Factors determining the adoption or non-adoption of precision agriculture by producers across the cotton belt

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dc.contributor.advisor Wingenbach, Gary en_US
dc.creator Lavergne, Christopher Bernard, 1976- en_US
dc.date.accessioned 2006-04-12T16:05:54Z
dc.date.available 2006-04-12T16:05:54Z
dc.date.created 2004-12 en_US
dc.date.issued 2006-04-12T16:05:54Z
dc.identifier.uri http://handle.tamu.edu/1969.1/3291
dc.description.abstract The purpose of this study was to determine factors influencing cotton producer adoption of Precision Agriculture in the cotton belt according to members of the American Cotton Producers of the National Cotton Council. The National Research Council’s Board on Agriculture defines Precision Agriculture (PA) as “a management strategy that uses information technologies to bring data from multiple sources to bear on decisions associated with crop production.” For the purpose of this study, Precision Agriculture technologies included yield monitors, global positioning units, variable rate applicators, and similar components. Many studies have found that adoption of Precision Agriculture can be profitable for agricultural producers. However, the fact that Precision Agriculture is relatively new and unproven hinders rapid adoption by agricultural producers. According to the National Research Council Board of Agriculture widespread adoption relies on economic gains outweighing the costs of the technology. This study attempted to find the factors associated with adoption of these technologies in the cotton belt. The sample population consisted of cotton producer representatives from the leading cotton-producing states. A Delphi approach was utilized to establish a consensus of cotton producer perceptions of the advantages of adopting Precision Agriculture technologies. Advantages included more accurate farming (i.e., row spacing, reduced overlap, and cultivation). Barriers to adoption were also documented, questioning employee capability to operate equipment, learning curve, technology complexity, and uncertain return on investment. en_US
dc.description.provenance Made available in DSpace on 2006-04-12T16:05:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 etd-tamu-2004C-AGED-Lavergne.pdf: 1148488 bytes, checksum: 6918753f6f9d0a7ef458465eea61b0da (MD5) en
dc.format.extent 1148488 bytes
dc.format.medium electronic en_US
dc.format.mimetype application/pdf
dc.language.iso en_US en_US
dc.publisher Texas A&M University en_US
dc.subject precision agriculture en_US
dc.subject cotton en_US
dc.subject adoption en_US
dc.subject diffusion en_US
dc.subject innovation en_US
dc.subject innovator en_US
dc.subject early adopter en_US
dc.subject laggard en_US
dc.subject barriers en_US
dc.subject advantages en_US
dc.title Factors determining the adoption or non-adoption of precision agriculture by producers across the cotton belt en_US
thesis.degree.department Agricultural Education en_US
thesis.degree.discipline Agricultural Education en_US
thesis.degree.grantor Texas A&M University en_US
thesis.degree.name M. S. en_US
thesis.degree.level Masters en_US
dc.contributor.committeeMember Boleman, Chris en_US
dc.contributor.committeeMember Lemon, Robert en_US
dc.contributor.committeeMember Rutherford, Tracy en_US
dc.type.genre Electronic Thesis en_US
dc.type.material text en_US
dc.format.digitalOrigin born digital en_US

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