We propose a theoretical framework to analyze the conditions under which a farmer facing production uncertainty (due to a possible water shortage) and incomplete information, will adopt a more efficient irrigation technology. A reduced form of this model is empirically estimated using a sample of 265 farms located in Crete, Greece.The empirical results suggest that farmers choose to adopt the new technology in order to hedge against production risk. In addition, we show that the farmer's human capital also plays a significant role in the decision to adopt modern more efficient irrigation equipment.

In this article we investigate the role of information transmission in promoting agricultural technology adoption and diffusion through extension services and social learning. We develop a theoretical model of technology adoption and diffusion, which we then empirically apply, using duration analysis, on a micro-dataset of olive-producing farms from Crete, Greece. Our findings suggest that both extension services and social learning are strong determinants of technology adoption and diffusion, while the effectiveness of each of the two informational channels is enhanced by the presence of the other.

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This article attempts to integrate the production- and the efficiency-based approaches for evaluating the impact of extension on farms' performance. For this purpose the nonneutral production frontier model is used, and the empirical analysis refers to a sample of farms from Crete, Greece. The empirical results support the proposed formulation instead of either the production- or the efficiency-based formulations as extension was found to have a statistically significant effect on closing both the technology and management gaps. Public and private extension services were found to be competitive in the production function and complementary in the technical inefficiency effect function. In addition, farms using both public and private extension services achieved a higher degree of technical efficiency than those using either public or private extension services, and farms with no extension services were found to be the least efficient. Copyright 2007 International Association of Agricultural Economists.