Complementarities and differences in adoption: an application of hazard models to two technologies in Madagascar

This paper explores the adoption of two agricultural technologies, how their patterns of adoption differ, and the relationship between them. The first technology, the System of Rice Intensification, has been studied previously and high rates of disadoption were observed in some areas. The second technology is off-season cropping, the practice of growing crops (primarily potatoes) in the rice fields during the winter season after the rice harvest. The rates of adoption of off-season cropping were much higher than for SRI and very little disadoption was observed. Through this study we are trying to understand the factors that might explain the differences in adoption and how the adoption of and experience with one technology affects the likelihood of adoption of the other. Our analysis uses hazard models, which have only recently been applied to technology adoption. Findings suggest that both methods increase the likelihood of adopting the other, and off-season crop adopters were less likely to disadopt SRI. Liquidity constraints appear to be more of an obstacle to SRI adoption, suggesting that this might help explain the relative success of off-season cropping.