Agricultural Best Management Practices, A summary of adoption behaviour

Best management practices (BMPs) are a valuable approach towards improving agricultural sustainability by encouraging producers to conserve soil and water resources and mitigate the release of pollutants without sacrificing productivity. The behavioural factors that influence producer decision-making are an important aspect of understanding BMP adoption with the study of experimental and behavioural economics. This summary examines multiple publications from 1982 to 2020 establishing a broad overview of the current research in the BMP adoption literature. The focus is to highlight relevant economic theories and methods used to study producer decision-making and establish behavioural interventions that can help improve the adoption of BMPs. The summary covers major themes in the existing literature, identifying the similarities and differences in three major agricultural sectors including livestock production, crop production, and aquaculture. A review of the literature reveals both consistent and inconsistent findings that have various policy implications and opportunities for future research.