The investigation in two Rumanian villages aimed to establish to what extent the speed at which innovations are adopted or the readiness to accept them may be determined by the following factors: i) information, and its role in the process of adopting an innovation; z) the traits of the general socio-economic system; 3) the characteristics typical of the village in its capacity as a social system, and the degree to which its members have identified themselves with the system; 4) the social status of the individuals; 5) the rationale of the behaviour of the individuals with respect to the co-operative farm; 6) the type of interest taken in innovations (the motivation for adopting them). The innovations considered were: the mechanization of the various farming tasks and the degree of use of chemical fertilisers, of insecticides and fungicides, of selected seeds and of industrial fodder. In addition to the diffusion of technical innovations in agricultural production, the study also embraced the penetration of technical innovations in the private life of the peasant's family (diffusion of household appliances and of mass media). The research centred on the co-operative farm since, in Rumania's co-operative agricultural system, the function of the individual plots of land is quite different from that of the privately-owned land of the individual peasant. The survey showed the decisive significance of the social agrarian structure, which sets its seal on the speed of innovation diffusion in agriculture. In co-operative agriculture, it is not the information on technical innovations that is the main agent in their diffusion. The admission of technical novelties depends on deeper, structural factors, namely, the socio-economic structure of the co-operative and of the entire social system. In the case of agricultural co-operatives, the utilization of technical innovations is mostly financed by the state and controlled, either by means of contracts concluded with stateowned agricultural machinery enterprises or by means of state allotments of such machines, the cost of which is refunded by the cooperative farm. Decisions concerning production, including the introduction of innovations, are taken by a population with a specific institutional structure. Information exerts a comparatively greater influence on decisions concerning the admission and acquisition of technical items for personal use in the peasant family. It is argued that a socialist agrarian structure cannot by itself ensure an optimum functionality. It requires self-conscious activity and the ability of the human being to turn the advantages of the new system to good account. The modernization of rural life depends to a marked extent on the internal cohesiveness of the rural group and of the organizational level of their productive efforts. The investigation disclosed that the subjective conditions for a rapid pace of development are also conditioned by the vocational, moral and civic qualities of the leaders of the co-operative units. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]