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Adoption and Diffusion of Drip Irrigation Technology: An Econometric Analysis

A growing body of literature on "threshold" adoption models argues that adoption and diffusion patterns of a new technology are the result of explicit maximizing behavior of a heterogeneous population. Unlike the views of "epidemic" models of Z. Griliches and E. Mansfield, where diffusion is considered as a process of imitation and its speed is affected by profitability and other economic considerations alone,1 the threshold approach requires identification of the various dimensions of heterogeneity in the population that are relevant for the adoption of specific technology and incorporates them in the analytical study.2 M. Caswell and D. Zilberman have identified land quality and well depth as important factors in the choice of irrigation technology.3 Therefore, economic analyses of adoption and diffusion of irrigation technology choices should explicitly incorporate physical (engineering and agronomic) and irrigation-specific features of the new technology, such as irrigation efficiency and capital and equipment costs, as well as locational characteristics such as land quality, water quality, and so on, in addition to economic factors. It is important for farmers, manufacturers of irrigation equipment, and policymakers to understand the conditions under which a specific technology, such as drip, is .desirable and is likely to be adopted, as well as the forces that affect the diffusion. Understanding the adoption patterns of drip irrigation technology is required for the formulation of water, energy, and land management policies. Furthermore, it is not sufficient to know whether drip irrigation is likely to be adopted in a particular field; it is equally important to determine to what extent it will be used.