Abstract:
Agriculture is the pillar of Ethiopia’s economy. However, it is constrained by soil acidity. Soil
acidity is one of the problems that have resulted in low productivity in the country. Researchers
and development practitioners tried to alleviate soil acidity and increase agricultural
production. The adoption lime technology remains to be a promising strategy to reduce soil
acidity, achieve food security and reduce poverty in Ethiopia. Despite the efforts to promote
adoption in the country, the adoption rate has always been very low. So, it is essential to
understand the determinants to the adoption of lime technologies. Thus, the primary goal of this
study, which was carried out in the Debre Elias district, was to identify the basic factors
influencing farmers' adoption and intensity of lime technology. Data was collected from 366
households using a multi-stage sampling technique from three sample kebeles in Debre Elias
district. For the study, both primary and secondary data were employed. Descriptive statistics
such as percentage, mean, and standard deviation and inferential statistics such as independent
t-tests and chi-square tests were used. Double hurdle model was also used to analyze the
determinants of lime adoption intensity in the study. The result of the study in the probit model
shows that farm size, training, land ownership, and extension service significantly and positively
affected lime adoption participation. Whereas, distance to input market are significantly and
negatively affected lime adoption participation. The truncated model result shows that the age of
the household head and livestock holding significantly and positively affected lime adoption
intensity. Farm size, extension service, and household size are significantly and negatively
affected lime adoption intensity. Soil acidity treatment technologies adoption improvement
requires training for households, increasing expert support, sharing experiences between
adopters and non-adopters, and maximizing the adoption rate of lime by solving problems were
some important ideas.