Determination of the capacities of farmers to adopt quinoa grain (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) as potential feedstuff.

The quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.), is a pseudocereal that has been cultivated in the Andean region in South America and especially in Narino, Colombia. The quinoa has a great potential in the improvement of food for humans and animals. Its importance could be due to the quality of its proteins, the content and balance of its amino acids. The objective was to determine the factors that affect quinoa adoption, by using the model innovation-decision process (Rogers 2003) which structured and evaluated following parameters: level of consumption, use in animal feed, quinoa related to pro Þ tability and expectations with the improvement of quinoa. The results of the survey indicated that high proportion of small farmers know the quinoa crop, but only a short time (16 years ago), this could be the main reason of the a low consumption and low quinoa production. Low proportion of farmers (20%) has used quinoa in animal feed so we could consider them as the Innovators and early Adopters according to Innovation Adoption Curve categories of Rogers (2003). Due to knowledge of quinoa from previous state projects there is a good potential adoption to innovate food production. Quinoa has a good nutritional content, the availability of adequate agricultural conditions and broad varieties.