Assessing Farmers’ Willingness to Pay for Adopting Sustainable Corn Traits: A Choice Experiment in Italy

Abstract

Corn is a major staple crop known for its nutritional value and versatility in industrial applications. Climate change threatens sustainable production, making understanding farmers’ preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for desirable traits crucial in seed selection. This study employs the Choice Experiment (CE) to assess the importance of key attributes, including yield potential, disease resistance, yield under water stress conditions, and price. The evaluation was conducted in Italy on a sample of 31 producers in the Lombardy region, where corn cultivation occupies 50% of the arable land, and the national annual volume equals about 11 million tons. Results indicate that yield under water stress conditions is the most critical attribute reflecting the need for high productivity to cope with yield fluctuations and production costs induced by climate change. The significance of this study lies in its ability to provide insights into farmers’ preferences and their priorities for maize seed attributes, which in turn offer invaluable decision support to seed breeding programs. This contribution not only promotes the development of improved corn traits and varieties for sustainable production and global food security but also guides resilient investment decisions and effective marketing strategies.