Abstract
Abstract Contractors will play a vital role in providing farms with access to new precision farming technologies, especially in small-scale farming systems. We investigate the impact of spatial competition among contractors on the uptake of precision farming and the effectiveness of policy interventions, considering alternative spatial price schedules. Conceptual analyses show that a lack of spatial competition among contractors hinders uptake of precision farming technology. The effectiveness of policy interventions to support precision farming also depends on the market structure and contractors’ price schedules. In addition, we illustrate the results in a Swiss case study based on a specific contractors’ service market of plant protection technologies.
Highlights
Precision farming is one component towards more sustainable agriculture (Walter, Finger, Huber, & Buchmann, 2017)
It has the potential to mediate the misaligned private and public benefits of precision farming which often exist in small scale agriculture and facilitate small farms’ participation in sustainable agricultural intensification
Due to costs associated with delivering contractor service, the local market power of contractors can govern the effectiveness of contractor service in promoting precision farming uptake
Summary
Precision farming is one component towards more sustainable agriculture (Walter, Finger, Huber, & Buchmann, 2017). In light of the misalignment between the potential public benefit of precision farming and the limited adoption among small farms due to lack of private benefit, policy instruments have been implemented to support adoption, especially in European countries where small farm systems are prevalent (Barnes et al, 2019; Finger et al, 2019) In these systems, contractor service that brings machinery to farms will play a vital role in providing access to new technologies. Along these lines, technology sharing is of highest relevance for beneficial technology use and diffusion in developing countries (Finger et al, 2019; Kirui & von Braun, 2018; von Braun, 2019). High spatial accessibility of contractors makes services available, but can lower the service price as the market becomes competitive (Panel (B))
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
