Precision Farming: Barriers of Variable Rate Technology Adoption in Italy (original) (raw)
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Adoption of Precision Farming Tools: The Case of Italian Farmers
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
The process of adopting innovation, especially with regard to precision farming (PF), is inherently complex and social, and influenced by producers, change agents, social norms and organizational pressure. An empirical analysis was conducted among Italian farmers to measure the drivers and clarify “bottlenecks” in the adoption of agricultural innovation. The purpose of this study was to analyze the socio-structural and complexity factors that affect the probability to adopt innovations and the determinants that drive an individual’s decisions. Preliminary results found high levels of adoption among younger farmers, those that had a high level of education, those with high intensity of information, with large farm sizes, and high labor intensity. A logit model was used to understand the role played by labor intensity and perceived in the adoption process. In light of the Common Agricultural Policy Reform post 2020, the findings suggest relevant policy implications, such as the need t...
Exploring the adoption of precision agricultural technologies: A cross regional study of EU farmers
Land Use Policy, 2019
Precision agricultural technologies (PATs) allow more detailed management of in-field variability. Policy and advisory communities have championed PATs as a route to preserving natural capital whilst increasing productivity from agricultural land. A range of PATs are currently available for the agricultural producer but uptake varies by the type of technology and region. Whereas most studies on uptake have focused on US or Australia we empirically examine uptake of machine guidance (MG) and variable rate nitrogen technologies (VRNT) within European farming systems. Using primary information from 971 arable crop growers across five countries: Belgium, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands and the UK, a multilevel random intercept regression estimated a) the differences between adoption and non-adoption and b) the differences between VRNT and MG adoption. We find, aside from size and income differences, which reflect the economic cost barrier to adoption, an attitudinal difference, in terms of optimism towards the technology's economic return leading to more probability of uptake. Moreover innovative and information seeking behaviour also proved significant when upgrading from machine guidance to variable rate technologies. Subsidy and taxation were considered positive drivers of uptake within the community. However, results suggest that more indirect interventions, such as informational support to counteract industry bias, and demonstration to prove the viability of economic return may be effective at meeting land manager and policy expectations towards PATs.
Farmer preferences for adopting precision farming technologies: a case study from Italy
European Review of Agricultural Economics, 2020
Precision farming (PF) technologies can help to mitigate the environmental impact of agriculture by reducing fertiliser use and irrigation while saving cost for the farmer. However, these technologies are not widely adopted in Europe. We study farmers’ willingness to adopt PF technologies based on a choice experiment. Among other determinants, we explore the role of social influence for the valuation of PF technology features. The data are analysed using mixed and latent class logit models. Our results show that knowledge of fellow farmers who adopted the technology positively influences the valuation of PF technology features, stressing the importance of networks.
Precision Agriculture, 2012
Increasing pressure for food security and sustainability as well as a need to halt environmental degradation has focused attention on increasing the efficient use of farm resources. One answer to aspects of that problem is the use of precision agricultural technologies (PATs). To facilitate their adoption, initiatives have been fostered in developed countries since the 1980s. Despite a low rate of adoption elsewhere, similar efforts in recent years have been initiated in developing countries. Given this, understanding those underlying factors that influence the adoption of PATs is vital. It is timely to review these factors and to draw policy implications from that review for future actions. This review, based on studies investigating the limited adoption of PATs in 'experienced' countries, extrapolates their findings to explain why farmers have or have not adopted PATs. At the same time, this review summarizes the key insights for more effectively targeting 'new' followers: e.g. it provides some answers to the question of who is more likely to adopt PATs. Additionally, the review points to the limitations of current research in the area and suggests a robust economic model or multidisciplinary approach be adopted for future investigation.
ADOPTION OF PRECISION FARMING TECHNOLOGIES: USA AND EU SITUATION
SEA - Practical Application of Science, 2020
Through this article, the author aims to identify the adoption rates and types of precision farming technologies embraced by farmers in the USA and the EU. Research papers in relation to the adoption of precision agriculture technologies were collected and divided into two groups, according to their geographic region: USA and EU. Books, scientific articles, reports and conference papers were reviewed and studied. Likewise, the material about the adoption of precision agriculture technologies was accumulated. The level of adoption in the USA differs from one state to another. The percentage rate of adoption is higher in the Southern States, and the overall adoption of precision agriculture technologies reaches to about 91%. United Kingdom, Denmark and Germany have higher rates of adoption compared with other countries in the EU. Similarly, the percentage rate of adoption is higher in the USA in comparison with EU countries. In the USA prevails a diversification of precision agriculture technologies adopted by US farmers. On the contrary, in the EU, the majority of research papers reported mainly some level of adoption of yield monitors/mapping and variable rate technologies for applying inputs.
Willingness to Adopt Technologies of Precision Agriculture: A Case Study of the Czech Republic
Water Resources Management, 2017
The idea of precision agriculture is to optimize production inputs (fertilizers, irrigation water, etc.) when trying to achieve desired harvest. More targeted use of inputs is expected to benefit for the environment, including quality of underground water. It can be said to contribute to reconciling a situation frequently occurring in watershed, where the need to sustain high quality of water resources has to be balanced with other interests related to land-use. Technologies are available. Nevertheless, availability of technologies is a precondition necessary, but not sufficient. As in other cases, their practical implementation is influenced by many socio-economic and cultural factors, making any application site-specific. This paper builds on results of a sociological questionnaire survey conducted in selected rural areas of the Czech Republic. It tries to respond to the question to which extent factors such as tradition, overall economic situation, economic power of a farm and pe...
Factors Influencing Adoption and Use of Precision Agriculture
2006
While the potential for creating efficiencies are possible with precision agricultural tools, the various combinations of tools, the steep learning curve of these technologies, and the initial investment of each of the tools complicate farmers' decisions to adopt these technologies. The purpose of this study is to create a model that describes, explains, and predicts precision agriculture adoption. The research takes a multidisciplinary approach to studying precision agriculture adoption. The proposed model is based on the Transtheoretical Model's stage of change and the decision making construct, decisional balance. Additionally, the constructs of v precision agriculture self-efficacy, perceived ease of use, and perceived compatibility are integrated in the adoption decision model. A survey instrument was created to measure stage of change, decisional balance, precision agriculture self-efficacy, perceived ease of use, and perceived compatibility. 261 surveys were used in this study to empirically test the adoption-decision model. The results indicated that decisional balance, which is the weighing of importance of the advantages and disadvantages of using precision agriculture did, in fact, predict the stage of change. Additionally, perceived ease of use influenced the decisional balance. Perceived compatibility affected both decisional balance and the stage of change. The study did not find support that precision agriculture self-efficacy directly influenced the stage of change, but precision agriculture self-efficacy did indirectly affect stage of change through decisional balance and perceived ease of use. Farm size also influenced the stage of change, while off-farm employment and educational level did not affect the stage of change.
Precision agriculture technologies (PATs) are promoted as part of both economically efficient and environmentally sustainable agriculture practices. Available PATs are generally classified into two groups; namely, embodied-knowledge and information-intensive PATs. Adoption levels of embodied-knowledge PATs are high relative to information-intensive PATs. Previous studies on the adoption of PATs do not differentiate between embodiedknowledge and information-intensive PATs. Additionally, most studies focus on the adoption of one or two of the available PATs rather than on adoption intensity-defined as the total number of individual PATs adopted. This study fills this gap in the literature by focusing on PAT adoption in general, and adoption intensity of embodied-knowledge and information-intensive PATs in particular. The study uses data from 198 farm-operator respondents in eastern South Dakota from a 2017 survey and employs descriptive statistics and probit and Poisson regression models for the analyses. As per the study, GPS guidance, yield monitor, and automatic section control systems are the most popular PATs, each with adoption rates of over 50%. Overall, findings from the study show that the effect of cropland size, producers' perceptions of profitability, and operator off-farm income are similar for both adoption and adoption intensity of embodied-knowledge and information-intensive PATs. However, there are differences in the effect of land productivity and familiarity with computer use between adoption and adoption intensity and between embodied-knowledge and information-intensive PATs. The effect of producers' perception of the environmental benefits of PATs is inconclusive and needs to be investigated in future research. The results indicate that analyzing PATs as a group of technologies masks differences in determinants between embodied-knowledge and information-intensive PATs. The study provides insights for developing programs, policies, and outreach efforts that encourage the adoption and adoption intensity of both embodied-knowledge and information-intensive PATs. Findings from the study will also be of interest to precision agriculture researchers, extension personnel, agribusinesses, and policymakers who may consider PATs as tools for improving agricultural sustainability and food security.
Drivers of Precision Agriculture Technologies Adoption: A Literature Review
Procedia Technology, 2013
In this review, we identify the key drivers that affect the intention to adopt Precision Agriculture (PA) technologies. Research articles concerning the adoption of PA were collected and subdivided into two groups: (1) ex-post assessments that make use of utility-based models, and (2) ex-ante assessments that make use of predictive models. Principal classes of constructs were identified and utilized to interpret what factors promoted the use of PA technologies by farmers. Three classes of drivers influencing PA adoption are presented. This review confirms the necessity to focus on the design of an appropriated adoption process and on innovation's features.
Status quo of adoption of precision agriculture enabling technologies in Swiss plant production
Precision Agriculture, 2020
This paper presents the state of application of Precision Agricultural enabling Technology (PAT) in Swiss farms as an example for small-scale, highly mechanised Central European agriculture. Furthermore, correlations between farm and farmers’ characteristics and technology adoption were evaluated. Being part of a comprehensive and representative study assessing the state of mechanisation and automation in Swiss agriculture, this paper focuses on the adoption of Driver Assistance Systems (DAS) and activities in which Electronic Measuring Systems (EMS) are used. The adoption rate of DAS was markedly higher compared to EMS in all agricultural enterprises. The adoption rate was highest for high-value enterprise vegetables and surprisingly low for the high-value enterprise grapes. The results of a binary logistic regression showed that farmers located in the mountain zone were less likely to adopt PAT compared to farmers in the valley. Small farm size correlated with low adoption rates a...