=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-1152/paper10
|storemode=property
|title=Issues In New Technology Adoption In Agriculture: a Survey Among Italian Tractor's Users
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1152/paper10.pdf
|volume=Vol-1152
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/haicta/FerrariC11
}}
==Issues In New Technology Adoption In Agriculture: a Survey Among Italian Tractor's Users==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1152/paper10.pdf
Issues in New Technology Adoption in Agriculture: a
Survey Among Italian Tractor’s Users
Ester Ferrari, Eugenio Cavallo
Institute for Agricultural and Earth Moving Machines (IMAMOTER), Italian National
Research Council (CNR), Torino, Italy, e-mail: e.cavallo@imamoter.cnr.it
Abstract. New technologies have a potential to contribute to achieving
significant economic, social and environmental benefits in agriculture sector.
However, the adoption of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)
have encountered some difficulties among farmers. This paper reports
investigations on the adoption of ICT in agriculture among Italian tractors
users and explores their opinions on technologies applied to agricultural
tractors. A survey was conducted during the International Exhibition of
Agricultural Machinery (EIMA). The results show that, while economic
benefit is recognized as the primary reason to adopt new agricultural
technologies, other attitudes play roles in the adoption decision of the tractor
users.
Keywords: adoption of new technology in agriculture, Italian tractor users,
survey, opinions.
1 Introduction
Agriculture is an area with significant application of high technology and, during the
last century, exceptional advances in the application of ICT (Information and
Communication Technology) have revolutionized farming. Recent advances in ICT
have allowed farmers to acquire vast amounts of data for their fields, ultimate
helping them in the reduction of uncertainty in decision-making (Blackmore, 2000).
However, as it seems the case of the Italian market, sometimes technology
advancements outpace the readiness of potential users.
Adoption of a new technological process or machine, even when it has obvious
economic advantages, is often a very difficult action (Roger, 1995). May innovations
require a long period from when they become available to the time they are widely
adopted.
Although final users constitute a category of actors that in recent years has
received considerable attention in research on technological development, published
studies analyzing the impact of farmers’ perceptions in agriculture sector are rare.
Among those stands out Adesina and Baidu-Forson research study (1995) supporting
__________________________________
Copyright ©by the paper’s authors. Copying permitted only for private and academic purposes.
In: M. Salampasis, A. Matopoulos (eds.): Proceedings of the International Conference on Information
and Communication Technologies
for Sustainable Agri-production and Environment (HAICTA 2011), Skiathos, 8-11 September, 2011.
121
the hypothesis that farmer’s perceptions of technology characteristics significantly
affect their opinion decision.
As in other domain, knowing who the future user is, understanding their priorities
and believes, what they know, what they are after, and how they get the information
is vital (Nielsen, 1993).
Having a good knowledge of this information can be very helpful for tractor
manufactures in developing and designing innovative ICT technologies that satisfy
user’s needs and in speeding up the process of adopting the new technologies.
In order to understand the final user, it is important to determine who the targets
are, their characteristics and demographics, their relative value to the business, and
what they need and want to purchase. Their root motives can help the manufacture to
react quickly to customers’ needs, facilitating new product development and
therefore the meeting of customer requirements in terms of the products they
subsequently purchase (Jeffrey and Franco, 1996).
2 The Survey
The most innovative farmers are now using precision farming which combines
telecommunications, computer technologies, and global positioning systems (GPS) to
increase productivity and decrease costs of raising crops (Korsching, 2001).
According to Griffin and colleagues (2004), we consider important to understand
farmers’ reasons for non-adoption of ICT technology innovation.
The focus of analysis of the study reported in this paper is on the adoption of ICT
technologies among Italian users and/or owners of agricultural tractors. Moreover,
we aimed at gaining knowledge on farmer’s attitudes, opinions and believes towards
new technologies applied to agricultural tractors. A survey investigating their views
and opinions on ISOBUS system, GPS (global positioning system), CVT (continuous
variable transmission), fleet management and remote diagnostic system applied to
agricultural tractors has been conduced.
ISOBUS system is a standardised communication system which links tractors and
implements together, enabling data to be transferred quickly and simply between the
tractor and the tools. With the help of a GPS system for positioning and devices for
application control and data collection, these data can be used for monitoring actual
field operations. GPS is often equipped with a automated steering system to assist
guidance, reducing the use of fertilizer, seed, chemical and fuel costs, as well as
driver fatigue and allowing a better oversee of the implement to improve the job
quality.
A CVT is a transmission system characterized by infinite variability between
highest gear and the lowest gear. It can change steplessly through an infinite number
of effective gear ratios, with no discrete gear shifts involved in the process. During
operation, the CVT allows the tractor to maximize field efficiency by being able to
operate at optimum speed. Instead of separate speed ranges like in a powershift, the
CVT gives the tractor infinite speeds. An operator can select the exact speed for the
application whereas a powershift must operate within speed ranges.
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Fleet management technology, called telematics, includes vehicle-tracking devices
and software that show where all vehicles are located at all times. Remote diagnostic
system allows diagnosing of a given issue or problem from a distance. Understanding
how the machine is running also allow the operator to monitor potential problems
and perform preventative maintenance before they equate to downtime. These
technologies reduce redundancy, cut down labor costs and expand hours of operation
(Adrian, Norwood, Mask, 2005).
2.1 Methodology
A survey is a tool to understand the views and attitudes of a population on a given
topic. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire which was completed during
a face-to-face interview.
Trained interviewers administered the questionnaire personally to respondents and
questionnaire responses were directly recorded on a computer. The questionnaire was
divided into several sections, and respondents had to use a 4 point Likert scale to
express their opinion on different aspects. Assuming that it is not feasible to adopt a
new technology if you don’t have any knowledge about it, the questionnaire started
asking to the participants to give information about their knowledge and perceived
usefulness of the technology, their source of information, and to describe the aspects
they considered important in the use of an agricultural tractor.
Propensity for technological innovation future use was investigated as well.
The survey ended with a description of the technology installed on their current
machine and with some background questions to collect information on the sample of
respondents.
2.2 Sample
The data set used in the analysis is based on a questionnaire completed by 305
people. The convenience sample was obtained through approaching visitors during
the 5 days of the International Exhibition of Agricultural Machinery (EIMA), the
biggest event in Italy with regard to technologies for agriculture, held in Bologna in
November 2010.
Most of the participants were farmers, farm workers, or independent contractors
(accounting for 75% of the total number of respondents). The others were students,
people working in the machinery trade or service sector, or people whose primary
work activity was not related to agricultural sector or tractors. All the subjects were
users of agricultural tractors.
Respondents’ age ranged between 18 and 75 years. Participants were grouped into
five age classes of ten years each, with the exception of the class of the youngest
participants, aged between 18 and 25 and the one of the oldest participants, aged over
55. The percentage distributions is provided in Table 1.
One of the peculiarity of Italian farms is their dimension. Based on the recent data
of the National Institute of Statistics (Istat, 2009), 80% of the farms in Italy are
smaller than 5 hectares and their average dimension is 7.6 hectares. The greater part
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of our sample owns or works in a farm larger than 20 hectares. The majority of the
sample owns or works with a number of tractor between 4 and 6.
Table 1. Sample age distribution
Age Class
Frequency Percentage
(years)
18-25 65 21,3
26-35 65 21,3
36-45 64 21,0
46-55 74 24,3
> 55 37 12,1
Total 305 100
2.3 Data analysis
Data analysis was conducted on 305 questionnaire collected from the sample of
participants.
Data were entered into SPSS software version 16 for statistical analysis and
subjected to univariate and bivariate analyses to know the relationship between and
among the variables investigated. As the study was based on a convenience sample,
violating the assumption of a normally distributed population, non-parametric data
analysis were performed. A P-value<0.05 was considered statistically significant for
all analyses.
3 Results
Survey’s results show that ICT technological innovations applied to agricultural
tractors were little known by the sample of respondents. Indeed, system like the
ISOBUS was completely unknown by the 45,2% of the sample, the GPS assisted
guidance system by the 33,3%, fleet management system by the 29,2% and remote
diagnostic systems by the 20,7%.
Respondents reported that information on technological innovations were
primarily obtained through exhibitions and/or conferences, and information given by
colleagues. Only a reduced number of respondents gained information on new
technologies through the use of internet. Data analysis shows association between
respondents age and use of internet to get information on technologies innovations
(Ȥ2=33.951, df=16, p=.006). Younger farmers utilize slightly more the internet as a
source of information on technological innovation applied to agricultural tractors
compared to older farmers (rho=-.166, df=303, p<.004).
As reported in Table 2 no statistical significant difference was found in the
sample’s answers for the ISOBUS system, while a significant association was found
between age and knowledge of the GPS-assisted guidance system (Ȥ²=31.184, df=16,
p=.013). Younger farmers were slightly more informed about GPS assisted guidance
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system applied to agricultural tractors compared to older farmers (rho=-.159, df=303,
p<.005).
At the same time a significant association was found between knowledge about
the CVT system and farm’s dimension (Ȥ²=18.883, df=8, p=.016); the bigger is the
land they work (rho=.206, df=289, p<.000), the more they are informed.
Further, it was found a statistically significant positive correlation between the
number of tractors owned or farm’s dimension and the importance given to
technological innovations such as remote diagnostics (Ȥ2=26.833, df=12, p=.008;
Ȥ2=15.658, df=8, p=.048). It is well established in innovation studies that large firms
are more often innovative than small firms (Christensen et al, 2011). Indeed, the
analysis display a week but statistically significant positive correlation between those
two variables (rho=.156, df=303, p<.006). A new trend in the farming business is to
replace conventional farming devices with computerized farming devices (Iftikhar
and Pedersen, 2011).
Table 2. Cross-tabulations results
Age classes N° of tractors owned Farm’s dimension
Ȥ2 df p Ȥ2 df p Ȥ2 df p
ISOBUS 12.040 16 .741 12.358 12 .417 6.253 8 .619
GPS 31.184 16 .013* 20.700 12 .055 15.133 8 .057
CVT 14.973 16 .527 18.767 12 .094 18.833 8 .016*
Fleet management 15.659 16 .477 30.009 12 .003* 13.580 8 .093
Remote diagnostic 24.871 16 .072 26.833 12 .008* 15.658 8 .048*
* significant association between variables
Most respondents considered technological innovations applied to tractors very
valuable for crop protection and sowing (Fig. 1). Beside, a significant positive
association between farm dimension and the usefulness of technological innovations
in tillage was found (Ȥ2=17.386, df=6, p=.008).
not at all a little somewhat very much
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Tillage Fertilization Crop Sowing Harvesting Transport
protection
Fig. 1. Importance of technological innovation in agricultural tasks.
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According to almost all participants, ICT technology applied to agricultural
tractors positively affect the comfort of the operator, the safety, reliability and
flexibility of the machine (Fig. 2). Differently, their believes regarding the reduction
of environmental impact of the operations and the reduction of the costs are more
spread on a negative side of the continuum.
Some final users firmly believe that the state of the art of this technology does not
allow them to improve production in a way to gain profit from it, while others deem
that there is a positive discrepancy between the high purchase cost to adopt the
technology and the increased production and resulting higher profit. However,
according to the users, too many variables affect that positive gain, making it not
reliable. A technology is useful to the extent that it improves production and profit
and it is applied to the extend that it generates and satisfies users’ needs.
not at all a little somewhat very much
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Reduce costs Reduce Increase Increase Increase Increase
envaironmental comfort machine machine safety machine
impact reliability flexibility
Fig. 2. Opinion of the sample’s study on the results of adoption of ICT technological
innovation .
The main impediments to the adoption of new technologies cited by the
participants were the lack of “tailored” technologies and their increased
sophistication which imposes enhanced mental workload, extension training
necessary to learn and master the task. One of the main reasons related to the lack of
adoption of ICT technologies is related to the interfaces issues: too complex and not
“user friendly”. To adopt and use these technologies, not only do the owners of the
agricultural tractor(s) have to make financial investments, but they also make
investments in learning new skills. However, users are aware that in a competitive
global market they need to adopt new technology to differentiate itself from others
and to push forward their production.
According to respondents’ opinions future technological innovations that will be
very useful are those providing infinite number of power take-off speeds
independently from those of the engine, and safety and warning systems that enable
driver identification, prevent risky maneuvers, give information to the driver about
dangerous situation, and communicate any incidents to a business centre or an
emergency service.
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4 Conclusions
Adoption of technological innovations in agriculture has attracted considerable
attention among economists and tractors manufacturers. Results of the survey shows
that a technology is useful to the extent that it improves production and profit and it
is applied to the extend that it generates and satisfies users’ needs.
Therefore, it is paramount to gain knowledge of the end users’ opinions when the
manufactures are designing, developing and applying technological innovations to
agricultural tractors. The involvement of the final users in planning future ICT
development could be a possible solution to the problem of adoption of these
technologies in the agricultural sector.
While economic benefit is recognized as the primary reason to adopt new
agricultural technologies, other attitudes play roles in the adoption decision of the
tractor users. The way an individual perceives the new technology is critical to
whether they will eventually adopt the innovation.
Farmers are oriented towards “easy-to-use” new technology. They are aware of
the need to adopt new technologies requested by a competitive global market,
however they distrust technologies they perceive too sophisticated to interact with,
requiring investments in learning new skills.
As the technology applied in the agriculture sector is becoming increasingly
complex, the need for a simple and easy way to interact with it is growing among
farmers. Therefore, man-machine-interfaces which are intuitive, based on natural
communication channels, are most appreciated and sought-after.
Tractors manufactures needs to approach the customers by collecting information
about them, describing them in sufficient detail so that management, salespeople, and
people providing service can have the opportunity to access information while
matching the customer needs with product plans and offerings. This continuous
communication process helps the company manufacture to be in constant touch with
the customers and it is done with the main aim of improving user satisfaction and
maximizing profits.
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