In Partial Fulfillment Of The Requirements For The Degree Of Master Of Science In Agricultural Economics

Abstract

Lentil (Lens Culinaris Medikus) is among the oldest domesticated crop in the world. Lentil plays significant role in human and animal nutrition. It also helps in the maintenance and improvement of soil fertility. Adoption of improved technologies is one of the most promising ways to ensure food security and alleviate poverty in Ethiopia. However, the adoption and dissemination of these technologies is constrained by various factors. To this end, the aim of this study was to empirically identify the determinants of adoption and intensity of adoption of improved lentil varieties in the study area. In this study, two stage sampling procedure was followed to select the sample respondents. First four lentil growing kebeles were randomly selected from the 26 lentil producing kebeles of the district. In the second stage: 166 sample respondents were randomly selected based on probability proportional to size for the interview purpose. Semi-structured interview schedule was developed, pre-tested and used for data collection the study from the sampled households. Both primary and secondary data were used for this study. The collected data was analyzed by descriptive statistics and double hurdle econometric model. Probit model was employed for adoption decision and truncated model for level of decision. The probit model statistics shows that from the total 13 variables, 7 of them show statistically significant difference with the adoption decision at 1%, 5% and 10% level of significance depicted that sex headed household, TLU, family size; cooperative membership, extension service, total land size and education affected the likelihood of adoption of improved lentil varieties positively and significantly. The truncated model results were positively and significantly influenced the intensity of use of improved lentil varieties production in the study show that the level of adoption has significantly active labour force, TLU, family size and access to credit. Finally, the study recommends that, adoption and intensity of use of improved lentil varieties should be given due attention for enhanced by rising farm household asset formation, and providing extension and credit services.