Barriers to shifting to a servicized model of crop protection in smallholding viticulture

Abstract

The adoption of a servicizing approach to pest control has been pointed out as a strategy to reduce the environmental impact of the agricultural sector. However, and especially in smallholding agriculture, the adoption of crop protection services is quite limited and the “calendar” approach is still dominant. The objective of this paper is to define crop protection solutions as an environmentally-friendly service innovation and to explore the main barriers to its diffusion in smallholding viticulture. The research builds on a case study referred to grape growing in the Rías Baixas Designation of Origin (Galicia, Spain). Crop protection solutions are defined in this paper as a servicized model of crop protection linked to the implementation of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) schemes. Two levels of servicizing are identified: the first one consists just of providing IPM advice to the farmer, whereas the second level implies the undertaking of the work on behalf of farmers by a service company. The case study shows that there are several barriers that hinder this type of services starting naturally in the market. On the supply side, companies must adapt their organisation to provide a flexible service that is information-intensive and that requires a sufficient staff in order to provide an effective answer within a limited timeframe; additionally, innovative technologies are still developing. On the demand side, the outsourcing of vineyard protection is deemed to be unnecessary, since grape growing keep many features of a part-time farming activity and farmers receive collaboration from their relatives. Other institutional, territory and crop-specific features add to the complexities.