Some Factors Affecting the Adoption of Hand Tractors by Vegetable Farmers in Trinidad Based on post graduate research carried out in the Department of Agricultural Extension, Faculty of Agriculture, The University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago, by the senior author. William G. Clarke Agriculture Department, Geo. F. Huggins & Co. Ltd. Port of Spain, Trinidad There is scope for reducing the level of labour required by vegetable farmers by use of small machines. Thirty-five farmers from the main vegetable growing area who purchased hand tractors were interviewed along with 35 farmers who did not purchase and who were matched with the purchasers for location of farm, ethnic background and age. A 34-question interview schedule covered farm-related, innovation-related, P. I. Gomes Department of Agricultural Extension The University of the West Indies St. Augustine, Trinidad personal and social variables. Agricultural training, source of information, size of farm, tenure and relative advantage were positively related to adoption of hand tractors. The high cost and scarcity of labour was not a factor affecting adoption behaviour. Keywords: Adoption; hand tractor; market gardening Trinidad and Tobago, like many countries in the Caribbean, is attempting to come to terms with a high and rising food import bill accompanied by declining agricultural production. The wind- fall profits of oil provided the foreign exchange to pay for the ris- ing expectations of a population enjoying an increased standard of living and suffering from the consequent inflation.. The oil industry and other non-agricultural sectors of the economy were able to support the level of wages that the agricultural sector could not afford and therefore could not ob- tain. At the same time farmers also expected the level of financial return that was necessary for them to keep pace with fast rising prices and to participate in the improved standard of living in the economy of which they are a part. This was especially critical in farming areas within proximity of urban communities. Vegetable farming in County St. George, Trinidad, is one such area where vegetable farmers reside and cultivate their crops close to the capital city Port of Spain, their principal market. The Ministry of Agriculture has identified the high cost and scarcity of labour as a constraint to agricultural production (Ministry of Agriculture, 1979). In the case of County St. George, what appeared to be the obvious solution to the farm labour problem was the mechanization of small vegetable plots that are traditionally cultivated under a labour intensive system. The single axle or hand tractor, also described as a "walking" tractor or power tiller, was considered to be the answer to the problems of mechanization of small vegetable plots (Carr, 1970; Harvey, 1983). The hand tractor has emerged as being best for rotavating which confines its use to situations where primary tillage is not re- quired or can be provided by a large tractor. When compared with the capital outlay for a large tractor, ownership of a hand tractor is within closer reach of a small farmer. The timing of operations in vegetable production is critical, especially under rain fed conditions. Ownership of a hand tractor would give farmers some control over their operations and allow them to take advantage of short periods of favourable weather. McMillan (1967) reported that hand tractors were demonstrated to farmers in the Aranguez area, the principal market gardening district in County St. George, Trinidad, since 1966. VOL. XX-PROCEEDINGS of the CARIBBEAN FOOD CROPS SOCIETY The availability of hand tractors and exposure of these machines to vegetable farmers have not led to their widespread adoption. This study sets out to identify some of the factors which are related to the adoption use of the hand tractor in County St. George. Materials and Methods County St. George is one of seven counties in the island of Trinidad. In work done by Ali et al. (1973), County St. George was described as the largest vegetable producing area in the coun- try. At the end of 1980, there were 1,143 registered farmers. Over 70 percent of these farmers depended on agriculture as their only source of income. The data shows that 67.1% of the farming population was 40 years old and above. The average farm size was about 1 ha. This was due to the fact that most farming operations were performed manually, limiting the size of plot to that which one family can effectively cultivate. Primary and secondary tillage are carried out by large tractors on a contract basis. The present study covered the period January 1977 to December 1980. Two models of hand tractors were available on the local market; the 3.73 kW Wolseley and the 5.97 kW Grave- ly. The period chosen was influenced by the availability of data from the firms marketing these units and the limitation of time and other resources. Commercial vegetable production in County St. George is generally confined to the River Estate Soil Series on which 89% of the vegetable farmers are located. In this study, the population of vegetable farmers was stratified on this soil type. A list of the purchasers of hand tractors who farmed on this soil type was compiled using the names and addresses obtained from the firms marketing the hand tractors. Each purchaser was matched with a non-purchaser on the basis of location of farm, ethnic background and age, resulting in a sample size of seventy farmers. Note: Mention of a tradename in this paper does not constitute an endorsement of the product over other products not mentioned. See Appendix.