Post Adoption Behavior of Farmers towards Soil and Water Conservation Technologies in a Semi-Arid Watershed

Abstract

The behaviour of farmers towards soil and water conservation (SWC) technologies – basically under three categories viz, engineering, agronomy and forestry - tends to undergo changes over time during the post adoption phase of the watershed. They prefer continuance as such or with some technological gaps or discontinuance altogether corresponding to the nature of these respective technologies. The probable reasons behind their behavioral pattern might disclose some ideas to help redesigning these technologies or at least the approach, for an effective technology transfer and its sustainability. Hence, it was found necessary to analyze the post adoption behavior of selected watershed farmers with reference to these SWC technologies. Joladarasi, a semi-arid watershed in Bellary district, Karnataka was identified, and a study were undertaken for this purpose in 2012. A questionnaire addressing the behavioural pattern of the farmers with reference to the selected technologies was prepared and data were collected from selected 50 small farmers. The collected data were analyzed using a set of behavioural indices developed for this purpose. The results showed that rate of continuance adoption were comparatively high in the case of engineering technologies (92.96%), followed by that of agronomy (51.61%) and forestry (16.66%). The rates of technologies with technological gap were comparatively more in the field of agronomy (29.03), whereas the non adoption rate was highest among forestry technologies (83.34%). It was concluded that, in case of engineering technologies, apart from mere transfer of technology, farmers have to be trained on skills of maintenance of those structures. With reference to agronomical measures, a situational contingency plan to try different options must be a part of the package of practices. For sustainable adoption of forestry oriented technologies, sensitization on community participation must be emphasized, as they have high potential in common lands.