Communication Network Structures, Innovation Diffusion, and Agricultural Governance: Evidence from Indonesian Farmer Groups
Abstract
Agricultural systems in developing countries depend on complex interactions among farmers, agricultural extension agents, market actors, and institutions, making communication networks important for innovation diffusion, coordination, food security, and economic resilience. Conventional surveys, however, often fail to capture the relational structures underlying these processes. This study developed and applied a sociometric survey framework integrated with Social Network Analysis (SNA) to examine collaborative communication networks within agricultural systems. Using an exploratory research design, data were collected from 241 maize farmers belonging to two farmer groups located in the northern and southern areas of Lamongan Regency, East Java, Indonesia. Communication networks across nine sustainable agricultural technology (SAT) domains were examined using network density, degree centrality, closeness centrality, and betweenness centrality. The results revealed distinct communication patterns between the two groups. The southern group had denser communication networks for innovation generation and development, whereas the northern group had denser networks for innovation use and harvest-related activities. This mismatch suggests that intensive communication during innovation development does not necessarily correspond to equally developed networks for subsequent adoption and application. Centralized network configurations may facilitate rapid information exchange but can also increase dependence on a limited number of key actors. More distributed configurations may promote broader participation and reduce vulnerability to the loss of individual network actors. These findings demonstrate how the integration of sociometric surveys and SNA can identify structural strengths and communication bottlenecks within farmer groups. The resulting evidence may inform agricultural governance and the design of network-based interventions intended to support innovation diffusion, food security, and economic resilience.
Keywords: social network analysis; sociometric survey; innovation diffusion; agricultural governance; farmer groups; sustainable agricultural technology.
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