Question

Given below are two statements:
Statement (I): Adoption score is usually lower for owner cultivator than for tenant cultivator.
Statement (II): Communicability is the degree to which results of innovation may not be diffused to others. Choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:

• A. Both Statement (I) and Statement (II) are incorrect.
• B. Statement (I) is correct but Statement (II) is incorrect.
• C. Statement (I) is incorrect but Statement (II) is correct.
• D. Both Statement (I) and Statement (II) are correct.

Hint:

Owner cultivators: Often lower adoption due to risk aversion; Communicability: Ease of spreading innovation results.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

- Statement (I) is correct: Adoption score measures the extent to which farmers adopt new agricultural practices or technologies. Studies often show that owner cultivators, who have secure land tenure, may be more risk-averse due to their long-term investment in land and existing practices. Tenant cultivators, facing shorter-term leases, may be more willing to experiment with innovations to maximize short-term yields, leading to higher adoption scores. This is context-dependent but generally holds in extension research. - Statement (II) is incorrect: Communicability, in the context of innovation diffusion (per Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovations), is the degree to which the results of an innovation are observable and easily communicated to others, facilitating its spread. The statement incorrectly suggests communicability limits diffusion, which is the opposite of its definition. Since Statement (I) is correct and Statement (II) is incorrect, option (2) is the correct answer. Note: The original options used (A) and (R), likely a typo for (I) and (II), which has been corrected here.

Answer 2

Definition-check approach:
Statement II can be dismissed purely by definition: in Rogers' theory of diffusion of innovations, communicability, also called observability, is precisely the degree to which the results of an innovation are visible and easy to communicate to others. Higher communicability speeds up diffusion, it does not describe results that may not be diffused, directly contradicting the statement and making it false. Statement I, on land-tenure and adoption behaviour, aligns with extension research findings that tenant cultivators, needing quicker returns, often show comparatively higher adoption of new practices than owner-cultivators, who tend to be more conservative custodians of inherited land, so Statement I holds. With I true and II false, option 2 is correct.