TY - JOUR
T1 - Farmer-driven innovation
T2 - lessons from a case study of subterranean clover seed production
AU - Moss, Wesley M.
AU - Nichols, Phillip G.H.
AU - Foster, Kevin J.
AU - Ryan, Megan H.
AU - Guzzomi, Andrew L.
N1 - Funding Information:
Farmers cannot afford to conduct large research projects themselves, but frameworks exist to involve farmers directly in funding R&D. Australia, Canada, the US and the UK have created R&D organizations funded by levies on agricultural output and controlled, at least partially, by farmer representatives (Sadras et al., 2020). These organizations collectively invest hundreds of millions in R&D annually. In Australia, the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) is the largest of these organizations, with annual revenue of A$200 million (Sadras et al., 2020). The high farmer involvement in these organizations and collaboration with research and industry allow them to create and leverage new innovations. These rural development and research corporations were key in supporting innovative farmers in developing conservation agriculture systems in Australia (Bellotti and Rochecouste, 2014). Recent examples of GRDC-funded innovations are the Harrington seed destructor and the weed chipper. The Harrington seed destructor (Walsh et al., 2012), which devitalizes weed seeds that exit grain harvesters in the chaff fraction, has had a significant impact on global grain production. The evolved technology is now commercially available in an integrated version compatible with many combine harvester makes and models and is demonstrating weed control success internationally. The weed chipper is the first fallow mechanical weeder compatible with large-scale cropping systems (Walsh et al., 2020). The success of the weed chipper is attributed to collaboration with stakeholders in farming, research (agronomy and engineering), manufacturing and industry.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, Pluto Journals. All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/12
Y1 - 2021/12
N2 - Farmers are often overlooked and undervalued as sources of innovation, but can be powerful drivers of ingenuity and development. We evaluate historical developments in the Australian subterranean clover seed-production industry as a case study of farmer-driven innovation. Subterranean clover seed machinery patents (75% of which were patented by farmers) are analysed using conventional innovation frameworks, such as the theory of inventive problem solving (TRIZ), to extract lessons for supporting farmer-driven innovation. The small scale of this industry, compared with mainstream cereal-cropping industries and the isolation of farmers, provides analogous lessons for agriculture in developing countries. Economic drivers are important in enabling farmer innovation and the value proposition for developing new inventions must be clear to justify the time and expense. Farmers are different from firms and their on-farm knowledge and experience can form an essential part of innovation. Drivers of innovation also differ, with farmers less likely to attempt to commercialize inventions. Farmers can also be hesitant to share their inventions, instead holding them as trade secrets in competitive industries. Support and collaboration are needed from government and researchers to assist in commercialization or dissemination of useful innovations and to prevent knowledge from being confined to a localized farmer or region. Advances in agriculture require farmer input in research and development, but the benefits will be greater if farmers are enabled to be drivers of innovation.
AB - Farmers are often overlooked and undervalued as sources of innovation, but can be powerful drivers of ingenuity and development. We evaluate historical developments in the Australian subterranean clover seed-production industry as a case study of farmer-driven innovation. Subterranean clover seed machinery patents (75% of which were patented by farmers) are analysed using conventional innovation frameworks, such as the theory of inventive problem solving (TRIZ), to extract lessons for supporting farmer-driven innovation. The small scale of this industry, compared with mainstream cereal-cropping industries and the isolation of farmers, provides analogous lessons for agriculture in developing countries. Economic drivers are important in enabling farmer innovation and the value proposition for developing new inventions must be clear to justify the time and expense. Farmers are different from firms and their on-farm knowledge and experience can form an essential part of innovation. Drivers of innovation also differ, with farmers less likely to attempt to commercialize inventions. Farmers can also be hesitant to share their inventions, instead holding them as trade secrets in competitive industries. Support and collaboration are needed from government and researchers to assist in commercialization or dissemination of useful innovations and to prevent knowledge from being confined to a localized farmer or region. Advances in agriculture require farmer input in research and development, but the benefits will be greater if farmers are enabled to be drivers of innovation.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85129784361&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.13169/PROMETHEUS.37.4.0353
DO - 10.13169/PROMETHEUS.37.4.0353
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85129784361
SN - 0810-9028
VL - 37
SP - 353
EP - 370
JO - Prometheus (United Kingdom)
JF - Prometheus (United Kingdom)
IS - 4
ER -