Abstract

ROCO FUENTES, Lisandro; ENGLER PALMA, Alejandra  and  JARA-ROJAS, Roberto. Factors influencing the adoption of soil conservation technologies in the rainfed area of Central Chile. Rev. Fac. Cienc. Agrar., Univ. Nac. Cuyo [online]. 2012, vol.44, n.2, pp.31-45. ISSN 1853-8665.

The development of sustainable agricultural systems is a challenge in the context of policies and incentives aimed to the conservation of natural resources, especially in rainfed areas. This study examines demographic and productive variables that influence the adoption of soil conservation technologies (terraces and infiltration trenches) in 90 small scale farmers in the rainfed area of Central Chile, at the municipalities of Pencahue and Curepto. A Probit regression model was used which associates the adoption of technologies with the variables such as: age of farmer, family size, farm size, form of land tenure; presence of: tree plantations, greenhouses, composting and animals on the farm; participation in training activities and marketing expertise of the producer. The estimated Probit model has a high predictive power, reaching up to 92,2% of the correctly classified observations. The econometrics results show that the participation in training activities, the farm size, the presence of forest plantations and use of compost influence significantly and positively on the adoption of soil conservation technologies. The analysis not only reveals a positive impact of training on the adoption of high investment conservation practices but also on the incidence of the simple technologies such as use of compost.

Keywords : Terraces; Infiltration trenches; Sustainable agriculture; Training; Technology adoption.

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