19 16.38
Total 116 100
Relationship between adoption of improved rice cultivation practices (IRCP) and selected
characteristics of the rice farmers
For descriptive interpretation of the meaning of r Table 4. had been used.
Table 4. The Meaning of r values
r value Meaning
0.00 to 0.19 A very low correlation
0.20 to 0.39 Low correl ation
0.40 to 0.69 A moderate correlation
0.70 to 0.89 A high correlation
0.90 to 1.00 A very high correlation
Source: Cohen and Holliday, 1982: 92-93

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Sumon etal. 18

Results of correlation have been shown in Table 5. Correlation co-effi cient among all the variables might
be seen in the correlation matrix in Table 6.
Relationship between adoption of improved rice cultivation practices (IRCP) with
Age: Observed value (r = -0.071) was found to be smaller than tabulated value (r = 0.184) at 5% level of
probability (Table 5) so null hypothesis could not be rejected. Farmers age had no significant
relationship with adoption of IRCP i.e., farm ers of all age categori es can adopt IRCP.
Education: Observed value (r = 0.577) was found to be greater than tabulat ed value (r = 0.241) at 1%
level of probability (Table 5) so null hypothesis was rejected. Education of farm ers had significant
positive relationship with adoption of IRCP i.e., higher education might cause higher adoption.
Education really a powerful variable that could influence farmers to adopt IRCP.
Family size: Observed value (r = 0.123) was found to be smaller than tabulat ed value (r = 0.184) at 5%
level of probability (Table 5) so null hypothesis could not be rejected. Family size of farm ers had no
significant rel ationship with adoption of IRCP.
Farm si ze: Obs erved value (r = 0.179) was smaller than tabulated value (r = 0.184) at 5% level o f
probability (Table 5) so null hypothesis could not be rejected. Farm size of farmers had no significant
relationship with adoption of IRCP.
Annual income: Observed value (r = 0.125) was smaller than tabulated value (r = 0.184) at 5% level of
probability (Table 5). So, null hypothesis could not be rejected. Annual income of the farmers had no
significant rel ationship with the adoption of IRCP.
Training exposure: Observed value (r = 0.324) was greater than tabulated value (r = 0.241) at 1% level
of probability (Table 5). So, null hypothesis was rejected. Training exposure had highly significant
positive relationship with the adoption of IRCP. Training increases courage and enable farmers to do
new or complicated farming activities. Use of any improved rice cultivation practices may be
complicated to the farmers community so training exposure is a signi ficant attribute for adoption of
IRCP.
Organizational participation: Observed value (r = 0.586) was great er than tabulated value (r = 0.241)
at 1%level of probability (Table 5). So, null hypothesis was rejected. Organizational participation of
farmers had signi ficant relationship with adoption of IRCP. Organizational participation helps the
farmers to acquire more knowledge and lead them to become more localize that direct the farmers to be
more innovative and adoptive.
Table 5. Pearsons product moment co-efficient of correl ation showing relationship between adoption of
improved rice cultivation practices and the selected characteristics of the farmers

Tabulated value
Dependent Computed value of
Independent variables at 114 df
variable co-efficient of correlation r
5% 1%
Age -0.071NS
Education 0.577**
Adoption of Family size 0.123NS
improved Farm size 0.179 NS
rice Annual income 0.125 NS 0.184 0.241
cultivation Training exposure 0.324**
practices Organizational participation 0.586**
Extension media contact 0.384**
Cosmopoliteness 0.236*
NS
**; Significant at the 0.01 level, *; Significant at the 0.05 level, ; Not significant

Extension media contact: Observed value (r = 0.384) was greater than tabulated value (r = 0.241) at 1%
level of probability (Table 5). So, null hypothesis was rejected. Extension media contact of framers had
significant positive relationship with adoption of IRCP. The extension media contact strengthened the
base of farmers knowledge. The knowledge definitely acts as motivator towards adoption of new
technologies. It means that higher the extension media cont acts of the farmer lead to higher the adoption
of improved rice cultivation practices.
Cosmopoliteness: Observed value (r = 0.236) was greater than tabulated value (r = 0.184) at 5% level of
probability (Table 5). So, null hypothesis was rejected. Cosmopoliteness had significant relationship with
adoption of IRCP by farmers. Cosmopolite farm ers becom e adoptive by visiting and learning new things
of agriculture.
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Adoption of Improved Rice Cultivation Practices 19

Table 6. correlation matrix

Charact ers X1 X2 X3 X4 X5 X6 X7 X8 X9 Y
X1 1
X2 -0.035 1
X3 -0.152 0.021 1
X4 0.029 0.085 0.124 1
X5 -0.103 0.023 -0.035 -0.013 1
X6 0.127 0.296** 0.042 0.003 0.262** 1
X7 -0.018 0.353** 0.051 0.032 -0.009 0.183* 1
X8 -0.091 0.257** 0.051 0.264** 0.074 0.201* 0.173 1
X9 0.025 0.253** 0.066 0.074 0.064 0.056 0.269** 0.293** 1
Y -0.017 0.577** 0.123 0.179 0.125 0.324** 0.586** 0.384** 0.236* 1
X1 : Age, X2 : Education, X3 : Family size, X4: Farm size, X5 : Annual income, X6: Training exposure, X7 :
Organizational participation, X8 : Extension media contact, X9 : Cosmopoliteness, Y: Adoption of
improved rice cultivation practices
Conclusions
Sample farm ers had been using more or less the improved ri ce cultivation practices in their rice
cultivation. Education, training exposure, organizational participation, extension media contact,
cosmopoliteness had positively significant relationship with the adoption of improved rice cultivation
practices. Low trained, organizational participation, extension media contact, cosmopoliteness and
illiterate farm ers adopt ed less improved rice cultivation practices. With the increas e of thes e
characteristics of the farm ers tends to increase their extent of adoption.
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