Setting the Record Straight on Precision Agriculture Adoption

Abstract

Core Ideas There is a perception that adoption of precision agriculture has been slow.Precision agriculture is not one technology but a toolkit from which farmers choose what they need.Global Navigation Satellite Systems guidance is being adopted rapidly.Variable rate technology adoption rarely exceeds 20% of farms.Use of precision agriculture technology on non‐mechanized farms is almost nonexistent. There is a perception that adoption of precision agriculture (PA) has been slow. This study reviews the public data on farm level use of PA in crop production worldwide. It examines adoption estimates for PA from completed surveys that utilized random sampling procedures, as well as estimates of adoption using other survey methods, with an objective to document the national or regional level adoption patterns of PA using existing data. The analysis indicates that Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) guidance and associated automated technologies like sprayer boom control and planter row or section shutoffs have been adopted as fast as any major agricultural technology in history. The main reason for the perception that PA adoption is slow is because PA is often associated with variable rate technology (VRT)—just one of many PA technologies, one of the first adopted by many farmers, but that now rarely exceeds 20% of farms. This level of adoption suggests that farmers like the idea of VRT, but are not convinced of its value. VRT adoption estimates for niche groups of farmers may exceed 50%. The biggest gap in PA adoption is for medium and small farms in the developing world that do not use motorized mechanization.

Conservation practice complementarity and timing of on‐farm adoption

“…The rates of adopters of CNT, CCs, and VRA were 61%, 40%, and 28%, respectively (Tables 1 and 2). The adoption rates in our study are similar to rates reported in recent studies (Lowenberg-DeBoer & Erickson, 2019;Miller, Griffin, & Ciampitti, 2019;Dunn et al, 2016). A study by Wade and Claassen (2017) reported higher CNT adoption rates in the Prairie Gateway, where Kansas is located, compared to other regions in the country.…”

“…We examined the adoption timing of CNT, CCs, and VRA. We selected these practices because of the adoption gap (Carlisle, 2016;Lowenberg-DeBoer and Erickson, 2019) and the potential economic and environmental benefits these practices offer. Some of these benefits are improvements to soil productivity and health, the reduction of soil erosion and nutrient leaching, and cost savings (Blanco-Canqui, Mikha, Presley, & Claassen, 2011;Snapp et al, 2005).…”

On‐Farm Research: Experimental Approaches, Analytical Frameworks, Case Studies, and Impact

“…Technologies in the PA tool box such as yield monitoring, Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), light bars, auto guidance, and variable rate devices enable farmers and researchers to conduct on‐farm experiments at a field scale, in multiple locations and at much lower cost. Extensive analyses of private and government survey data collected in different countries around the world showed that GNSS, sprayer boom control and planter shutoffs technologies have been adopted at the highest rates (Lowenberg‐DeBoer and Erickson, 2019). Surprisingly, variable rate technologies, one of the main and original components in the PA tool box, have not been widely adopted by farmers.…”

Developing and Implementation of Decision Support System (DSS) for the Control of Olive Fruit Fly, Bactrocera Oleae, in Mediterranean Olive Orchards

“…We developed a prototype of e-trap that had a high cost for materials (750 euros per trap) and associated software (2100 euros). Large-scale production of e-traps is considered to strongly decrease costs to the level that farmers will accept to adopt this technology, as other technologies have been rapidly adopted by the society (i.e., mobile phones or global navigation satellite systems) [50]. In this particular case of olive production in the Balearics, production plots are medium-or small-sized (2 to 10 h) and mostly lack public or private advisory system for pest control [7].…”