Water-saving technologies (WSTs) have been publicized for many years in the North China Plain. However, WSTs are not well accepted and farmers have a preference for traditional irrigation technology rather than modern ones. This paper examines determinants of adopting traditional or modern WSTs, especially effects of water scarcity. Using cross-sectional data of 267 farm households, we first categorized households into two groups—poorly endowed and well endowed in terms of a water scarcity index produced by principal component analysis (PCA). Then, a bivariate probit model is used to analyze how water scarcity influences farmers’ technology adoption decisions. The study found that the different factors influence technology adoptions between poorly and well-endowed households. Farm size and membership are found to have a significant effect on the adoption of WSTs only in poorly endowed households. Other factors (education, extensive service, relatives, water scarcity index, and irrigation cost) not only influence the poorly endowed but also have an impact on the well endowed. What is more, different factors are found to affect adoption of traditional technology (furrow irrigation) and modern technology (underground pipes), respectively. It is also found that family labor and plots only significantly influence the adoption of furrow irrigation while information quality and labor-saving potential are significantly associated with the adoption of underground pipes. In particular, off-farm work has a positive effect on adoption of underground pipes but has a negative effect on adoption of furrow irrigation. Therefore, different strategies of WST promotion should be taken to different households and different technologies.

节水技术（WST）在华北平原已经宣传了很多年。但是，WST未被很好地接受，农民更偏爱传统灌溉技术而不是现代灌溉技术。本文研究了采用传统或现代WST的决定因素，尤其是缺水的影响。我们使用267个农户的横断面数据，首先将农户分为两类：根据主成分分析（PCA）得出的缺水指数，贫困家庭和富裕家庭。然后，使用二元概率模型来分析水资源短缺如何影响农民的技术采用决策。研究发现，不同的因素会影响贫困和富裕家庭之间的技术采用。研究发现，农场规模和成员资格仅对贫困家庭具有显着影响。其他因素（教育，广泛的服务，亲戚，缺水指数和灌溉成本）不仅影响穷人，而且对富人也有影响。此外，发现各种因素分别影响传统技术（沟灌）和现代技术（地下管道）的采用。还发现，家庭劳动和地块只会显着影响犁沟灌溉的采用，而信息质量和节省劳动力的潜力则与地下管道的采用显着相关。尤其是，非农工作对采用地下管道具有积极影响，但对采用沟灌技术则具有不利影响。所以，