Jonathan C. Walton1, James A. Larson1, Roland K. Roberts1, Dayton M. Lambert1, Burton C. English1, Sherry L. Larkin2, Michele C. Marra3, Steven W. Martin4, Kenneth Paxton5, and Jeanne Reeves6. (1) University of Tennessee, Department of Agricultural Economics, 321 Morgan Hall, 2621 Morgan Circle, Knoxville, TN 37996, (2) University of Florida, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, P.O. Box 110240, Gainesville, FL 32611-0240, (3) North Carolina State University, Box 8109 Dept. Agricultural and Resource Economics, NCSU, Raleigh, NC 27695-8109, (4) Mississippi State University, P.O. Box 197, Stoneville, MS 38776, (5) Louisiana State University, 101 Agricultural Admin. Bldg., Baton Rouge, LA 70803, (6) Cotton Incorporated, 6399 Weston Parkway, Cary, NC 27513
Precision agriculture has taken computer use beyond established roles of financial accounting and record keeping. The need for the ability to process spatially referenced crop, soil, and input application data has given rise to the use of portable computers for guided scouting and ground-truthing as well as a means for controlling variable-rate application. However, little is known about the factors influencing the adoption of small computing devices in farm management and production.
The objective of this paper is to identify the farm and farmer characteristics that affect the adoption of Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) and handheld computers with GPS capabilities in precision cotton production.
The decision to adopt the technology was based on a random utility model with decision-maker utility as an unobservable function of farm and farmer characteristics. Logistic regression was used to determine the effects of farm and farmer characteristics on the decision to adopt a PDA or handheld computer.
Interpretation of regression coefficients provided the basis for the results. Means of the characteristic variables were compared between the population subsets of adopters and non-adopters to further highlight characteristics that influence adoption. PDA/handheld GPS device use was also examined by looking at the percentages of use in making different variable-rate input decisions.
The results indicate that farmers who perceive that precision agriculture will be profitable in the future have a higher probability of adopting a PDA or handheld GPS device. The presence of greater yield variability and the use of remotely sensed crop images, grid soil sampling, and variable-rate application of certain inputs also increase the probability of adoption. Percentages of PDA/handheld GPS device use were highest for variable-rate application of fertilizer and lime, management zone identification, drainage management, and the application of growth regulator. The use of remotely sensed images to detect and develop prescriptions for the aforementioned variable-rate application decisions underscores the complementary relationship between remote sensing and PDA/handheld GPS devices.
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