Bt cotton has been commercialized in China for 13 years. This study sets out to examine the pattern of Chinese farmers' adoption of Bt cotton, what factors influenced adoption, and what communication channels were most effective in reaching Chinese farmers.

Personal interviews were conducted among 108 farmers living in villages with Bt cotton in Shandong, China. The results show that most of the farmers are Bt cotton adopters, and they are highly similar in terms of education level, information seeking behavior, seed purchase/cotton sales behaviors, satisfaction level with Bt cotton performance, and concerns about Bt cotton.

This study found the diffusion of Bt cotton among farmers in Shandong China shares some common factors with the diffusion of hybrid corn among farmers in Iowa: Neighbors and salesmen from seed companies played an important role as first sources of information about Bt cotton; Interpersonal channels were more frequently used than mass media channels and company channels like seed companies or lectures from pesticide companies; farm size was a strong predictor to distinguish Bt cotton rejecters and adopters. In China local government also played a positive role in promoting Bt cotton.