Does agricultural extension pay? A case study for a new crop, lupins, in Western Australia
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Compared to studies evaluating the benefits from agricultural research, there are relatively few empirical studies of the net
economic benefits of agricultural extension, and even fewer that consider both public and private sector extension effort. In
this study we examine regional differences in the adoption of lupins in Western Australia (WA) in order to estimate the net
economic benefits of public and private sector extension. Impacts of extension and other variables on adoption were analysed
for 40 shires using multivariate regression analysis. The results suggest that both public and private extension activities
influenced farmer uptake of lupins, particularly by bringing forward the start time of the diffusion curve. Economic benefits of
extension, based on the statistical analysis, were combined with costs of extension estimated from public sector records and
surveys of private sector extension agents and used to estimate the net present value of extension investments by the public
and private sectors in the study area.
© 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.