A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science

Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1981

This study is about the adoption of agricultural innovations in a rice growing community of the Kashmir Valley. In particular, it seeks to determine the acceptance or rejection of agricultural innovations and the factors influencing the decision making of the farmers in the process. The agricultural innovations referred to in this study include some important agricultural packages and practices, and use of new or improved agricultural machinery. For determining the extent of adoption and influences, various personal, social, economical and institutional factors are used, and the data derived from the interviews of farmers from nine villages have been examined and discussed. After using the descriptive and analytic measures, the findings lead to the fact that for acceptance of an innovation, rewards accruing from the adoption must be such as to provide greater satisfaction to the farmer. Further, the acceptance or rejection of an innovation is largely influenced by the one who promotes change or the change agent. For this, the study tries to identify such an important person based on the farmer's own perception or point of view. Lastly, on the basis of finding, some guidelines are suggested in order to improve, sustain and accelerate the agrarian change among the farming community.