How can you persuade farmers to adopt new technologies?

Successful persuasion involves a deep understanding of the farmers' world and a tailored communication strategy that speaks directly to their unique needs and aspirations. To do that, its very important to actively listen and empathize with farmers, posing open-ended questions to understand the emotion behind their words.

To persuade farmers to adopt new technologies, emphasize the potential benefits such as increased efficiency, higher yields, cost savings, and improved sustainability. Provide case studies or demonstrations showcasing success stories from similar farms. Address concerns, offer training and support, and highlight any financial incentives or subsidies available for adopting the technology. Building trust and demonstrating the long-term advantages can encourage farmers to embrace innovation.

Entender de fato, se o produtor precisa ou vê valor nas tecnologias a serem oferecidas é fundamental, o mercado esta bombardeando o produtor com novas ofertas e tecnologias milagrosas todos os dias. Poucos se preocupam em saber se realmente o produtor precisa ou vê valor nessas ofertas. Um bom trabalho de identificação, com validação clara do produtor, sobre o impacto do problema a ser tratado, é o passo principal para nortear a oferta. E não se deve tentar "vender luva para maneta" temos que oferecer o que realmente é aderente ao problema do cliente. "Atacar" onde realmente ele está disposto a investir.

Farm families built environmental farming technology: SeedHawk, SeedMaster, Bourgault, Brandt, and Honeybee to name a few obvious ones. This is an entrepreneurial group that will vet any propaganda and adopt only what applies and functions in the real world. Real solutions only apply.

Understanding the need is always important in any business. Someone might have an excellent technology and it may not be needed by the farmers or might be available at a higher cost which don’t give returns to them. Don’t develop a technology and ask the farmers to adopt it. Rather, develop a technology which suits the need of a farmer. They would embrace those technologies very easily.

The focus has to shift to covering households rather than covering acres. Go 200 km in any direction from New Delhi - you will find generation old farm technologies still in use. Even in Punjab and Haryana. Promoting or selling technologies remains a research university - large corporate - large farmer (with farmhouses) prerogative and it is assumed that it will automatically percolate to the smallholders who comprise 80% plus of the population. Unless the technologies are geared to address small farmers need, and their own associated supply chains - it does not reach them. Or reaches them only during the project period.

Al abordar la adopción de nuevas tecnologías agrícolas, es crucial primero sumergirse en el mundo del agricultor. Investigar a fondo el mercado, el cultivo, el clima y el perfil del agricultor proporciona la base necesaria. Pero más allá de los datos, la clave está en escuchar activa y empáticamente a los agricultores, más como un trabajo etnográfico. Haciendo preguntas abiertas, podemos descubrir sus puntos débiles y aspiraciones, permitiendo una adaptación precisa de nuestras propuestas tecnológicas. Este enfoque centrado en el agricultor no solo construye relaciones sólidas, sino que también garantiza que las soluciones ofrecidas resuelvan sus problemas y aporten un valor real al agronegocio.

This is very insightful. Farmers today generally are receptive to new technology. Based on their needs you want to not only position the technology and how it provides a revenue or cost saving synergy, but you also need to show them that technology has a great chance of success. Reason being farmers in some region only get one turn a year.

8. Verify that the innovation is operationally feasibly!! That is the farmers have sufficient labor or access mechanization to complete the technology in sufficiently timely manner. This includes the farmers/laborers have the necessary 4000 kcal/day to undertake a full day of agronomic field work. This is normally overlooked in promoting what is physically possible and desirable but not operational feasible. This also a community concern more than an individual farmer concern, as when hiring "casual labor" the casual labor is another farmer who is assisting the hiring farmer at the expense of his own land.

Convincing farmers to adopt new technologies necessitates a considerate strategy that recognizes their individual requirements.To be successful on that, it is important to comprehend their current issues and goals. Surveys, discussions, and farm visits can serve to uncover the exclusive interests of each farmer. Once armed with a thorough comprehension, customize the solutions to tackle the farmer's troublesome areas. In addition, rather than diving headfirst into a full-scale implementation, encourage farmers to conduct pilot tests. This allows them to experience the technology on a smaller scale, minimizing risk and enabling them to assess its impact on their farm.

Social proof work mysteriously around farming community. Find one influential farmer or community leader to be early adopter of the new technology. Their endorsement can carry significant weight within community That's cheap marketing...

The most trusted & time tested approach is to show through testimonials , seeing is believing . Farmer believes in seeing the results at their field & trust to hear from his fellow farmers . Innovative farmers can be ambassadors for leading the change & adopt new technologies

The biggest influence on farmers is other farmers. If a neighbouring farm has had good results with a new technology then the adjoining farm is more likely to be interested. Agricultural extension services are also important as a trusted source of information and advice. Conversely, the introduction of new innovations can be restrained when agricultural extension services trials do not show good results.

The power of testimonials from successful trial users can lead to conversion. In the marketer's lingo, they call it social proof. When we saw and hear people testifying their first hand experience and share how satisfied they were, it can create an atmosphere for the people to follow and perceive that it is a correct behavior. And by creating this environment, you can persuade farmers to follow the same. When a farmer speaks of his experience, everybody in the community will listen. Having someone who is the pride of the community that will speak of his experience can move the entire village to do so. Persuasion is more effective when they receive it from a credible person closest to them.

If it does not work, for the farmer consistently, they will never adapt it. It must be proven, in a way they understand. if they must spend $1 on it, then it must make them $1.10 at least. If it costs a $1 and makes them $1 it was a waste. It must be proven to aid their farm's sustainability and nothing else.

In January 2018, I saw an article in Western Producer about a 43,000-acre farm going organic. With my expertise in organic farming, I felt I could bring proven scientific methodologies to action on a scale nobody ever did before at that time. I've reached out to the farm owner directly and communicated how I could make a difference in making organic weed control more effective. A week later together with his team, we finalized the mechanical and cultural weed control strategy. Research findings that enabled a reduction of weed populations in small research plots by 80% and an increase in yield in poor competitive crops by 50% convinced the farmer to purchase a fleet of new 40-foot rotary hoes. Yield was up by 20 bushels/acre same year.

Any new technology becomes mainstream once the cost of not implementing it is so big that it threatens the business. Turning that to a more positive note, the financial value of that new technology has to be clearly and simply explained. The benefits have to be visible, tangible and irrefutable. That doesn't always mean to have scientific studies, although they might appeal to certain farmers. It certainly means being able to showcase that technology in their own fields and in their own farm.

In my experience, peer influence plays a major role in creating trust to enable farmers to adopt to new technologies and the fact that rural is largely a market driven by relationship and trust.

The generic way is to show evidence and testimonials - what does work is when you get local large farmers to test and show results to the smaller farmers. However this is just where interest starts. In caste conscious communities - the caste of the lead farmer and the caste of the adopting farmer in the community also matters. That's it. Beyond that - only a value chain of technologies - from tech provider - to local fabricator/ retailer to supply on time the product/ service - to service provider to enable service on time and solve related issues, will enable adoption. Farmers are smart enough to realize benefits and costs - do not need a Harvard or IIM grad to tell them what works.

#2 Point of correction. In agriculture, one can not prove that something works in every situation. One can prove that something does not work, but can only demonstrate that something may work in the farmers/growers situation. To persuade the farmer to adopt a new technology, one must either demonstrate that the technology works in a large variety of situations or in the current situation in which the grower/farmer finds themselves.

The idea without intelligent execution means very little. When integrating rotary hoeing and harrowing for weed control on a 43,000-acre organic farm, the timing of treatment becomes very critical. Ironically, sometimes the best way to ensure correct execution is to lead by personal example. After scouting over 300 fields for weed germination together with the agronomy crew, we soon realized that a site-specific approach is required to ensure effective weed control. Therefore, proven scientific methodology may become effective only when tailored specifically to each field.

Business models like pay as you go can be critical to increasing adoption of technologies. With IoT systems, some technologies can be remotely turned off when a farmer has not paid the subscription.

#3 Farmers don't necessarily need or want financial incentives, but they do want evidence that something works and is going to either save them money or make more money than what it cost to use the new technology. They also want education on how the technology works and how they need to use it to get maximum benefits.

Support is what a farmer would need when adoptation of technology in farming is involved. Regardless of the incentives, most farmers would want to experience support during the process and hear feedback after actions. Be ready to provide these to them otherwise all the relationships built when you were conveying the idea to adopt technology in farming will be lost.

La agroexportaciones nuestras podrían ser mayores que las actuales a pesar de que tenemos el mejor hub logístico de la región.

Affirmatif il est important de soutenir et d'accompagner le processus d'utilisation de toute nouvelle technologie pour faciliter sa application et la rendre plus digeste. Tout concourt à l'atteinte de résultats axés sur l'efficacité et l'efficience.

Once they understand farming as a business and the ROI, once they have access to services that will increase production and productivity and they see value in that, learning from their own kind. When one sees value in all they do, they will embrace and adopt.

The foundation of a long deep collaborative relationship should be built on trust. One of the effective ways to earn it is through the expression of sincere care for the issues that farmers may be facing. Importantly, a clear information flow is required to set mutual expectations and establish dependability when introducing new technologies.

Farmers in India - especially small - are inextricably linked with local middlemen and shops and local service providers. These relationships are partly social, partly trust, and caste also plays a role. Some relationships are inter generational too. These relationships go deep. The technology value chain has to navigate through all these existing relationships and offer something of value to all these to have a run.

this takes years, and is only achieved by proving your value to them multiple times. you have to prove your value by adding to their production.

As stewards of their land and typically multi-generational, farmers know it the best - listening to them will help build the mutual trust and respect that are fundamental to co-creating appropriate, accessible technology to help them finetune their processes.

You need to prove to the farmers that you have integrity. You must also show them,that you appreciate their efforts and encourage them by having conversations with them on a regular basis.

#4 To build on this, it would also be beneficial if the person trying to do the persuading had a background in the industry, of concern, and can genuinely relate to the farmer and their situation.

La relation de confiance est importante pour cette mise. Il ne faudra point essayer des méthodes avec des soubassements de corruptions ou de manipulations. L'agriculture doit percevoir la sincérité et l'intérêt que vous portez à sa réussite.

One thing I have found helpful is to establish a demonstration of the new technology alongside the current technology on the farmer's field. Invite other farmers and people from different disciplines sociologist, economists etc. Allow for adaptation ( modification) that will make it acceptable.

Agreed. In our on-farm climate smart seed trials in Zimbabwe, we used women as the agents of change, because women make up 70% of the communal farm labour force. Once the women got involved, whole communities participated, and those with husbands got their support relatively easily. This approach also gave women access to land and farm inputs, but we made sure not to disrupt the social and household hierarchical order.

Involving the farming community is so powerful not just in driving adoption of a new technology but also in driving sustainability. Several technologies have been used and dropped by smallholder farmers after a year or two of adoption simply because there is no sense of involvement and ownership, eventually they lose interest and no longer see reasons to use such technology.

The best outcome for the consultant and the client is when the best ideas win. Because at the end of the day, the farmer is the one who would be utilizing novel technology daily.

A experiência singular de encorajar o agricultor à ser ele mesmo, na sua melhor versão no campo, sempre fez sentido para ele e para mim, como técnica. Encorajá-lo à ter comprometimento com a saúde de seu espaço rural. Encorajá-lo a entender suas escolhas. Encorajá-lo à diagnosticar e entender seus gargalos. Capacitá-lo é fazer com que ele entenda o resultado de suas escolhas. Encorajá-lo ao respeito e retorno social, econômico e ambiental na sua atividade rural. E o mais importante empoderar o produtor quando da sua melhor escolha social, econômica e ambiental para resolver os seus gargalos. Melhor um produtor que confia em você, do que o próximo cliente.

La démarche participative et inclusive est la meilleure pour espérer l'appropriation de toute chose. C'est avec cette méthode qu'on perçoit plus d'engagement de la part de l'agriculteur.

I totally agree a bottom to top approach works. Imposing technology on the farmers will result in failure because they will not be a part of it. Once they are involved from grassroots level to full implementation of the technology they will embrace it, take total control and full responsibility for it since they will benefit from it. For example, as a Veterinary Livestock Techncian in Zimbabwe, l managed an Animal Health Centre where farmers didn't cooperate in cattle dipping programs because they didn't understand the economic importance of ticks. Held first meeting with them discussing ways to eradicate poverty at household levels and implications of tickborne diseases. Everybody started volunteering resources towards filling up diptank.

To introduce innovation in the daily lives of the farming community innovators may need to integrate into the community culturally, emotionally and professionally. When united by a common vision, and democratic decision-making, each team player feels that they are heard and understood. In my mind, it is okay to even have small constructive arguments, because they may lead to the expression of genuine feelings about the new developments. Therefore, contributing to better communication clarity, transparency and a culture of trust. When the whole team is bought into the new technology implementation plan and they have access to the fair process there is great potential for success.

Every major decision has to be tied to an emotion. To make sure that your technology is truly a viable solution for their needs is where it has to start and end. Farming in particular is very family and community-oriented, one could use that as part of their appeal while also addressing pain points such as labor, ROI, and (here's the big one) testimonials from other farmers.

I couldn't agree more With this because decision is making more with emotions than facts. That's why should combine all of them to achieve the goal

Another example that i can think of would be having more family time. As this is what many parents value most. If there is new technology that may help save time or be able to execute a task remotely can make a big impact.

Another example that i can think of would be having more family time. As this is what many parents value most. If there is new technology that may help save time or be able to execute a task remotely can make a big impact.

In our recent deployment with loan origination system, we have witnessed there are early adopters in each geography, who often have a say in what will work and what will be shunted out, this requires organisations to continuously add data points to the existing ground truth.The assisted model has its own advantages and guides the consumer through a guided learning process which ultimately leads to adoption if the obvious boxes are ticked in favour of the tech, Creating use cases and building user journeys in my mind are soft pedals towards introducing new tech to farmers for rural adoption among few proven approaches

Another important thing to consider is to build the technology from the perspective of the farmer - understanding what they need and how they would like to use the solution, this is where design thinking helps in listening to what they need than pushing the solutions to them.

Seeing is believing. Having said that, adoption begins once farmers start seeing results. However the early adopters have a completely different mindset than those who adopt later- the early majority. Learnings and data from early adopters should be re-analysed to make sense for the early majority segment. This segment is the one that helps the product to get to a tipping point.

Having been a part of @Hesa, the rural tech platform for everything rural. I have learned one most important factor that rules over technology as well - 'Trust'. If the farmer, rural population trusts your brand, you cannot be overturned by competition. And this Trust doesn't get built overnight, it takes constant nurturing. This process of nurturing is the process of Brand building, which is very essential in any community, however, especially in the rural communities. One most important thing albeit often taken for granted is the ease with which they can use the Tech or App. We do need to ensure the tech we are introducing is more representational rather than verbose. The adaptation is 10 times faster.

-Show and Tell -work with them, collaboration is key -work with local influences, not the flashy kinds but the ones who are truly multiplying yields. -build trust over time

Holistic Ecosystem and Financial Awareness: Sometimes when we imagine the entire process of adoption, we are blinded by our understanding of social and local dynamics as well as personality traits where we differ from farmers. I would recommend provision of a holistic ecosystem for the farmers where they are exactly clear about where to get the required tools from, how much will it cost, why should I use it and what #monetory benefit will I gain from this technology. Usually agriculture is a delayed rewarding system, where only harvest at the end gives them incentive so it would be great if we consider this burden of investment while introducing the technology. :)

Understanding rural psychology is one of the best way to persuade farmers adopt new technology. It helps to understand unique characteristics, values and challenges of rural farming communities. By tailoring technology adoption strategy to address these factors, you can increase the likelihood of successful technology adoption.

My experience/learning in dealing with farmers since 2003 (over 20 years) in south India, are as below in the order of priorties: 1. You should be present locally - i.e. you must have your local rep/trainer - farmers do not trust outsiders or visitors initially 2. Local langugage is a must - English alone will never work 3. You should approach through their co-operatives or FPOs/FPCs than individually 4. Demonstrate the benefits at least for 2 seasons before asking for payments 5. Since farmers do not want to pay for any services (other than financial services) look for alternate ways of earning like advts, marketing produce or selling to farmers... 6. Farmers are not tech savvy. Therefore the involvement from them must be minimal

Para promover las nuevas tecnologías dentro de la comunidad de productos del campo. Montar parcelas demostrativas, en superficies significativas, en las áreas de producción.

Persuading farmers to adopt new technologies requires a stepwise approach. Step 1: Awareness Make the farmers aware of the technology and the reason for it. Step 2: Desire Make the farmers desire the technology by demonstrating the benefits. Step 3: Knowledge Make sure the farmers know how to apply the technology effectively. Step 4: Ability Make sure the farmers can use the technology in their environmental context. Do they have resources like money and a team where necessary? Do they have the supporting infrastructure like electricity? Step 5: Reinforcement Ensure that the technology is sustainable and does what you promised so that the farmers themselves start to convince others to use it.