Determinants of the Probability and Intensity of Improved Forage Crops Adoption in Oromia National Regional State

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the determinants of the adoption rate and intensity of improved forage in Oromia National Regional State following multi-stage sampling procedure to collect primary data from a total of 1630 randomly selected smallholder dairy producers. Both descriptive analysis and Craggit econometric model were used to analyze the data. The overall adoption rate of improved forage crops in the region was only 10%. The intensity of adoption was also eight percent indicating a very low size of land allocated for the production of improved forage crops. Among the adopters, varietal level adoption rate indicated that 35% of them have commonly grown oat-vetch while 15% have grown elephant grass. The Craggit model result indicated that family size increased the probability of improved forage adoption while age of the household head increased the intensity of improved forage adoption. It also revealed that volume of milk production, land owned and the use of feed resources other than grazing were noted to have a positive impact on both the probability and intensity of improved forage adoption. Furthermore, access to extension services, relevant training, knowledge on improved feeds, access to big cities and experiences on food crop adoption were found have positive impact on the probability of improved forage adoption. Therefore, policies that target to enhance availability of improved forage seeds, knowledge and skills of family labor, experience sharing between older and younger farmers, relevant training, extension services and better infrastructure would have a positive impact on improved forage adoption. Raising awareness of the farmers on the importance of adopting improved forages would also help to allocate a plot of land for growing forage crops.