Rate of Adoption-Quinoa Cultivation in Hermiston, Oregon - Essay Example

Rate of adoption-quinoa cultivation in Hermiston, Oregon Instructor’s name INTRODUCTION Chenopodium Quinoa is one among many specie of the healthy goosefoot in the form of an edible grain seed. The crop has emerged as one of the most nutritious grains. The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) declare 2013 as a year to mark the crop. nations has even designated quinoa as “Super crop.” This research focuses on the introduction of Quinoa and prediction its rate of adoption in Hermiston, Oregon area There is very little knowledge among residents of the area regarding the benefits they can reap from growing the crop. Quinoa is a relatively new crop in the United States because it has been primarily grown in South America. Quinoa is a grain crop and staple food. It has attracted interest of the world due to easy growth factors and highly nutritious element. It offers best protein composition including lysine, histidine, cystine and methionine. Cereal starch has bigger size granules as compared to quinoa starch granule. It is more viscous. The plant is best suitable for industrial use. The plant is comprised of saponins, which is a bitter compound and these can easily be removed by abrasion and washing before using it. A study showed that plant could grow well in less fertile soil (Galway, 1992). Chenopodium Quinoa has one crucial component of interest, that is, the lysine content, which is not a common nutrient in other plant species. The growth of this annual herb produces panicle, which contains some small seeds called achenes (Jacobsen, 1997). The seeds produced are round, small and flat with pigmentation ranging from red to white. The color of the seeds varies from one ecosystem to another because of the climatic disparities in the regions where it is grown. It has an extensive root system predominantly subjugated by taproots that support the branchy stem. The plant grows to heights of between sixty to one hundred and twenty five centimeters. The food crop is found in areas with harsh environmental conditions, such as high mountain plains, relatively moderate fertile valley areas, coastal forests, and alkaline areas (Burton & Bo, 2005). In this case the desired location is Umatilla County, which is one of the agriculturally rich areas in the State. The predominant environment in the Hermiston area changes rapidly; hence the need to grow resistant crops that are not dependent on stable environmental conditions (Van de Fliert & Ann, 2002). Moreover since the IPCC (1990) was published, extensive efforts have been brought in to help our agriculture adapt to the climate change because the latter has deep biophysical impacts on crop yield, soil and water resources (Antle, 2009) and for this reason quinoa is the perfect crop to be cultivated not only for its varied uses and exceptional nutritive value but also because it is a highly adaptable crop (.(Del Castillo et al., 2007) Farmers in the location are used to growing organic plants, which is an advantage as very little is known on the Quinoa crop. The plant does not require a large area for first attempts growth. This has influenced my decision to introduce Quinoa in Hermiston area and measure its rate of adoption within the framework of the famous theory of Diffusion introduced by eminent sociologist E, Rogers. The theory aims to the processes through which an innovation is spread through and adopted by a particular community. The theory of Innovation states that the rate of adoption is guided by several variables. These variables include perceived attributes of innovation, means of communication or communication channels, type of innovation-decision, nature of social system and extent of promotional efforts. The rate of adoption directly depends on each of these variables (Rogers, 2003). Rate of adoption is also dependent on another factor known as compatibility. According to Rogers (2003), compatibility is the measure of the degree up to which a particular innovation is consistent with the values, past experiences and potential. Compatibility measure of any innovation has the ability to either speed up or decrease the speed of an innovation while incompatibility has the potential to stop the rate of adoption altogether. This paper aims to track the rate of adoption of quinoa, in Hermiston, Oregon after it is successfully introduced in the area. MATERIALS and METOHD Localization: A survey study was done in order to evaluate adoption rate of Quinoa as a crop. One set of survey study was done on farmers in Hermiston, Oregon where quinoa crop is supposed to be introduced. Hermiston is a city in the Umatilla County of Oregon in the United States. It lies between 45°50′28″N and 119°17′30″W. APPLICATION OF CONCEPTULA FRAMEWORK The conceptual model for this study was the rate of adoption based on the theory of diffusion. The study has been modified from the original innovation-decision process which basically comprises of 6 different levels- definition of problem at hand, basic and applied research, development, appropriate commercialization, adoption and diffusion and consequences (Rogers,2003; Stoneman,2002). SURVEY: adoption and perception of Quinoa cultivation The model survey was made up and had 3 sections. Section I: Consumption level; Section II: Profitability; Section III: Expectations with improvement. The 3 levels were re-categorized as quinoa attributes, farm features and external influence. LEVEL OF CONSUMPTION- This included the time knowledge and quinoa production. The statements were: for time (very long-time, long time, medium time, short time and nothing); production, consume, sold and feedstuff for animal (very high, high, means, low, nothing,). Time Knowledge: This was a measure whether the farmer perceived quinoa as a time consuming crop or not. Responses that directed this were supposed to be against rate of quinoa adoption. Profitability: this measured both the usage of quinoa as a farm feed and the interest of the farmers to sell the cultivated quinoa. Outside Influences: This measured the impact of outside influences on the decision to introduce the innovation and also on the rate of its adoption. Population Survey: The survey was conducted in the last week of July and was spread over a period of 1 month.. 480 local farmers took part in the survey. In the survey core questions based on Quinoa cultivation and expectations were asked STATISTICAL ANALYSIS Rating was done 5-point Likert scale (1=strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=indifferent, 4=agree, 5=strongly agree).It was used in each of the variable and the statement for the time were: for time (nothing, short time,medium,long time, very long); for area (nothing, small, medium, large and very large) Hosseini et al., 2009; Ryan and Garland,1999); for production, consumption, feed and profitability (nothing,low,medium,high and very high). The capacities for adoption according to the theory of diffusion were established from the categories in Innovation Adoption Curve: innovators (2.5%), early adopters (13.5%), early majority (34%), late majority (34%) and laggards(16%) (Likert,1974). The statistical data was analyzed with the help of frequency histograms. Figure 1Perception of Adoption with relation to use RESULTS Analysis of the data from the 5-level Likert scale was done. According to the data on the level of consumption high percentage of farmers showed acceptation of Quinoa. The data revealed that 97% of the farmers already knew of Quinoa. 82% of these 97% farmers had heard of Quinoa recently while the rest knew about Quinoa 20 years ago. The majority of the farmers who had heard of Quinoa cultivated it in very minute quantities such that it was just sufficient for self supply. There was absolutely no quinoa for market supply at all. According to Rogers (2003), the results of the data established that the minute percentage of farmers who cultivated Quinoa were innovators and early adopters. It was seen that the rate of adoption has been considerably slow. 1 2 3 4 5 1.LEVEL OF CONSUMPTION How many years have you known about quinoa? 20 340 40 40 40 Area (m/acres) you would invest 20 0 20 390 50 Total crop production expected 4 8 18 200 250 quinoa for personal consumption 180 240 20 20 20 2. USE AS FEED Would you like to use quinoa as farm feed? 8 20 12 30 410 3.PROFITABILITY How much quinoa would be sold in the market 4 0 16 60 400 Profit 65 20 65 20 310 PREDICTION OF DIFFUSION RATE Since Quinoa is now well known among the farmers a similar study will be conducted after a period of 3 years on random farmers and the rate will be calculated using 2 tools. 1. BASS MODEL: N (t) = N (t-1) + p (m-N (t-1)) + q (m –N (t-1)) (Song et al,2007) N= cumulative number of adopters by time t m- The final number of adopters who will adopt the innovation p- External influence q- Internal influence by social interactions. 2. ADOPT TOOL (Adoption and Diffusion Outcome prediction Tool) (CSIRO,2011). DISCUSSION The results have been interpreted either graphically or in narrative form therefore the main focus of study was to undertand the key factors, concepts, variables and the relationship between them (Miles & Huberman,2012). One of the most important focus as of now is to identify the innovators or early adopters because the entire adoption process begins and spreads from them (Gatignon & Robertson,1985).The results portray that Quinoa is not a very popular crop as of now. Though according to the Likert Scale analysis we see an extremely low percentage of innovators and adopters, yet the same analysis reveals that Hermiston, Oregon has potential to adopt Quinoa as a food grain and also as a secondary source to be used as animal feed in the farms. Now, most farmers focus on Quinoa as a self-consumption crop however, external influences including advertisements are playing a pivotal role in presenting Quinoa as a profitable crop. Quinoa was not used as animal feed at all. Even the minute percentage of farmers who grew quinoa discarded the stems and leaves. This is possibly because of dearth of knowledge about use of Quinoa and probable fear about the negative impact that it may have on the farm animals. Studies by Jacobsen et al (1997) on the impact of quinoa on broiler chickens showed excellent results. A majority of farmers have shown keen interest of using Quinoa leaves and stems as a potential feed for their farm animals. Through this research we established that the farmers of the area were ready to adopt Quinoa. Hence, introduction of the crop right now will be embraced by the local farmers; however the exact rate of adoption can only be calculated after the next survey when we can measure cumulative number of adopters and market potential after time t(i.e.3 years). REFERENCES Antle, J. M. (2009). Agriculture and the Food System Adaptation to Climate Change. RFF REPORT, 1-23. Burton, I., & Bo, L. (2005). ). "Achieving adequate adaptation in agriculture." Increasing Climate Variability and Change. Springer Netherlands, 191-200. CSIRO (2011, December 14). ADOPT: a tool to explore and inform how farmers might take up agricultural innovations | CSIRO. 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