Adoption of Stress-Tolerant Rice Varieties in Bangladesh

This chapter presents results of analyses of survey-based data on the rate of adoption of modern stress-tolerant rice varieties by the beneficiary farmers of the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) and compares that with non-CSISA rice farmers who cultivated the CSISA-promoted rice varieties. The study reveals that the adoption of such varieties has been very low. Just 27 % of the farmers in the CSISA beneficiary survey and 9 % of non-CSISA rice farmers grew at least one of the CSISA-promoted rice varieties. Though our survey did not specifically ask the farmers for reasons for non-adoption, education plays a key role in new rice technology adoption and diffusion. Moreover, the role of complementary technologies should not be overlooked when analyzing the adoption of new/modern technologies.