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

Abstract

Precision agriculture is expected to support and strengthen the sustainability of food production. In spite of the demonstrated benefits of the application of Information Technology to improve agricultural practices, such as yield increase and input reduction, in Italy its adoption still lags behind. In order to understand limits of and perspectives on the adoption of such technologies, we conducted an explorative study. A survey with a choice experiment was carried out in Italy among 471 farmers and people interested in agricultural machinery and technologies. The results highlight how specific factors, such as excessive costs and lack of incentive policies, may limit the spread of precision agriculture. Conversely, the provision of adequate technical support would likely favor its adoption. Furthermore, latent class modeling was used to identify three segments of potential buyers: sustainability seekers; precision agriculture best features supporters; low emissions fans. Potential policy and market implications of this explorative study are discussed in the conclusion.