Precision Agriculture Technologies in the Italian Agricultural Context: A Study on the Rate of Knowledge and Diffusion Among Italian Farmers

The agriculture of our century is undergoing rapid and continuous changes. The new needs appear to be the improvement of agricultural yield to meet future food needs and the framing of agricultural management with a view to environmental sustainability. In this context, the precision agriculture (PA) paradigm turns out to be decisive in meeting the aforementioned needs. This work aims to identify the awareness rate and adoption drivers of PA among Italian farmers. The research methodology is based on an online survey of a sample of 755 farmers (N = 755) in a period between July and November 2020. A regression analysis was subsequently carried out on the data collected. The results showed that Italian farmers do not have all the information necessary for the development of PA techniques (informed farmers: n = 366; 48.48%), with a diffusion rate of approximately 20% (adopting farmers: n = 155; 20.4%). Considering the research results, it seems necessary to undertake training development paths so that farmers can adequately adopt technologies with an orientation toward sustainability. The present research represents the starting point for future studies aimed at investigating the reason why so many differences emerge in the rate of knowledge and in the models of technological adoption.