Farmers' Attitudes Towards Cultivating Hybrid Rice in Bangladesh

Abstract

Considered to be one of the viable options to sustain growth in rice production, hybrid rice was introduced during the
1998-1999 boro season in Bangladesh. Its performance, however, simultaneously created hope and despair amongst the
farmers. Understanding farmers' attitudes towards this crop variety is therefore critical if hybrid rice is to be promoted
further in Bangaldesh and beyond. The study was conducted to: i) assess attitudes of the farmers towards hybrid rice; ii)
develop an item-wise analysis of attitudes towards hybrid rice; iii) explore the relationships between selected farmers'
characteristics and their attitudes towards hybrid rice. The study was conducted in five regions of Bangladesh. A
concurrent embedded design using a cross sectional survey was employed. The population of this study consisted of rice
growers of the boro season. Amultistage stratified random sampling design was employed in selecting the sample of 425
farmers. Data were collected through face–to–face interviews using a pre-tested and back translated questionnaire.
Findings confirmed that a majority of non-adopters (67.1%) and de-adopters (68.0%) showed neutral attitudes while the
majority of continuing adopters (58.9%) developed favorable attitudes towards cultivating hybrid rice. The results of this
study raise important considerations for extension workers, research leaders, seed traders and policy makers to refine the
policy guidelines for the discovery, development and delivery of hybrid rice in Bangladesh.