Drivers and Barriers Influencing the Willingness to Adopt Technologies for Variable Rate Application of Fertiliser in Lower Austria

Abstract

Even though a broad range of technologies for variable rate application of nitrogen fertiliser is available, there are hardly any documented cases of their use in Austria. In this study, the drivers and barriers of adoption have been investigated. A survey of 242 farmers in Lower Austria was conducted. The survey covered the farmers’ economic situation, concerns, and expectations regarding the future of their farms and their interest in precision farming technologies. A choice experiment was included in the survey to elicit farmers’ preferences for different features of variable rate application technologies. A series of multinomial logit, mixed logit and latent class logit models were run to analyze the choice experiment. Most farmers were interested in variable rate application, whereas technology costs, yield and environmental improvements were found to be important drivers of adoption. Also, farm size, farming system, technological level and network activities seem to play an important role in the uptake of variable rate application technologies.

Better richer than environmentally friendly? Describing preferences toward and factors affecting precision agriculture adoption in Italy

“…These evidences suggest that information provided explicitly through a well-known industry label or by consultants can be considered as valid support in solving asymmetric information problems and convincing potential buyers in purchasing PA equipment. In line with the results by Blasch et al ( 2021 ), our study points out the crucial role of both information provision and financial support through incentives to influence the willingness to adopt PA technologies.…”

Determining Factors in the Adoption of Precision Agriculture Technologies by Grain Producers

“…Meanwhile, 82.83% of large farmers are adopters. Such results are similar as the empirical findings of Paudel et al (2021), Kolady et al (2020), Blasch et al (2021), Paustian & Theuvsen (2017), Vecchio et al (2020b), Tamirat et al (2018).…”

“…Only the "producers' cooperative" source of information was significantly associated with the adoption of PAT in this study. The research by Blasch et al (2021) identified that farmers most often turn to neighboring producers for information on PAT. However, the variable "other producers" had no significant effect in this study.…”