| Although technology adoption has been the subject of a great deal of economic research, that focused on the economics of adoption of low-input "sustainable" systems has been much more limited and recent. This paper attempts to explain the recent decline in the use of cover crops using in maize farming in the Department of Atlantida, Honduras. In the early 1970's, farmers in the region began rotating maize with the velvetbean (mucuna ssp.), a system learned from Guatemalan immigrants. Tohe mucuna-maize system decreased the labor required for maize farming even as it increased yields, prevented erosion, and conferred a variety of other agronomic benefits. By 1992, estimates show that the system had diffused among more than 60% of farmers in the Department.... |
