Technology, complexity and change in agricultural production systems

Abstract

Technological advances have contributed to impressive yield gains and have greatly altered US agriculture. Selective breeding and directed molecular techniques address biological shortcomings of plants and animals and overcome environmental limitations. Improvements in mechanization, particularly of power sources and harvest equipment, reduce labor requirements and increase productivity and worker safety. Conservation systems, often designed to overcome problems introduced from other technologies, reduce negative impacts on soil and water and improve the environmental sustainability of production systems. Advances in information systems, largely developed in other disciplines and adapted to agriculture, are only beginning to impact US production practices. This paper is the fourth in the series of manuscripts exploring drivers of US agricultural systems. While development of technology is still largely driven by a need to address a problem, adoption is closely linked with other drivers of agricultural systems, most notably social, political and economic. Here, we explore the processes of innovation and adoption of technologies and how they have shaped agriculture. Technologies have increased yield and net output, and have also resulted in decreased control by producers, increased intensification, specialization and complexity of production, greater dependence on non-renewable resources, increased production inputs and hence decreased return, and an enhanced reliance on future technology. Future technologies will need to address emerging issues in land use, decline in work force and societal support of farming, global competition, changing social values in both taste and convenience of food, and increasing concerns for food safety and the environment. The challenge for farmers and researchers is to address these issues and develop technologies that balance the needs of producers with the expectations of society and create economically and environmentally sustainable production systems.

Non-adoption of environmental innovations in wine growing

“…Trialability relates to whether the innovation can be experimented with on a limited basis, whilst observability is the degree to which the results of the innovation are visible to others. Sassenrath et al (2008) noted that some innovations are driven by a desire to improve yields, whilst others are concerned for the environment. Environmental innovations are those which focus on improvements to land management; the cost associated with the adoption of these innovations is often borne by the individual farmer while society benefits.…”

“…This argument would appear to hold true, as Buttel et al (1990) reported that the environmental innovations in agriculture that have been most widely adopted are those that are commercially oriented, such as minimum tillage. Sassenrath et al (2008) noted that the adoption of innovations by agriculturists is an interaction between a range of external and internal factors, such as political and social pressures and monetary constraints. Whilst there is little doubt that agriculturists seek increased profitability through innovations, they also tend to be quite risk-averse.…”

“…Whilst there is little doubt that agriculturists seek increased profitability through innovations, they also tend to be quite risk-averse. Agricultural innovations that reduce risk and are simple to establish are thus likely to be those that are most readily adopted by farmers (Sassenrath et al 2008).…”

Participative site-specific agriculture analysis for smallholders

“…PA became an attractive idea for most farmers and agriculture experts in developed countries as a method for optimizing agricultural production (Roberts et al 2004;Sassenrath et al 2008;Cook et al 2003). For instance, site-specific agriculture became attractive for delineating productive zones based on soil quality and production (Mann et al 2011).…”

Enhance the value of participative geospatial data, modelling using point pattern processes

“…Precision and site-specific farming became an attractive idea for most farmers and agriculture experts in developed countries as a method for optimizing agricultural production (Roberts et al, 2004;Sassenrath et al, 2008;Cook et al, 2003) (Mann et al, 2011). Precision agriculture has been based mostly on information technology, high levels of machinery and computation knowledge.…”