FACTORS AFFECTING ADOPTION OF IMPROVED MALT BARELY (HOLKER) VARIETY: THE CASE OF LAYGAYNIT DISTRICT, SOUTH GONDAR ZONE, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Ethiopia is the second biggest barley producer in Africa, next to Morocco, accounting for about 25 percent of the total barley production in the continent and it’s produced for consumption and market purpose, though, productivity is very low. Improved malt barley was introduced by the ministry of agriculture of Ethiopia to increase production and productivity. To get the expected benefits, smallholder farmers are expected to adopt the technology although many of the farmers did not adopt it by various factors. Hence, this study attempted to determine the factors affecting adoption of improved Holker malt barley in Laygaynit District, south Gondar zone, Ethiopia with the specific objectives of assessing farmers’ perception towards improved malt barley variety, and the determinant factors that limit adoption. Probability and non-probability sampling techniques were employed to select sampled respondents. A total of 153sample respondents were selected for interview purpose. In line with this, combinations of data collection techniques were employed to gather qualitative and quantitative data for the study. Both primary and secondary data were collected and analyzed using SPSS version 21 and STATA 14 software’s. Descriptive statistics such as percentage, mean, standard deviation and inferential statistics like t-test and x 2 -test were employed to see mean and percentage difference between both adopters and non-adopters. The result of the study indicated that about 46% of the sample respondents were adopters of improved malt barley, while 54% non-adopters. Accordingly, the result of the descriptive statics’ show that from the total seventeen variables twelve of them show statistically significant mean difference with the decision at 1%,5% and 10% level of significance. On the other hand, model was employed to identify the factors affecting adoption of improved Holker malt barley in the study area. Binary logistic regression model results showed that, seven (7) variables were found statically significant in the adoption of improved malt barley variety at 1%, 5% and 10% level of significance. In general, policy makers and development interventions should give strong emphasis to support the improvement of this technology, to improve the adoption of malt barley.