IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/haaepa/344216.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Evaluating the impact of government investment support for crop robots: a multi method approach

Author

Listed:
  • Spykman, Olivia
  • Gabriel, Andreas

Abstract

Technology plays an important role in the transition towards more sustainable agriculture. The associated costs for farmers may be lowered through government investment support programmes. The German federal state of Bavaria runs such a programme for various technologies, including crop robots that help to reduce chemical plant protection input. Based on official funding application data, an economic model relying on field trial data, and results from an early adopter focus group discussion, the case of the crop robot FD20 (FarmDroid ApS) in sugar beet is evaluated in detail. The funding application data indicates that applicants manage larger farms and work according to organic standards more often than the Bavarian population of farmers. The applicants’ counties of residence match areas of sugar beet production, suggesting a use of the robot mainly in sugar beets. The economic evaluation indicates a shift in minimum area of sugar beet production necessary for economical use of the robot caused by the government investment support. The minimum necessary area varies by field size and number and points to the importance of setup times and agricultural structures for robot profitability. The focus group discussion highlights the relevance of the government investment support scheme for farmers’ investment into a new type of technology shortly after its market entry. This multi-method approach has provided complementing conclusions from its three components that would not have been possible from each piece of research individually. Overall, the government investment support appears to have been integral to the success of crop robots in Bavaria and may thus serve as an example for other policymakers looking to create similar technology investment support schemes to move forward the digital transition in agriculture.

Suggested Citation

  • Spykman, Olivia & Gabriel, Andreas, 2023. "Evaluating the impact of government investment support for crop robots: a multi method approach," Agri-Tech Economics Papers 344216, Harper Adams University, Land, Farm & Agribusiness Management Department.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:haaepa:344216
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.344216
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/344216/files/Evaluating%20the%20impact%20of%20government%20investment%20support%20for%20crop%20robots%20-%20a%20multi%20method%20approach.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.344216?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Floridi, Matteo & Bartolini, Fabio & Peerlings, Jack & Polman, Nico & Viaggi, Davide, 2013. "Modelling the adoption of automatic milking systems in Noord-Holland," Bio-based and Applied Economics Journal, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA), vol. 2(1), pages 1-18, April.
    2. Shang, Linmei & Heckelei, Thomas & Gerullis, Maria K. & Börner, Jan & Rasch, Sebastian, 2021. "Adoption and diffusion of digital farming technologies - integrating farm-level evidence and system interaction," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    3. Jeremy G. Weber & Nigel Key & Erik O’Donoghue, 2016. "Does Federal Crop Insurance Make Environmental Externalities from Agriculture Worse?," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(3), pages 707-742.
    4. McFadden, Jonathan & Njuki, Eric & Griffin, Terry, 2023. "Precision Agriculture in the Digital Era: Recent Adoption on U.S. Farms," USDA Miscellaneous 333550, United States Department of Agriculture.
    5. Lambert, Dayton M. & Paudel, Krishna P. & Larson, James A., 2015. "Bundled Adoption of Precision Agriculture Technologies by Cotton Producers," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 40(2), pages 1-21, May.
    6. Huber, Robert & Späti, Karin & Finger, Robert, 2023. "A behavioural agent-based modelling approach for the ex-ante assessment of policies supporting precision agriculture," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Spykman, Olivia & Gabriel, Andreas, 2023. "Evaluating the impact of government investment support for crop robots: a multi method approach," Land, Farm & Agribusiness Management Department 344216, Harper Adams University, Land, Farm & Agribusiness Management Department.
    2. Wang, Tong & Jin, Hailong & Sieverding, Heidi & Kumar, Sandeep & Miao, Yuxin & Rao, Xudong & Obembe, Oladipo & Mirzakhani Nafchi, Ali & Redfearn, Daren & Cheye, Stephen, 2023. "Understanding farmer views of precision agriculture profitability in the U.S. Midwest," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    3. Robert Finger, 2023. "Digital innovations for sustainable and resilient agricultural systems," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 50(4), pages 1277-1309.
    4. Ziheng Niu & Feng Yi & Chen Chen, 2022. "Agricultural Insurance and Agricultural Fertilizer Non-Point Source Pollution: Evidence from China’s Policy-Based Agricultural Insurance Pilot," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-16, February.
    5. Agnieszka Kurdyś-Kujawska & Agnieszka Sompolska-Rzechuła & Joanna Pawłowska-Tyszko & Michał Soliwoda, 2021. "Crop Insurance, Land Productivity and the Environment: A Way forward to a Better Understanding," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-17, November.
    6. Hsing-Hsiang Huang & Michael R. Moore, 2018. "Farming under Weather Risk: Adaptation, Moral Hazard, and Selection on Moral Hazard," NBER Chapters, in: Agricultural Productivity and Producer Behavior, pages 77-124, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Nathan D. DeLay & Nathanael M. Thompson & James R. Mintert, 2022. "Precision agriculture technology adoption and technical efficiency," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(1), pages 195-219, February.
    8. Yu, Jisang & Hendricks, Nathan P., 2017. "Crop Insurance Moral Hazard from Price and Weather Forecasts," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 258336, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    9. Khanna, Madhu, 2021. "Digital Transformation for a Sustainable Agriculture: Opportunities and Challenges," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315052, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    10. Basharat Ali & Peter Dahlhaus, 2022. "Roles of Selective Agriculture Practices in Sustainable Agricultural Performance: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-15, March.
    11. Alexandre Gohin, 2019. "General Equilibrium Modelling of the Insurance Industry: U.S. Crop Insurance," Journal of Global Economic Analysis, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University, vol. 4(2), pages 108-145, December.
    12. Ifft, Jennifer & Jodlowski, Margaret, 2017. "Federal crop insurance and agricultural credit use," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 259120, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    13. Vecchio, Yari & De Rosa, Marcello & Adinolfi, Felice & Bartoli, Luca & Masi, Margherita, 2020. "Adoption of precision farming tools: A context-related analysis," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    14. Tatyana Deryugina & Barrett Kirwan, 2018. "Does The Samaritan'S Dilemma Matter? Evidence From U.S. Agriculture," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 56(2), pages 983-1006, April.
    15. Shang, Linmei & Heckelei, Thomas & Gerullis, Maria K. & Börner, Jan & Rasch, Sebastian, 2021. "Adoption and diffusion of digital farming technologies - integrating farm-level evidence and system interaction," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    16. Azzam, Azzeddine & Walters, Cory & Kaus, Taylor, 2021. "Does subsidized crop insurance affect farm industry structure? Lessons from the U.S," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 43(6), pages 1167-1180.
    17. Charlton, Diane & Kostandini, Genti, 2018. "How Agricultural Producers Adjust to a Shrinking Farm Labor Supply," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 274169, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    18. Madhu Khanna & Shady S. Atallah & Saurajyoti Kar & Bijay Sharma & Linghui Wu & Chengzheng Yu & Girish Chowdhary & Chinmay Soman & Kaiyu Guan, 2022. "Digital transformation for a sustainable agriculture in the United States: Opportunities and challenges," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 53(6), pages 924-937, November.
    19. Ifft, Jennifer & Jodlowski, Margaret, 2018. "Federal crop insurance participation and adoption of sustainable production practices by U.S. farms," SCC-76 Meeting, 2018, April 5-7, Kansas City, Missouri 276148, SCC-76: Economics and Management of Risk in Agriculture and Natural Resources.
    20. Kolady, Deepthi E. & Van Der Sluis, Evert, 2021. "Adoption Determinants of Precision Agriculture Technologies and Conservation Agriculture: Evidence from South Dakota," Western Economics Forum, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 19(2), December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Crop Production/Industries; Public Economics; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:haaepa:344216. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dlhauuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.