- 19 - tested under conditions which more closely approximate those faced by the farmer. The government experiment station may have a location, soils, and climate quite different from that of the farmers. Subsistence farmers are sufficiently shrewd to discern whether the new variety or new practice seems to have had enough adaptive research and local testing to meet their unique local needs. If the new technology has not had adequate adaptation or if a small trial run on a "demonstration plot" reveals that it is not in fact technically viable, community resistance to the new technology quickly develops. 5. Not Economically Feasible. Probably the biggest single cause of resistance to change is the unprofitability of the new technology as seen by the farmer. In many cases the new technology may be physically better but not necessarily economically better. A new technology usually requires an alteration in the input mix -- either in its utilization or more important in its composition. Equally often, the new technology requires the purchase of additional inputs to achieve the higher productivity -- and these inputs have a cost. And when the farmer compares the expected output plus its associated income with the additional costs of the input, the balance sheet employing the new technology is found wanting. (C) The "Externalities" 6. Not Available. Often the new technology is embedded in a physical item such as seed, pesticide, fertilizer, or equipment. But unless the new item is readily available to the farmer in quantities and at the time when he needs it, knowledge of its potential contri- bution to his agricultural production will not result in its adoption.