DETERMINING FACTORS IN THE ADOPTION OF PRECISION AGRICULTURE TECHNOLOGIES BY GRAIN PRODUCERS

Abstract

The adoption of precision agriculture technologies (PAT) has contributed significantly to the development of a more sustainable agriculture with a greater use of inputs, cost reduction, and increased productivity. Also, information arising from reports generated using these technologies allows farmers to manage their property more efficiently. Despite the benefits to the management of production and use of inputs, many farmers still do not use precision agriculture technologies on their property or use them only partially. The objective of this study is to investigate the farmers' perception about the use of PAT and determine which factors influence adoption of PAT. To this end, 133 soy producers from different states of Brazil were interviewed. Multiple logistic regression was used to build the estimated model (MA2). Education level, producer experience, planted area with maize, and government agencies as a source of information have a statistically significant influence on the adoption of PAT.