Determinants of the adoption of irrigation technology by smallholder wheat farmers in Northwestern Ethiopia

Climate change is directly impacting food production by lowering productivity. Although the supply does not offset the demand for wheat production, Ethiopian government tried to help by encouraging farmers to use irrigation for wheat farming. This research focuses on examining why some wheat farmers decide to use irrigation and how intensively they adopt it. Data was collected from 424 farmers and 723 farming plots. The determining factors that influence the adoption of irrigated wheat production were examined using the Double hurdle model. Results showed that age of wheat farmers, total livestock holding, credit service provision, off/non-farm activities, social capital, soil fertility and land slope were the main drivers of adoption of irrigation technology while off/non-farm activities, credit service provision, social capital participation, land size and soil fertility nature of land were the main drivers of intensity of irrigation technology adoption for irrigated wheat production. The findings suggest the relevant stakeholder should prioritize short-term, targeted training programs to enhance farmers’ technical capacity building in creating social trust. Additionally, encourage integrated farming, strengthening credit service provision, and secures soil fertility are important to increase the adoption and intensity of irrigation technology for irrigated wheat production. This research addresses existing demand gap in irrigated wheat production.