Willingness and determinants of farmers'adoption of new rice varieties

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate farmers' willingness to adopt new rice varieties and the factors influencing their seed-selection behaviors. Design/methodology/approach – The Logit model was used to analyze farmers' willingness and the determinants of the behaviors in selecting and using new varieties. A total of 402 farming households in the main rice-producing areas of Sichuan Province were surveyed. Findings – The results indicate that rice yield and sales, agro-technicians' popularization, kith and kin's seed purchase behaviors have a positive impact on farmers'choice, while the present production income has a negative effect. But previous seed purchasing behaviors, soil characteristics, media publicity, seed companies' recommendation and age of farmer have either positive or negative impact on farmers' choice. Research limitations/implications – The paper is however unable to explain the general situation of China so it considers Sichuan province as a case. Increased sample quantities may be necessary in further research. Originality/value – The paper proposes an hypothesis of farmers' willingness and determinants in choosing new rice varieties and verifies it by Logit model. It first analyzes the farmers'decision-making behavior in choosing new rice varieties in Sichuan, and investigates the farmers' behavior more scientifically.Agricutlure, China, Innovation, Rice