A review and some reflections on farmers' adoption of sustainable agricultural practices worldwide

• Published in: The Science of the total environment Vol. 729; p. 138831
• Main Authors: Foguesatto, Cristian Rogério, Borges, João Augusto Rossi, Machado, João Armando Dessimon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 10.08.2020
• Subjects: Behavior; Conservation agriculture; environment; farmers; farms; Logit; Perception; Probit; Regression models; Conservation agriculture; Perception; Regression models; Behavior; Logit; Probit
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138831

A large body of empirical studies has focused on understanding the factors that influence the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices (SAP). We review 63 papers on this subject and analyze which factors influence, positively or negatively, the adoption of SAP. We categorize these factors in “farmer and farm household characteristics,” “farm general characteristics,” “farm financial/management characteristics,” “exogenous factors,” “attributes of SAP,” and “psychological factors.” We found that a majority of the reviewed papers neglected the inclusion of psychological factors to model farmers' decisions to adopt. Moreover, in the reviewed papers that included psychological factors, the constructs (i.e., farmers' perception) were poorly measured. Future research should consider the development of a “systemic approach,” including farmers' socioeconomic characteristics and psychological factors, to better understand the adoption of SAP. By including psychological factors, we advise researchers to examine a set of statements, as this strategy might provide improvements in psychological measurements. [Display omitted] •Various socioeconomics factors influence the adoption of conservation agriculture.•Traditionally, studies on this subject do not analyze farmers' perception.•To analyze socioeconomic and psychological factors jointly is pivotal to better understand farmers' decision.