scholarly journals Farmer preferences for adopting precision farming technologies: a case study from Italy

Author(s):  
J Blasch ◽  
B van der Kroon ◽  
P van Beukering ◽  
R Munster ◽  
S Fabiani ◽  
...  

Abstract Precision farming (PF) technologies can help to mitigate the environmental impact of agriculture by reducing fertiliser use and irrigation while saving cost for the farmer. However, these technologies are not widely adopted in Europe. We study farmers’ willingness to adopt PF technologies based on a choice experiment. Among other determinants, we explore the role of social influence for the valuation of PF technology features. The data are analysed using mixed and latent class logit models. Our results show that knowledge of fellow farmers who adopted the technology positively influences the valuation of PF technology features, stressing the importance of networks.

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1965
Author(s):  
Julia Blasch ◽  
Francesco Vuolo ◽  
Laura Essl ◽  
Bianca van der Kroon

Even though a broad range of technologies for variable rate application of nitrogen fertiliser is available, there are hardly any documented cases of their use in Austria. In this study, the drivers and barriers of adoption have been investigated. A survey of 242 farmers in Lower Austria was conducted. The survey covered the farmers’ economic situation, concerns, and expectations regarding the future of their farms and their interest in precision farming technologies. A choice experiment was included in the survey to elicit farmers’ preferences for different features of variable rate application technologies. A series of multinomial logit, mixed logit and latent class logit models were run to analyze the choice experiment. Most farmers were interested in variable rate application, whereas technology costs, yield and environmental improvements were found to be important drivers of adoption. Also, farm size, farming system, technological level and network activities seem to play an important role in the uptake of variable rate application technologies.


HortScience ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (11) ◽  
pp. 1664-1668 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruchen Zhou ◽  
Chengyan Yue ◽  
Shuoli Zhao ◽  
R. Karina Gallardo ◽  
Vicki McCracken ◽  
...  

Consumer preferences for attributes of fresh peach fruit in the United States are largely unknown on a national basis. We used a choice experiment to explore market segmentation based on consumer heterogeneous preference for fruit attributes including external color, blemish, firmness, sweetness, flavor, and price. We collected the data using an online survey with 800 U.S. consumers. Using a latent class logit model, we identified three segments of consumers differing by different sets of preferred quality attributes: experience attribute-oriented consumers, who valued fruit quality (48.8% of the sample); search attribute-oriented consumers, who valued fruit appearance (33.7% of the sample); and balanced consumers, who considered search attributes and experience attributes but who valued each in a balanced way (17.5% of the sample). Each group demonstrated differentiated demographics and purchasing habits. The results have important marketing implications for peach breeders and suppliers.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anastasija Novikova ◽  
Lucia Rocchi ◽  
Gražina Startienė

Agriculture produces jointly market and non-market outputs, and their supply depends on the nature of production. The role of agriculture as an economic activity and its consequences are essential for the Lithuanian case study, as agricultural land covers more than a half of the Lithuanian land. The market does not consider the positive and negative externalities created in agroecosystems. Therefore, specific techniques such as stated preferences methods are used for evaluation of non-market outputs in agriculture. Works by foreign researchers provide a comprehensive analysis of the aspects of nontradable agricultural aspects, usually focusing on evaluation of the benefit or damage to society from agricultural activity. There is lack of an integrated evaluation of farming system outputs in view of the specifics and intensity of farming. The main aim of this paper is to present construction of the methodology for integration of evaluation of farming system outputs in Lithuania, with the main focus on non-market outputs, as the values of agricultural market outputs are clear and fully revealed in official statistics. The conventional and organic farming has been selected for the Lithuanian case study. For the both farming systems, the research covers crops (including both cereals and industrials crops) and livestock (including dairy and cattle) production. The choice experiment (CE) method was selected as appropriate for evaluation of non-market outputs of different farming systems in Lithuanian agriculture. The nested logit was selected for econometric modelling of the value of non-market agricultural outputs. Applying the constructed and checked methodology, consumers’ willingness to pay for agroecosystem public goods of different farming systems will be elicited during the main survey.


Foods ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 45
Author(s):  
Ching-Hua Yeh ◽  
Monika Hartmann ◽  
Nina Langen

This paper presents empirical findings from a combination of two elicitation techniques—discrete choice experiment (DCE) and best–worst scaling (BWS)—to provide information about the role of consumers’ trust in food choice decisions in the case of credence attributes. The analysis was based on a sample of 459 Taiwanese consumers and focuses on red sweet peppers. DCE data were examined using latent class analysis to investigate the importance and the utility different consumer segments attach to the production method, country of origin, and chemical residue testing. The relevance of attitudinal and trust-based items was identified by BWS using a hierarchical Bayesian mixed logit model and was aggregated to five latent components by means of principal component analysis. Applying a multinomial logit model, participants’ latent class membership (obtained from DCE data) was regressed on the identified attitudinal and trust components, as well as demographic information. Results of the DCE latent class analysis for the product attributes show that four segments may be distinguished. Linking the DCE with the attitudinal dimensions reveals that consumers’ attitude and trust significantly explain class membership and therefore, consumers’ preferences for different credence attributes. Based on our results, we derive recommendations for industry and policy.


Author(s):  
Arthur H. C. Yip ◽  
Jeremy J. Michalek ◽  
Kate S. Whitefoot

Abstract We investigate the effect of competitor product representation on optimal design results in profit-maximization studies. Specifically, we study the implications of replacing a large set of product alternatives available in the marketplace with a reduced set of selected competitors or with composite alternatives, as is common in the literature. We derive first-order optimality conditions and show that optimal design (but not price) is independent of competitors under the logit and nested logit models (where preference coefficients are homogeneous), but optimal design results may depend on competitor representation in latent class and mixed logit models (where preference coefficients are heterogeneous). In a case study of automotive powertrain design using mixed logit demand, we find some change in the optimal acceleration performance value when competitors are modeled using a small set of alternatives rather than the larger set. The magnitude of this change depends on the specific form and parameters of the cost and demand functions assumed, ranging from 0% to 3% in our case study. We find that the magnitude of the change in optimal design variables induced by competitor representation in our case study increases with the heterogeneity of preference coefficients across consumers and changes with the curvature of the cost function.


1987 ◽  
Author(s):  
William A. Worrall ◽  
Ann W. Stockman

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