Innovation adoption in the maize production of the state of Guanajuato, Mexico: analysis of an intervention

In Mexico, government institutions are key actors in the innovation management processes of the agricultural sector. The objective of this work was to analyze the innovation dynamics of maize farmers that have been part of the target population of the government MasAgro program, to determine its role in that process. With a probabilistic cluster sampling, 243 farmers from the state of Guanajuato were selected, they were classified into three groups according to their length of stay in the program. Through the analysis of social networks, the sources of learning of the innovations implemented by the farmers and the year of adoption were identified. An analysis of variance revealed that there is no statistical difference between the innovation levels of the groups. However, the most adopted innovations were those promoted by the program and the adoption was conducted during the intervention period. It is proposed to analyze the innovation dynamics of the farmers involved, that is, to identify the innovation levels, the period of adoption and sources of learning to assist the evaluation of agricultural extension programs.