FARMERS' PREFERENCES FOR DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF AMAN PADDY AND THE USES OF PRODUCTION INPUTS IN AN AREA OF BANGLADESH

This paper presents an investigation of the farmers' varietal preferences, the factors causing the adoption of high-yielding varieties of aman paddy ( HYVs ), the per acre uses of seeds and chemical fertilizers for producing different HYVs and traditional varieties of aman paddy ( TVs ) in an area of Bangladesh. Three selected indicators were used for measuring the degrees of farmers' varietal preferences. Degrees of adequacy In the use of production inputs were estimated by comparing the levels of application with recommended doses per acre. The result of the analysis suggests that the farmers had strong preferences for TVs over HYVs. The high-yield per acre was the most important factor causing the adoption of HYVs while the absence of government assistance was one of the major factors responsible for retarding the adoption of HYVs. The levels of different input uses per acre were higher for HYVs than those for TVs, and they were economically justified. The results o the analysis further reveal that the farmers used high-yielding and traditional variety seeds adequately, while the degrees of adequacy in the use of chemical fertilizers ranged from about 4 percent to 17 percent for different varieties of aman paddy