Farmers' Evaluation and Determinants of Adoption of Upland Rice:

In response to the food security problem in Ethiopia, efforts are done much on boosting agricultural production and especially cereals are given due attention. A new "Millennium" crop known as rice is among the crops grown in some parts of Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to examine factors affecting adoption in the study area. The study was conducted in Fogera district, South Gondar zone, ANRS. Three Peasant Associations among the 15 PAs of upland growers of the district were selected purposively and a total of adopters and non-adopters of 120 selected households were interviewed to generate primary data. Descriptive statistics were used for analyzing quantitative data. Preference ranking technique and econometric model (binary logit) was employed. The result showed that any effort in promoting improved upland rice variety, however, should consider the social, economic, institutional and psychological characteristics for better adoption of the technology. Therefore, attempts to promote transformation in agriculture through improved upland rice variety could be successful if the evaluation criteria and determinants are taken into consideration.