Examining farmers’ adoption decisions towards precision-agricultural practices in Greek dairy cattle farms
2022
Kleftodimos, Giorgos | Kyrgiakos, Leonidas Sotirios, L.S. | Kleisiari, Christina, C. | Tagarakis, Aristotelis, A.C. | Bochtis, Dionysis, D. | Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - Institut Agronomique Méditerranéen de Montpellier (CIHEAM-IAMM) ; Centre International de Hautes Études Agronomiques Méditerranéennes (CIHEAM) | Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier (CEE-M) ; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Institut Agro Montpellier ; Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Université de Montpellier (UM) | University of Thessaly [Volos] (UTH) | Centre for Research and Technology Hellas [Athènes] (CERTH) | This work was supported by the European Union and Greek national funds through the “Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation” Operational Programme, under the call “RESEARCH–CREATE INNOVATE” (project code: T1EDK-03987), as part of the “BioCircular: Bio- production System for Circular Precision Farming” project.
International audience
显示更多 [+] 显示较少 [-]英语. Nowadays, the sustainability of Greek dairy cattle farms is questionable due to low competitiveness and high GHG emissions. In this context, the BIOCIRCULAR project, funded by the EYDE ETAK, developed a series of alternative practices focusing on precision agriculture principles. However, the adoption of any practice from farmers is not a given, and depends on several determinants. Hence, the objective of this study is to examine farmers’ adoption decisions regarding precision-agricultural practices in Greek dairy production systems, as well as the economic and environmental impacts of this adoption. In order to achieve this, a bio-economic model was developed based on mathematical programming methods. The proposed model simulates a large number of dairy cattle farms with or without crop production, including different management strategies and their relevant costs, and provides an environmental assessment of the adopted practices based on GHG emissions. Moreover, in order to analyze farmers’ adoption decisions, different policy measures, linked to various environmental outcomes, were examined. The results highlighted that the adoption of precision-agricultural practices led to significantly better economic and environmental outcomes. Furthermore, it was found that different levels of incentives can be efficiently targeted to encourage the adoption of new feeds and, more broadly, to secure the sustainability of the sector.
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