Influence of intrinsic and extrinsic factors on farmer decisions to adopt acacia best management practices in Gunungkidul, Indonesia

Acacia auriculiformis represents an opportunity for farmers in Gunungkidul, Java, Indonesia, to grow trees for high quality sawlog products on shorter (6-8 year) cycles than traditional solid wood species such as teak that traditionally take 20-30 years. Farmers in Gunungkidul have grown acacias for several decades, but traditional management practices are not conducive to achieving profitable returns because acacias are treated as low input crop. Introduction of improved acacias and adoption of best management practices (BMPs) will allow farmers to substantially increase their acacia productivity, and in turn increase their profitability and their resilience to life shocks. Adoption studies often tend to focus on socio-demographic variables (e.g. farm size, gender, age, educational attainment etc.) of new technology recipients and other variables that relevant to the new technology itself. In this study, these variables are named as extrinsic factors and we hypothesised that these factors exert their influences on adoption decisions through intrinsic factors. Personal values and livelihood aspirations constitute people's intrinsic drivers to choose and behave in a certain manner. The objectives of this study were (1) to determine extrinsic and intrinsic factors that influenced adoption of acacia BMPs and; (2) to understand how the method of training (informal one-on-one or formal group training) influenced adoption. We found that either farmer training method was equally effective at promoting adoption of BMPs, especially for planting and seedling stock selection, spacing and disease control, suggesting that training in these areas filled important gaps in farmer knowledge. A model that accounted for intrinsic and extrinsic factors accounted for around 27% of the variation in adoption by farmers, with key intrinsic factors being continuing of family farming tradition and reducing their vulnerability to life shocks, while extrinsic factors included social capital, knowledge, experience with acacias and number of acacias planted. The proportion of variation explained increased to 35% once extension/training was accounted for. In summary, we found that farmers were highly responsive to training (any method), and that adoption was influenced by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors.

Automated summary

This study investigated the adoption of Acacia auriculiformis BMPs by farmers in Gunungkidul and found that training was effective in promoting adoption. Both intrinsic and extrinsic factors influenced the adoption decisions, with intrinsic factors including family farming tradition and reducing vulnerability to life shocks, while extrinsic factors included social capital, knowledge, and experience.