FACTORS AFFECTING ADOPTION DECISION OF WHEAT ROW PLANTING TECHNOLOGY: THE CASE OF AGARFA DISTRICT, BALE ZONE OF OROMIA NATIONAL REGIONAL STATE, ETHIOPIA

Ethiopian economy is highly dependent on agriculture, especially crop production takes the major share in economic growth. Hence, supporting the sector through introducing new agricultural technologies, like row planting technology is crucial. However, application of better technologies remained low in Ethiopia and also in the study area due to several factors. Therefore, study was to assess the status of adoption decision of wheat row planting technology and identify factors affecting it in Agarfa district. Two stage sampling procedure was used to collect data. In the first stage, three major wheat producing kebeles were selected purposively from twenty kebeles of the district. In the second stage, 165 household heads were selected randomly from three kebles based on probability proportional to population size. The primary data were collected using an interview schedule and focus group discussions. Various documents were reviewed to collect secondary data. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics methods and binary logistic regression model was used. The survey result shows that about 53.73% and 47.27% of sample respondents were found to be non adopter and adopter of wheat row planting technology respectively. The result from binary logistic regression model shows that education level of household head, farming experience, availability of family labor, frequency of contact with extension agents, mass media exposure, participation in social organization, off/non-farm activities and perception towards wheat row planting positively and significantly affected adoption decision of wheat row planting technology in the study area. Therefore, Based on the findings of this study it can be concluded that policy and development interventions should give emphasis towards improvement of such economical and institutional support system so as to achieve wider adoption decision of wheat row plating technology, increased production and productivity of smallholder farmer.