INDIVIDUAL

INNOVATIVENESS
THEORY
WHAT IS INDIVIDUAL
INNOVATIVENESS
THEORY?
This theory states that individuals who are risk
takers or otherwise innovative will adopt an
innovation earlier in the continuum of
adoption/diffusion.
“Creativity is thinking up new things.
Innovation is doing new things.”

—Theodore Levitt
Table of contents

01 02 03
Categories of Strategies to effect Sustainable
Adopters. Adoption. Development
Different types of Adopters Different methods that Technology and Knowledge
in Individual Innovativeness fastens the adoption System.
Theory. process.
01
Categories of
Adopters.
 Innovators
(Venturesome)
 The first people in the locality to adopt
an innovation
 Those who owns larger farms, have
higher net worth.
 More educated and informed.
 Highly Respected and have a prestige.
 Takes calculated risks
 Experiments
EARLY ADOPTERS
(RESPECTABLE)
 Follows the Innovators
 Usually younger than average, have
higher education than those slower to
adopt.
 Participate actively in community
organizations and programs.
 More informed, reads papers and
magazines.
 EARLY MAJORITY
(DELIBERATE)
 Slightly above average in age,
education and farming experience.
 Not elected leaders but are active in the
community
 Most likely informal leaders and have
limited resources than innovators and
early adopters.
 Adopts new ideas after they are
convinced of its value as seen from
early adopters
 LATE MAJORITY
(Skeptical)
 Make up a large block of farmers in the
community.
 Have less education and older than the
early majority.
 Less active in associations and
organizations.
 Skeptical about new information and
ideas.
 Hesitant to discard old knowledge and
techniques learned.
 Adopt a practice only when it is majority
by the community.
 LAGGARDS
(Traditional)
 Last people to adopt an innovation
 Suspicious of the innovations, the
innovators, and the change agent
 Very conservative
 Usually the oldest, least educated and
wealthy
 Not risk takers
 Usually believes in superstitious and
indigenous knowledge
 Decision to adopt depends on their
past experiences
02
Strategies to
effect Adoption.
 Extension Worker Intervention
- Extension workers are valuable agents for quick diffusion and adoption of
innovations
- As "carrier" of information, they must possess important traits such as
credibility, because of good understanding of farmers and his problems,
nature of technology, extension methods, research results, etc.

Progressive Farmer Strategy

- Extension agents usually are in direct contact with progressive farmers from
whom innovations diffuse
- Use of progressive farmers has its attraction to extension workers especially if they
are working under the pressure of targets (e.g. fertilizers to be distributed,
areas to be planted with new varieties, etc.)
 Mass Marketing
- Uses advertising to reach each member of the target market directly.
- Involves huge communication systems to give info regarding
product availability to consumers.
- Feedback data to producers re consumers' wants.
- Can create broad public awareness of critical issues.
- Can be used to introduce new product (e.g. new brand of chemical
fertilizer), the modification of existing ones (e.g. organic
composting), restricted consumption of inputs (e.g. use of
herbicides), and promotion of change in existing institutions.
- Requires careful design and delivery of products to properly identified
and analyzed homogeneous target markets.
 Follower-Farmer
- Emerged from the T & V system introduced in many Third World
countries largely through the encouragement and support of The World
Bank
- Contact farmers are identified from among groups of families or
households in one village
- Extension worker works with contact farmers
- System revolves around an intensive visit of extension workers to
contact farmers
- During visits, extension worker transfers information to contact
farmers who in turn pass on the info to the farm households that they
are in charge of.
 Selective Farmer-to-Farmer
- Knowledge or info acquired by a farmer is transferred to another
farmer through informal discussion in field and villages
- Conversation can also happen during leisure time and on social and
religious occasions.
- Relatives, friends, and others listen to and participate in the
discussions
Explanations for Rejection/ Adoption of
Technology
“INDIVIDUAL-BLAME”
Hypothesis
-I am poor, I have low educational
attainment, traditional, fatalistic

“SYSTEM-BLAME”
Hypothesis
-Leadership is traditional,
power relationship is exploitative,
etc…
“PRO-INNOVATION”
Bias
-The innovation is okay, it is the
farmer's fault.
03
Sustainable
Development
 Framework for Sustainable
Development
 Economically viable
 Ecologically sound
 Socially just and humane
 Culturally acceptable/appropriate
 Grounded in holistic science
 Resilient and low risk
 Biodiversity-oriented
 Productive
 Participatory
→ Sustainable development is maintaining or prolonging
the productive capacity of the natural resource
base to meet human needs.

→ It is the conservation of the natural resource

base and the orientation of technological and
institutional change that ensures the attainment of a
continued satisfaction of human needs for present and
future generations.
Components of Agriculture Development

 Governance
 Research
 Extension/Education
 Marketing
 Production
 Supply
 AGRICULTURAL
KNOWLEDGE SYSTEM (AKS)
-Is a system of belief, cognitions, models, theories,
concepts and other products of the mind.

Pluralistic Extension Policy

-A practice
of allowing several organizations to provide
extension work to the different farmers of the country.
Extension work was done by DA industry bureaus, DA
commodity agencies, sues, NGOs and private companies.
SHORT REVIEW
MEMORY TEST

 What are the Framework of

Sustainable Development?

 Enumerate the Components of

Agriculture Development?
Thanks!