Proposal for a framework to manage the barriers that hinder the development of agriculture 4.0 in the agricultural production chain

Abstract

Agriculture 4.0 technologies like the internet of things, machine learning, unmanned aerial vehicles, big data analytics, robotics, and artificial intelligence can benefit all stages and processes of the agricultural production chain. However, there are no suitable frameworks aimed at creating strategies to overcome the barriers that hinder agriculture 4.0. In developing countries, discussions about this scenario are less comprehensive and require more attention. This is the case of Brazil, one of the major players in agribusiness in the world, which has great potential to expand the reach of agriculture 4.0. The objective of this research is to propose a framework to manage the barriers to the introduction of agriculture 4.0 to the agricultural production chain in the southern region of Brazil. Twenty-five barriers were selected through a Systematic Literature Review (SLR). The barriers were validated through the perception of farmers, and a confirmatory factor analysis was adopted in the validation process. Next, specialists in the field developed contextual relationships between the barriers. The Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) method was applied, as well as the Matrix Impact of Cross Multiplication Applied to Classification (MICMAC) analysis, which allowed identifying the barriers of agriculture 4.0 that have a high driving power and those that are dependent. The proposed framework shows the hierarchy between the barriers of agriculture 4.0, highlighting their different relationships and thus highlighting which ones should be prioritized for a more successful implementation. This study provides a better understanding of the existing literature on the barriers of agriculture 4.0 and identifies the practical implications that affect its implementation. It is hoped that this study will serve as a guide to the implementation of agriculture 4.0 by helping to direct the efforts towards the removal of the most important barriers.