Influence of Information Networks on Farmer’s Decision-Making in West Bengal

Adoption research for many years has considered individual farmer as the basis of analysis, whereas the effect of information networks on farmer’s decision-making has received limited attention. Hence, understanding the relation between farmers’ position within their agricultural information networks and their adoption decision is of practical importance. The present study was conducted at Purulia District in West Bengal, India, to study the spread of chilli (Capsicum annum) and wheat (Triticum aestivum) cultivation among the farmers of selected village. Focus group discussion was used to track this spread of new crops over different generations of adopter. Data collected through structured questionnaire was analyzed by sociometric technique and the fractional ranking of network scores of farmers was compared with their relative earliness in adopting chilli and wheat cultivation. It was found that most of the farmers having higher network scores were earlier adopters of chilli and wheat cultivation, but the reverse was not true. A string of other factors were found to be operating at the community level. Understanding these information networks may help understanding diffusion process of agricultural innovations at the micro-level.