A systematic review of factors that influence farmers' adoption of sustainable crop farming practices: Lessons for sustainable nitrogen management in South Asia

This paper reviews various studies which have provided a description and possible explanation to patterns of innovation adoption in the agricultural sector. The survey points out that the tendency of many studies to consider innovation adoption in dichotomous terms (adoption/nonadoption) may not be appropriate in many cases where the actual decisions are defined over a more continuous range. More attention needs to be given to the socio-cultural and institutional environment in area studies so that their interrelation with economic factors affecting adoption can be inferred. The presence of several interrelated innovations is another aspect that needs to be considered more carefully in future research, since a number of simultaneous decisions may be involved. Furthermore, the possibility of regular sequential patterns in adopting components of a new technological package should be specifically addressed in future studies. Finally, the impact of differential adoption rates on land holding distribution merits attention in future research.

In 2016, a study was conducted in Tanzania to assess the impact of radio and SMS in scaling-up smallholder participation in legume-based sustainable agricultural intensification (SAI) practices and technologies. The study aimed to answer the following research questions: (i) does participation in the campaign enhance farmers’ knowledge of legume-based sustainable agricultural intensification practices and technologies? (ii) what is the impact of the campaign on the adoption of legume-based sustainable agricultural intensification practices and technologies?; (iii) does exposure to multiple ICT-enabled channels result in larger gains (in terms of knowledge and adoption) than exposure to only one channel? (iv) is it more cost-effective to use radio or SMS alone or use them in combination? The results show that both awareness and adoption are boosted if SMS supports radio campaigns. However, radio alone is the most cost-effective approach. Each dollar spent on the radio campaign results in 2.1 farmers that have adopted at least one new practice, compared with 0.5 farmers for SMS and 0.4 farmers for radio and SMS combined. Other factors were also important in facilitating uptake of legume-based SAI practices, such as gender, age, education and land size, but were not statistically significant when rated against the communication channels used.

Background: The world will need to feed a population of nearly nine billion by 2050 (Godfray, 2010). To do so agricultural systems will have to contend to with risks to soil and water resources and the impacts of climate change, including changing weather patterns, an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events and increased pest and disease-related threats. These risks threaten the livelihoods of nearly 475 million smallholder farmers in the global south and pose a significant threat to the world's food and nutritional security (IPCC, 2022). Sustainable agricultural technologies and practices offer an innovative and holistic way of meeting food and nutrition needs of current and future generations while ensuring profitability, and environmental and social sustainability (Güven, 2023). Sustainable agriculture practices and technologies seek to transform and reorient agricultural systems to support food security while preserving natural capital including soil, water, and biodiversity, increase resilience to the impacts of climate change, and promote health, and social and economic equity (Brodt et al., 2011) By systematically integrating goals of sustainability along with economic profitability into the planning and development of agricultural systems, sustainable agriculture technology and practices aims to increase agricultural productivity, mitigate negative environmental impacts of agriculture while furthering social objectives. Women play a critical role in agricultural and food systems and often have higher work and time burdens and are less productive due to limited access to social and economic resources. The 2023 Status of Women in Agrifood Systems report by FAO estimates that if female farmers had the same access to productive resources as men, their productivity could increase by up to 30 per cent, reducing the number of hungry people in the world by 12 to 17 per cent. Recognizing existing gender inequalities and the vulnerability of women in agricultural systems is one of the goals of sustainable agriculture furthering goals of gender equity and women's empowerment. Studies show that sustainable agriculture technologies and practices have the potential to reshape gender dynamics, challenging existing gender norms by providing social and economic agency and empowerment. However, this depends on how particular needs, priorities, and realities of women are recognized and adequately addressed in the design and application of these technologies. Presently, there is limited evidence systematically assessing the appropriateness, accessibility and outcomes of sustainable agricultural technologies and practices for women and girls, as well as their effectiveness in addressing longer-term gender-equity goals. Evidence syntheses in this domain remains focused on gendered approaches within interventions or programs targeting women. We seek to broaden the perspective by focusing on how different sustainable agriculture technologies affect women's well-being, empowerment and gender equity even when women specifically are not targeted.

Factors affecting sustainable process technology adoption: A systematic literature review

Sustainable agricultural technologies have impacted positively on staple crop yields in Asia and some parts of Sub-Sahara Africa. However, the adoption of similar technologies in vegetable subsector is still low among small-scale farmers in Tanzania. Several efforts aimed at promoting the adoption of the technologies such as improved vegetable varieties, mineral fertilizers, manure and pest management practices to raise output, have not yielded the desired impacts. We examine dynamics of farmers’ adoption of these technologies and the factors influencing technology choice. We also predict the peak level and speed of adoption of these sustainable technologies. Findings show that complementarities exist among improved varieties, fertilizers and pest management practices, while tradeoffs exist between manure and mineral fertilizers. These complementarities and tradeoffs should be sufficiently exploited for farmers to adopt technologies that are suited for their specific circumstances. Better knowledge, access to credit, group membership, farmer participation in demonstration trials, and, more substantial livestock holdings drive technology adoption decision. Technologies have different peak levels of adoption, which are reached at different time intervals. The policy option is to strengthen collaborative efforts to scale out sustainable agricultural technologies to respond to the increasing demand for nutrient-dense vegetables for income, food and nutrition security.

Sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs) that lead to an increase in productivity are central to the acceleration of economic growth; this will alleviate poverty and help to overcome the recurrent food shortages that affect millions of households in Africa. However, the adoption rates of SAPs remain below expected levels. This paper analyzes the factors that facilitate or impede the probability and level of adoption of interrelated SAPs, using recent data of multiple plot-level observations. Multivariate and ordered probit models are applied to the modeling of adoption decisions by farm households facing multiple SAPs which can be adopted in various combinations. The results show that there is a significant correlation between SAPs, suggesting that adoptions of SAPs are interrelated. The analysis further shows that both the probability and the level of decisions to adopt SAPs are influenced by many factors: a household’s trust in government support, credit constraint, spouse education, rainfall and plot-level disturbances, household wealth, social capital and networks, including the number of traders known by a farmer in his vicinity, his participation in rural institutions, and the number of relatives he has inside and outside his village, labor availability, and plot and market access. These results imply that policy makers and development practitioners whose aims are to strengthen local institutions and service providers, maintain or increase household asset bases, and establish and strengthen social protection schemes, can speed up the adoption of SAPs.

The literature about how Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) influence farmers’ adoption of sustainable agricultural technology is emerging, studies regarding the effects of particular smartphone-based digital extension services on farmers’ sustainable agricultural technology practices are limited. This study investigates the relationship between a digital extension service (“Zhe’ yang’ shi” WeChat application) and the adoption of soil testing and formula fertilization, a precision fertilization technology. A household choice model is constructed to explain the impact of the application. Based on a household-level data set from a survey of 400 farmers in Zhejiang in 2022, empirical results show that the use of the “Zhe’ yang’ shi” WeChat application significantly increases the adoption of soil testing and formula fertilization. We also discuss the heterogeneous effect by different production scales. The findings enrich the literature regarding ICTs’ influence on farmers’ behavior in adopting sustainable agricultural technology. It provides a valuable example for developing countries to promote sustainable agriculture through digital technology.

In recent years, a growing body of literature has explored the determinants and impacts of sustainable agricultural technologies. However, little is known about the relationship between agricultural socialized services that have reshaped the smallholder agricultural system and promoted scale operation in rural China and environmentally friendly agricultural innovation adoption of the farm. Our study examines the effects of agricultural socialized services on the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs). In this study, we capture the number of SAPs adopted, unlike most existing studies that analyze the dichotomous decision of agricultural technology adoption. We apply an endogenous-treatment Poisson regression model to analyze using a national representative farm-level survey data set with 1357 farm households from 132 villages in China. The results show that socialized service use has a significantly positive effect on the number of SAPs adopted. Our results suggest that agricultural socialized services can promote the adoption of sustainable agricultural technologies among smallholders, and thus help transform conventional agriculture into sustainable agriculture.

Modelling farmers’ adoption decisions of sustainable agricultural practices under varying agro-ecological conditions: A new perspective

The unsustainability of China’s agricultural production requires an urgent shift from traditional to more sustainable practices; however, the acceleration thereof remains challenging. New agricultural business entities (NABEs) lead agricultural modernization and strongly guide the application of innovative agricultural technologies and models. Thus, an understanding of the factors that influence NABEs’ adoption of sustainable intensification practices will promote their widespread adoption. We developed a model based on innovation diffusion theory and the technology–organization–environment framework, which can both distinguish the influencing factors at different adoption stages and identify the influencing factors of technology adoption from a multidimensional perspective. The results indicate that differences in regional agroecological endowments emerge as the most important influencing factor. Relative advantage, perceived barriers, and agricultural extension services have a significant effect on adoption intention and decision, but a smaller effect on intention. Management and risk response capacities have a significant positive effect on adoption decisions, but no effect on intention. Meanwhile, organizational size has no effect on adoption intention or decision. Adoption intention significantly positively influences, but only partially explains, adoption decisions. Our findings provide a basis for technology promoters to categorize potential adopters by technology adoption stage and provide targeted strategies to stimulate technology demand.

Drylands are home to an estimated two billion people across the world, about 90% of who live in developing countries. Drylands represented 43.2% of total global area in 2020 and are predicted to be 44.2% in 2050. Human population in drylands is fret with poverty, food insecurity, biodiversity loss, frequent droughts, environmental degradation and water scarcity at critical times during agricultural seasons which are aggravated by climate change. In drylands, agriculture depends upon the erratic weather conditions and is referred to as dryland farming. Dryland farming is the cultivation of crops without irrigation in regions of limited moisture, receiving typically less than 500 mm precipitation annually. Sustainable technologies and risk management strategies are required to be adopted by dryland farmers to cope with the natural vagaries of the region. Dryland technologies like land conservation measures improve land productivity by managing soil, water and vegetation resources to produce perceptible changes with regard to water resources development in the watershed. Technologies for enhanced water use efficiency of crops grown hold importance in case of dryland agriculture so as to realize ‘more crop per drop’. Physiological and agronomic practices among others could be utilized for better crop management through adoption of suitable technologies for minimizing evaporation and transpiration losses. For dryland areas, agronomic measures such as summer ploughing, ridges and furrows, contour farming, ploughing across slopes, vegetative barriers, crop rotation, strip cropping, mulching, amendments to soil, alternate land use pattern (ALUP) and chisel ploughing are important for soil and water management. The most important soil and water management techniques in dryland areas include BBF, contour bunding, contour trenches, contour stone walls, compartmental bunding, random tied ridging, basin listing, bench terracing, microcatchments, farm ponds, percolation ponds, check dams, etc. Scheduling of irrigation, efficient use of nitrogen fertilizers, better irrigation system, etc. can lead to improved soil health and crop productivity thus providing good returns to farm household. Development of improved crop varieties with characteristics, i.e. efficient utilization of abiotic factors to maximize stable economic yield and total production, high early seedling vigour, wide crop adaptability, deep-rooted branched root system, photo-thermo insensitivity and disease resistance, is the main prospect for improving crop production under dryland conditions. Socioeconomic and personal attributes affect the adoption of sustainable technologies in dryland agriculture farmers. Adoption of evaporation and transpiration minimization technologies involves multiple trade-off and risks on the part of the farmers. Nevertheless, there exist many success stories from different developing nations of the world where adoption of sustainable dryland farming technologies resulted in enhanced productivity of crops and generated additional income for the farmers. Operational Research Project on dryland agriculture at Alanatha, Karnataka, India, from 2010 to 2014 involved opening of moisture conservation furrow between paired rows of pigeon pea in finger millet + pigeon pea (8:2) and groundnut + pigeon pea (8:2) intercropping systems which recorded higher finger millet grain equivalent yield (3156 kg/ha) and groundnut equivalent (1007 kg/ha) yield with higher net returns (37,390 and 18,842/ha, respectively) and higher values of sustainable yield index (0.56 and 0.30, respectively). Livelihood and environmental benefits were created by an experimental afforestation plantation in the semiarid Dhanawas village in Haryana, India. The plantation was carried out on 8 ha of communally owned wasteland. The plantation was a source of employment for the poorer households of the village generating 4220 days of work. Development of appropriate policies and regional strategies to ensure adoption and promotion of sustainable technologies in drylands can ensure food, nutritional and livelihood security of farm families of the region.

Many organizations are developing and/or implementing sustainable technologies to enhance their triple bottom line. Yet research has found that end users are often slow to adopt sustainable technologies. Our research examines the adoption of a new sustainable technology in the live events industry. We employ hierarchical linear modeling to simultaneously examine product factors (e.g., perceived complexity) and relationship factors (e.g., supplier support) that influence buyers' adoption of a new, sustainable technology (paperless ticketing). Our results, which are based on a survey of 313 buyers and 15 sales representatives, identify factors that facilitate and hinder the adoption of sustainable technology.

Farmer adoption of sustainable rice farming technologies and practices is critical for climate change adaptation and mitigation. Often adoption is investigated in isolation focusing on factors influencing farmer decision making and overlooking the effects of technology adoption on farmers’ livelihoods and perceptions of change. Therefore, the present study investigated technology adoption and its effects on farmers with a special focus on additional revenue allocation and perception of social, economic and environmental change. Using a digital survey platform, 153 farmers (21.6% female) were interviewed in three sub-districts of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. On average, farmers adopted two technologies or practices, adopted high-yielding rice varieties, and increased their revenue from US$105 to US$122 per hectare per season. Barriers to adoption included time constraints, unsuitability for field conditions and incompatibility with cropping systems. Farmers invested the extra income in farming business and improved diets. Furthermore, farmers perceived changes in social and human capital and also poverty reduction due to technology adoption. This study highlights the importance of including an analysis of social impact in agricultural research.

Simple SummarySustainable intensification of beef cattle production systems will involve widespread adoption of new practices and technologies. Whether these techniques involve genetic enhancement of cattle or forages, new technologies, or a combination of existing management practices, behavioral change on the part of beef cattle producers will be required. Many factors contribute to the likelihood of these changes. Concepts from the social science of behavior change will be useful to scientists and Extension and other professionals wanting to encourage the adoption of new practices and technologies related to sustainable intensification of beef cattle production. This will include consideration of the context of the farms on which they would be used and the farmers who they hope to adopt them, as well as how the practices will be perceived by those farmers. These will influence producer beliefs and attitudes about the natural and social consequences of adoption in addition to its possibility. Integrating these concepts throughout the development and promotion of new practices and technologies may increase the likelihood of widespread adoption.Sustainable intensification of animal agriculture will rely on the acceptance and adoption of many new practices and technologies. We discuss the literature related to behavior change and sustainable practice adoption in the context of beef cattle production, focusing on sustainable rotational grazing and the use of cover crops. Research from a variety of contexts is discussed with a conceptual framework that combines diffusion of innovation theory with the reasoned action approach. Background characteristics of producers and their operations as well the characteristics of any new practice/technology will influence producer perceptions of them. These background and perceived practice characteristics will influence producer behavioral, normative, and control beliefs regarding the behavior, which will in turn inform attitudes about the behavior and perceptions regarding behavioral norms and the capacity to adopt new behaviors. Factors such as the demographics of beef cattle producers, land tenure, and labor and credit availability, as well as producers’ concepts of what it means to be a “good farmer”, should inform the conceptualization and development of new practices and technologies to increase the likelihood of their adoption.

Managing natural resources, and at the same time increasing productivity in agriculture, is the thrust of research and extension all over the world. Achieving long-term food security without depleting natural resources can be achieved by adoption of sustainable agricultural practices. Sustainable agricultural practices, or agriculture per se, seek the wider adoption of practices that are ecologically sound and maintain the long-term ecological and biological integrity of natural resources. Sustainable practices in agriculture include integrated pest management, integrated nutrient management, soil conservation and water management, among others. Much of the dynamics of the diffusion process of sustainable agricultural practices, for adoption or rejection of these practices, can be analysed and understood on the basis of sound understanding of diffusion and adoption theory. The diffusion researchers have mostly analysed farmers’ differences in analysing adoption or rejection of innovation/technology. Very little attention has been paid to technology attributes or technology inappropriateness. In this chapter, we have analysed factors impacting diffusion and adoption of sustainable natural resource management practices in agriculture and different models that can be employed to predict adoption or rejection, in future times. The researchers involved in an innovation development process should consider factors propelling adoption or rejection before commercialisation of a technology. Diffusion researchers need to employ alternative field experimental before-after designs, in which data are gathered at different points in time rather than post hoc data collection, to overcome farmer blame and pro-technology biases. We are of the firm belief that diffusion of innovation research must be given full recognition by research and development, and change agencies involved in agricultural sciences.