Investigation of Innovation Characteristics of in Adoption of Winter Chickpea in Ravansar County, Kermanshah (Application of Rogers Theory)

Ravansar county in Kermanshah province is known for its rain-fed chickpea production. This variety has shown limited yield across Ravansar county. Therefore, agricultural policymakers have focused on winter variety of chickpea as an alternative to spring variety. However, during the past decade, the rate of adoption of winter chickpea has been limited to only 20% of all total rain-fed chickpea production in the region. Therefore, the purpose of this mixed method design was application of Roger’s Theory in adoption of winter chickpea among farmers in Ravansar county. In the quantitative part, 170 farmers were selected using simple random sampling whereas in the qualitative part a case study of 10 target farmers were interviewed using purposeful sampling method. Data was collected through a researcher-made questionnaire based on Roger’s Theory of Innovation Characteristics and in-depth interview. Descriptive statistics and content analysis were used to analyze quantitative and qualitative data, respectively. Results revealed that all five innovation characteristics (observability, trialability, compatibility, relative advantage, and complexity) were effective in winter chickpea adoption. Furthermore, qualitative results showed that observability and trialability were more influential during the early stage of decision-making and compatibility, relative advantage, and complexity were more influential during the sustainable adoption of winter chickpea. Overall, there is evidence to support Roger’s Theory of Innovation Characteristics.