Key factors influencing farmers’ adoption of sustainable innovations: a systematic literature review and research agenda

Abstract

Despite the benefits of sustainable innovations in the agricultural sector being widely recognized, their adoption rate remains below the level designated by the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. To understand the reasons behind this phenomenon, the current systematic literature review (SLR) provides a comprehensive overview of factors affecting farmers’ innovation adoption behavior in developed countries. A total of 44 studies, published since 2010, were identified, analyzed, and summarized. The analysis revealed that specific innovation characteristics foster the innovation adoption process, together with individual psychological and socio-demographic features. It emerged that the path to adopting sustainable innovations can be driven by environmental values; for example, when comparing organic and conventional farming, organic farmers have a stronger environmental view and are more likely to take less into account economic gains. On the contrary, complexity of innovation, a high degree of innovation aversion, and a low perceived control over innovation are among the core barriers to the innovation adoption. Findings provide important insights on potential research avenues that could further depict farmers’ adoption dynamics of sustainable innovations.

Adoption of mechanization alternatives in oil palm crops in the Colombian Orinoquía natural region

“…The decision of adopting machines and equipment should consider not only investment costs but also returns on investment from their use, especially when considering manual labor problems resulting from the use of equipment involving laborintensive tasks. Technology adoption can be influenced by the economic advantages of a technology, as they enable a logical evaluation of different alternatives and the choice of the optimal solution (Ploll et al, 2022;Rizzo et al, 2023). We examined various alternatives that could enhance the labor demand and decrease the production cost.…”

Linking farmers’ perceptions and management decision toward sustainable agroecological transition: evidence from rural Tunisia

“…In this context, farmers’ perceptions of innovation can greatly shape their willingness to adopt it. These perceptions can be influenced by various factors, such as the perceived advantages and drawbacks of the innovation, the compatibility with existing practices, the level of information and experience, and the social and cultural context ( 10 ).…”

Integration of Technology in Agricultural Practices towards Agricultural Sustainability: A Case Study of Greece

“…Adoption is influenced by the reputation, relationship with farmers, and communication skills of extension agents working in tandem with the efficiency of the technology transfer process. Furthermore, the biophysical aspects of the agricultural region, such as the infrastructure and resources available to the farm, have a favorable impact on the social network of the farmers [8,21].…”

“…Deep-learning methods and computer-vision techniques are used by AI systems to identify possible crop dangers early on. This lessens the need for widespread pesticide applications by enabling farmers to implement focused preventative measures like localized interventions or precision spraying [8,12,48,49].…”

“…Armed with this knowledge, they possess the capability to address various challenges within the agriculture industry with remarkable efficacy [6]. Identifying and controlling pests and diseases, weed detection, crop harvesting, and plant disease monitoring are only a few of the enormous changes in agriculture that are facilitated by applying these areas' skills to practices [7][8][9].…”