FARMER ADOPTION OF CONTOUR HEDGEROW INTERCROPPING, A CASE-STUDY FROM EAST INDONESIA

The results of a study to assess the initial impact of the introductio n of contour hedgerow intercropping on the Indonesian islands of Lombo k and Sumbawa are described. The study focused on the reasons for adop ting this technique and its initial effect. The results of detailed ca se studies in four villages indicated that the process of adoption is heterogeneous. Land-use conditions in the four villages were much more diverse and dynamic than the project anticipated. Rather than being a n 'off the shelf technique as assumed by the project, hedgerow croppin g proved to be a 'prototype' technique; the farmers' ability to adapt the practice to their specific farming conditions such as subsistence food production or cash crop cultivation was an important motive for i ts adoption. In some cases the introduction competed with the extensio n of other promising land-use practices. Several farmers adopted the t echnique not because of its productive benefits, but as a means to gai n access to land or credit, or to demonstrate their allegiance to soci al networks. The results indicate that there were significant disconti nuities between what the project intended to achieve by introducing th e technique and the farmers' motives for adopting it.