ADOPTION AND USE OF PRECISION AGRICULTURE TECHNOLOGIES IN THE SAO PAULO SUGARGANE INDUSTRY: AN INNOVATION ANALYSIS DOI: 10.5585/RAI.2010690

Abstract

Technologies of Precision Agriculture (PA) have already been implemented in Brazilian plantations, generating an increase of productive techniques, crucial to guarantying the country’s supremacy in agricultural production. However, there remain no studies concerning the intensity of PA technology use in Brazil. Thus, the principal challenge of this study was to investigate the process of adopting and using such techniques by the sugarcane industry in the state of Sao Paulo, an area that cultivates 60% of national sugarcane production. Hence, we used primary data, through a questionnaire submitted to all sugarcane companies within the area, aiming to ascertain not only the degree of adoption and use of such techniques, but to also elaborate on the debate concerned with the sugarcane industry. Therefore, information on the industries’ characteristics, sources of information for adopting the technology, and the impact and obstacles encountered for implementing the technology were gathered. The study’s prime results suggest that the adoption and use of PA techniques garner positive results for companies, such as: improvement in management; increase in productivity; cost reduction; minimizing environmental impacts and improvement of sugarcane quality.