Adoption and Impacts of an Improved Wheat Technology Package in Egypt

Abstract

This study aimed to provide an analysis of the adoption and impacts of agricultural technologies on Egyptian smallholders. The double hurdle and instrumental variables regression models were applied to a large nationally representative sample survey of over 1,200 households to identify the factors that affect farmers’ adoption decision and impacts, respectively. Model results showed that the degree of adoption of one or more or all components of the technology package was higher in the governorates affiliated with the project than in the other governorates, which clearly reflects the effectiveness of the dissemination methods used as well as the technology package provided to farmers. The high adoption in the second year also indicates the momentum gained. The results also indicated that the typical adopter of improved wheat varieties obtained 359 kg and 1770 EGP more yield and income per fedan than non-adopters while adoption of crop rotation led to gains of 306 kg yield and 1310 EGP income per fedan. Likewise, adoption of raised bed technology increased farmers’ yield and net income by about 229 kg and 1180 EGP per fedan, respectively. Among all combinations of the different technology components, adoption of all three components of the technology package led to yield and income gains of about 481 kg and 2360 EGP per fedan, respectively, which indicates complementarity between the components. Policy and institutional implications of our results is that Egypt can benefit more from investing more on technology development, enhancing the seed sector efficiency, and adoption of more effective agricultural extension service delivery systems.