Farmer Characteristics and Agricultural Extension Access as Determinants of Technology Adoption in Smallholder Corn Farming: Evidence from Pulubala District, Gorontalo Regency
Abstract
Abstract
Agricultural technology adoption is a strategic pathway for improving productivity and household welfare among smallholder farmers in developing economies. Despite sustained public investment in agricultural extension, adoption rates for many modern technologies remain persistently low, and the determinants of adoption are strongly context-specific. This study investigates the influence of farmer characteristics age, formal education level, and farming experience alongside agricultural extension access variables attendance history, information source, and perceived benefit on the adoption of modern agricultural technologies in corn farming in Pulubala District, Gorontalo Regency, Indonesia. A descriptive quantitative survey was administered to 42 corn farmers in Bukit Aren Village, selected proportionally from 35 registered farmer groups (kelompok tani) using the Slovin formula (alpha = 15%). Data were collected through structured interviews and analyzed using frequency distribution, cross-tabulation, and Spearman rank-order correlation. Results indicate that only 35.7% of farmers adopted two or more modern technologies simultaneously. Improved hybrid variety adoption was very high (90.5%), while mechanical technology uptake remained limited (hand tractors: 28.6%; shelling machines: 19.0%). Formal education showed the strongest individual-level association with adoption, with senior high school graduates exhibiting a 66.7% adoption rate versus 19.4% for primary school graduates. Extension attendance was the primary institutional discriminating factor: attendees adopted technologies at a rate 4.1 times higher than non-attendees (48.0% vs. 11.8%). A statistically significant moderate positive Spearman correlation was identified between extension frequency and the technology adoption score (rs = 0.487; p = 0.043). Perceived benefit of extension emerged as the strongest mediator of adoption, with a 6.4-fold adoption ratio between the highest and lowest perception subgroups. These findings underscore the urgency of quality-focused extension intensification, participatory curriculum design, and institutional facilitation of mechanical technology access through communal service mechanisms for smallholder corn farmers.
Keywords: agricultural extension; corn farming; diffusion of innovations; farmer characteristics; smallholder agriculture; technology adoption; Indonesia.
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