Processes of technological change within agrosystems of resource-poor farmers

Abstract

We analyse the process of technological change of resource-poor farmers raising goats in North-western Córdoba (Argentina). We focus on farmers' behaviour in relation to a certain technology (the use of veterinary products) proposed by extensionists who are canying out a development program in the región. We used a survey including both open and closed questions for data collection, and lexicometric and multidimensional statistical methods for data analysis. We compared technological adoption at two different stages of the process of technological adoption. We concluded that the adoption of veterinary products was only partial due to two main reasons: i) farmers' behaviour stems from a practical logic very different from that of the extensionists; and ii) farmers only picked up those elemenís of the technology that better matched the logic underlying their reproductive strategies.