Improved rice variety adoption and its effects on farmers output in Ghana

Sub-Sahara Africa and for that matter Ghana, missed out of the first Green revolution. However, with the instrumentality of the former United Nations Secretary, Kofi Annan, through the Alliance for Green revolution in Africa (AGRA) and other bodies, the revolution is being introduced in some parts of Africa, including Ghana. The extent to which the new revolution would work depends on a careful study of the socioeconomic underpinnings of technology adoption. This study sought to investigate the factors that influence the adoption of improved rice varieties and its effects on rice output in Ghana. The method of analysis involved an estimation of treatment effect model comprising a Probit equation and a production function. The empirical results show that the adoption of improved rice variety had a positive effect on farm output. Other inputs that had significant and positive impact on output were farm size, labour and fertilizer. The probability of adopting improved rice variety was high for the following: farmers who had formal education; farmers who had bigger household sizes; and farmers who had smaller farms. Contrary to our a priori expectations, however, farmers who had access to extension services had lower probability of adoption. The authors recommend that farmers be supported with more fertilizer subsidization. Farmers should also form farmer groups to support one another on the field. Also, the fundamental problems of illiteracy among farmers must be addressed. Key words: Ghana, improved rice seeds, technology adoption, treatment effect model.