Perceived barriers to the adoption of smart farming technologies in Piedmont region, northwestern Italy: the role of user and farm variables

Smart Farming Technologies (SFTs) can increase the sustainability of agricultural pro-duction, based on a more precise and resource-efficient approach. However, previous studies pointed out a low level of SFTs adoption, often highlighting that technologies and innovations successfully adopted may be rejected by the users, who go back to the traditional practices even where benefits were being enjoyed. This study aimed at investigating the role played by individual variables, farming system characteristics, and perceived barriers in affecting the adoption of SFTs in a sample of Italian farm operators. Three-hundred and ten participants were administered a paper-and-pencil questionnaire addressing perceived economic, market and data management barriers in the adoption of SFTs. At the same time a set of user and farm-related variables were collected. The analyses showed that farm size and the perception of economic barriers affected the adoption of SFTs. Larger farms were more likely to adopt the SFTs investigated. The present results pointed out some critical aspects which may benefit from tailor-made interventions in terms of policies, work re-organization and/or operators’ training, to support and widen the use of SFTs in the Italian context.