Abstract

The purpose of the study was to understand the farmers’ response to hybrid rice over the last decade. To achieve this, we used the “diffusion of innovation” model as developed by Rogers. The specific objectives guiding the study were to: i) describe the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of the farmers; ii) survey the varieties of hybrid rice cultivated over the last decade and identify the best performers; iii) assess the extent of adoption of hybrid rice in Bangladesh; iii) investigate the influence of selected characteristics in influencing farmers’ decisions on adopting hybrid rice. The study was conducted in five regions of Bangladesh. A concurrent embedded design using a cross sectional survey was employed. The population of this study consisted of rice growers of the boro season who were responsible for farming decisions. A multistage stratified random sampling design was employed in selecting the sample of 425 farmers. Data were collected through face–to–face interviews using a pre-tested and back translated questionnaire. Data confirmed that the overall extent of adoption of hybrid during the period of 2001-2011 boro seasons was relatively low in the sample areas. Logistic regression results after fitting the full model of eleven selected predictive variables on farmers’ decisions in adopting hybrid rice showed that education, annual family income, communication exposure, and attitude towards hybrid rice made significant contributions to farmers’ decisions in adopting hybrid rice. There is an enormous potential for improving the level of adoption of hybrid rice in Bangladesh.

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