View Item 
        •   Utrecht University Student Theses Repository Home
        • UU Theses Repository
        • Theses
        • View Item
        •   Utrecht University Student Theses Repository Home
        • UU Theses Repository
        • Theses
        • View Item
        JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

        Browse

        All of UU Student Theses RepositoryBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

        Agent-based modeling of crop varieties adoption by farmers

        Thumbnail
        View/Open
        Final_Thesis_GIMA_NickPeters6498558.pdf (12.77Mb)
        Publication date
        2024
        Author
        Peters, Nick
        Metadata
        Show full item record
        Summary
        As climate change introduces increasing uncertainties into agricultural practices, farmers will need to adapt their practices to optimally suit local conditions. The study by Brown-Fuentes (2022) provides a new variety of the common bean that is more resistant to heat. This thesis studies how such a new variety would be introduced to the environment and then how it is adopted by the farmers over time. An agent based model (ABM) is created to be able to capture emergent phenomena and spatial patterns of adoption. The decision-making process of the agents (farmers) includes more in-depth social factors than previous projects in this field; the adoption of a new variety is not solely based on its performance but also on social factors such as similarity to neighbors and a personal preference for a certain variety. Incorporating these factors into the decision-making process allows for better insights into what factors increase or decrease the rate of adoption. Model results point to crop performance being the main factor promoting adoption; social and personal factors characterized as similarity to others and a preference for the local crop already known to farmers for generations. This further implies that the introduction of the new variety to farmers should be paired with interventions that further incentivize crop performance maximization to overcome the adverse effects originating from social and personal factors that inhibit adoption.
        URI
        https://studenttheses.uu.nl/handle/20.500.12932/46369
        Collections
        • Theses
        Utrecht university logo