From Agricultural Experiment Station to Farm: The Impact of the Promotion of a New Technology on Farmers’ Yields in Ethiopia

Adoption of yield-increasing technologies is crucial to boost staple food production in sub-Saharan Africa. However, empirical evidence is lacking on the impact of improved agricultural technologies that are scaled up from research at agricultural experiment stations to the farm level. We assess the impact of a new technology, row planting, on farmers’ yields of teff in Ethiopia. Results of a randomized controlled trial show that row planting did not significantly affect teff yields at the farm level. While the treatment effect measured on village demonstration plots managed by extension agents is significant and positive, its magnitude is still lower than the productivity gains found on research plots. To explain the yield gaps between research plots at experiment stations, village demonstration plots, and farm plots, ex post analysis of treatment heterogeneity shows that the literacy level and information access of adopting households have significant interaction effects. Results further suggest that the yield gap is linked to the quality of extension and timely input delivery provided to farmers when transmitting the technology to the field. Greater attention to the design and implementation of public promotion programs appears critical to effectively scale up the adoption of improved technologies in these settings.