DETERMINANTS OF ADOPTION OF IMPROVED POTATO VARIETIES BY SMALLHOLDER FARMERS IN SHASHEMENE DISTRICT, WEST ARSI ZONE, OROMIA NATIONAL REGIONAL STATE, ETHIOPIA

n Ethiopia, lower productivity of potato production has been one of the significant contributors to food insecurity. Considerable efforts have been made by the government, NGOs and researchers in generating, introducing and disseminating appropriate potato technologies to boost the production and productivity of potato though the adoption outcome is not as expected. Encouraging the use of improved potato varieties is the important policy measure to address the problem. However, this is made possible if and only if, information on the adoption of improved potato varieties by smallholder farmers is known in advance. The objective of this study was to xv identify factors that determine adoption and intensity of adoption of improved potato varieties in Shashemene district. A multi-stage random sampling procedure was used to select 120 sample potato producers from the district using probability proportional to size. Descriptive statistics and econometric model were used to analyze data. Double-hurdle model was used to analyze factors affecting smallholder farmers’ adoption decision and the intensity of adoption of improved potato varieties. The findings demonstrate that Educational level, livestock holding, and farm income positively affected farmers adoption decision whereas, households labor availability negatively affected it. On the other hand, age of household heads, farm income, land size cultivated, participation in social organizations, and participation in off/non-farm activities affected the proportion of land allocated for improved potato varieties positively whereas, distance to the nearest market center affected it negatively. Based on the results obtained, the study suggests that the government and stakeholders should focus on strengthening the provision of formal and informal education, arranging experience sharing program, enhancing farmer’s farm income, enhancing farmer’s resource endowment, improving livestock production, strengthening the participation of farmers in social organization and non/off-farm activities, improving rural family planning and strengthening the existing rural-urban infrastructure development.