IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eme/srjpps/srj-07-2018-0181.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sustainable innovation adoption barriers: water sustainability, food production and drip irrigation in Australia

Author

Listed:
  • Steven Greenland
  • Elizabeth Levin
  • John F. Dalrymple
  • Barry O’Mahony

Abstract

Purpose - This paper aims to examine impediments to the adoption of sustainable water-efficient technological innovation in agriculture. Farming is the largest water consumer and food production expansion in response to global population growth, combined with increasing droughts from climate change, threatens water and food insecurity for many countries. Yet, climate smart agriculture (CSA) innovation adoption has been slow, and in this regard, governments and the agricultural sector are not fulfilling their social responsibility and sustainability obligations. Design/methodology/approach - Barriers to water-efficient drip irrigation (DI) adoption in Australia were investigated via 46 depth interviews with agricultural stakeholders and a survey of 148 farmers. Findings - While DI water efficiency is recognised, this is not the key determinant of farmers’ irrigation method selection. Complex interrelationships between internal and external barriers impede DI adoption are identified. These include costs, satisfaction with alternative irrigation methods, farmer characteristics that determine the suitability of the innovation and the extent it is incremental or radical, plus various multidimensional risks. Government support of alternative, less water-efficient irrigation methods is also a critical barrier. Originality/value - A conceptual framework for understanding barriers to sustainability oriented innovation adoption is presented. Its insights should be applicable to researchers and practitioners concerned with understanding and improving the adoption of socially responsible and sustainable innovation in a wide range of contexts. Recommendations for overcoming such adoption barriers are discussed in relation to the research focus of water-efficient agriculture and encouraging uptake of DI.

Suggested Citation

  • Steven Greenland & Elizabeth Levin & John F. Dalrymple & Barry O’Mahony, 2018. "Sustainable innovation adoption barriers: water sustainability, food production and drip irrigation in Australia," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 15(6), pages 727-741, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:srjpps:srj-07-2018-0181
    DOI: 10.1108/SRJ-07-2018-0181
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/SRJ-07-2018-0181/full/html?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/SRJ-07-2018-0181/full/pdf?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1108/SRJ-07-2018-0181?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David Tilman & Michael Clark, 2014. "Global diets link environmental sustainability and human health," Nature, Nature, vol. 515(7528), pages 518-522, November.
    2. Sapna A. Narula & K.M. Upadhyay, 2011. "Product strategy vis-à-vis environment: are strategies of pesticide manufacturers in India sustainable?," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 7(2), pages 282-294, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Eleanor C. Hasenbeck & Caroline E. Scruggs & Melinda Morgan & Jingjing Wang & Alex J. Webster & Corina M. Gomez, 2025. "Perspectives on Innovative Approaches in Agriculture to Managing Water Scarcity in the Middle Rio Grande Basin," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-32, April.
    2. Nuraddeen Abubakar Nuhu & Kevin Baird & Sophia Su, 2023. "The impact of interactive and diagnostic levers of eco‐control on eco‐innovation: The mediating role of employee environmental citizenship behaviour," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(2), pages 2245-2271, June.
    3. Bannikova, Natalia & Telnova, Natalia & Markarova, Victoria, 2021. "Innovation Activity in Agriculture and the Issues of its Assessment," Western Balkan Journal of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development (WBJAERD), Institute of Agricultural Economics, vol. 3(01), June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Irene Blanco-Gutiérrez & Consuelo Varela-Ortega & Rhys Manners, 2020. "Evaluating Animal-Based Foods and Plant-Based Alternatives Using Multi-Criteria and SWOT Analyses," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-26, October.
    2. Birgit Kopainsky & Anita Frehner & Adrian Müller, 2020. "Sustainable and healthy diets: Synergies and trade‐offs in Switzerland," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(6), pages 908-927, November.
    3. Gerald Nelson & Jessica Bogard & Keith Lividini & Joanne Arsenault & Malcolm Riley & Timothy B. Sulser & Daniel Mason-D’Croz & Brendan Power & David Gustafson & Mario Herrero & Keith Wiebe & Karen Coo, 2018. "Income growth and climate change effects on global nutrition security to mid-century," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 1(12), pages 773-781, December.
    4. Dániel Fróna & János Szenderák & Mónika Harangi-Rákos, 2019. "The Challenge of Feeding the World," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-18, October.
    5. Jindřich Špička & Zdeňka Náglová, 2022. "Consumer segmentation in the meat market - The case study of Czech Republic," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 68(2), pages 68-77.
    6. Théodore Nikiema & Eugène C. Ezin & Sylvain Kpenavoun Chogou, 2023. "Bibliometric Analysis of the State of Research on Agroecology Adoption and Methods Used for Its Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-18, November.
    7. Melanie Speck & Katrin Bienge & Lynn Wagner & Tobias Engelmann & Sebastian Schuster & Petra Teitscheid & Nina Langen, 2020. "Creating Sustainable Meals Supported by the NAHGAST Online Tool—Approach and Effects on GHG Emissions and Use of Natural Resources," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-13, February.
    8. Springmann, Marco & Mason-D'Croz, Daniel & Robinson, Sherman & Wiebe, Keith & Scarborough, Peter, 2016. "The health co-benefits of a global greenhouse-gas tax on food," Conference papers 332766, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    9. repec:ags:aaea22:335681 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Infante-Amate, Juan & Aguilera, Eduardo & de Molina, Manuel González, 2018. "Energy transition in Agri-food systems. Structural change, drivers and policy implications (Spain, 1960–2010)," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 570-579.
    11. Patricia Eustachio Colombo & Emma Patterson & Liselotte Schäfer Elinder & Anna Karin Lindroos & Ulf Sonesson & Nicole Darmon & Alexandr Parlesak, 2019. "Optimizing School Food Supply: Integrating Environmental, Health, Economic, and Cultural Dimensions of Diet Sustainability with Linear Programming," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-18, August.
    12. Elke Stehfest & Willem-Jan Zeist & Hugo Valin & Petr Havlik & Alexander Popp & Page Kyle & Andrzej Tabeau & Daniel Mason-D’Croz & Tomoko Hasegawa & Benjamin L. Bodirsky & Katherine Calvin & Jonathan C, 2019. "Key determinants of global land-use projections," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 1-10, December.
    13. Brent F. Kim & Keeve E. Nachman & Roni A. Neff & Marie L. Spiker & Raychel E. Santo, 2016. "Concerns re: interpretation and translation of findings in Energy use, blue water footprint, and greenhouse gas emissions for current food consumption patterns and dietary recommendations in the US," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 36(1), pages 104-105, March.
    14. Victoria Vicario-Modroño & Rosa Gallardo-Cobos & Pedro Sánchez-Zamora, 2023. "Sustainability evaluation of olive oil mills in Andalusia (Spain): a study based on composite indicators," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(7), pages 6363-6392, July.
    15. Ledgard, Stewart F. & Wei, Sha & Wang, Xiaoqin & Falconer, Shelley & Zhang, Nannan & Zhang, Xiying & Ma, Lin, 2019. "Nitrogen and carbon footprints of dairy farm systems in China and New Zealand, as influenced by productivity, feed sources and mitigations," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 155-163.
    16. Paula Silva, 2025. "Adolescents’ Perceptions of Sustainable Diets: Myths, Realities, and School-Based Interventions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-28, June.
    17. Xiangdan Piao & Xinxin Ma & Chi Zhang & Shunsuke Managi, 2020. "Impact of Gaps in the Educational Levels between Married Partners on Health and a Sustainable Lifestyle: Evidence from 32 Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-20, June.
    18. Chantal Le Mouël & Anna Birgit Milford & Benjamin L. Bodirsky & Susanne Rolinski, 2019. "Drivers of meat consumption," Post-Print hal-02175593, HAL.
    19. Rachel Mazac & Hanna L. Tuomisto, 2020. "The Post-Anthropocene Diet: Navigating Future Diets for Sustainable Food Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-15, March.
    20. Francisco-Javier Peña-Rodríguez & Francisco Entrena-Durán & Adrià Ivorra-Cano & Agustín Llorca-Linde, 2023. "Changes in Land Use and Food Security: The Case of the De La Vega Agrarian Shire in the Southern Spanish Province of Granada," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-23, March.
    21. Jennifer A. Jay & Raffaella D’Auria & J. Cully Nordby & David Andy Rice & David A. Cleveland & Anthony Friscia & Sophie Kissinger & Marc Levis & Hannah Malan & Deepak Rajagopal & Joel R. Reynolds & We, 2019. "Reduction of the carbon footprint of college freshman diets after a food-based environmental science course," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 154(3), pages 547-564, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eme:srjpps:srj-07-2018-0181. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Emerald Support (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.