Factors Affecting Grape Cultivation Technology Adoption of Tibetan Farmers in Deqin county, Yunnan Province, P.R. China

Abstract

China has a long history in cultivating grape, and grape cultivated area also has been sharply increased in recent years. Deqin county is a newly developed grape growing area, which has unique plateau natural conditions and Tibetan cultural environment.  In order to have optimal grape production that comply with the agricultural development policy of this area, it is necessary to study the adoption and factors related to the adoption of the Tibetan farmers in this county. The target population consisted of 2,200 grape farmers in the county and 338 samples were selected by simple random sampling technique. The questionnaire with reliability tested (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.938) is used for the data collection, and the data were analyzed by using the statistic program of social science research. The results of the research showed that Tibetan farmers in Deqin county have high adoption in “Land and soil select”, “Planting techniques”, “The method of built grape shelves”, “Spring management techniques”, “Fertilizer techniques”, “Irrigation techniques”, and “Harvest techniques”. The study also found age, experience of being out town, household income, proportion income from grape, education, labor force number in a household, and satisfaction on service of technician, were directly affected to the Tibetan farmers’ adoption.