Sustainable innovations in horticultural production systems : evaluating the decision-making process of the adoption of new practices

Abstract: In this report, horticultural growers’ behaviour towards innovations in relation to sustainability are assessed through a literature review combined with empirical research conducted on the field. Designing innovations to face the sustainable challenges of modern agriculture is a complex process which has been thoroughly analysed in previous scientific papers. However, it is less common to find the horticultural growers’ own perspective included in the assessment of sustainable innovation’s adoption, whereas they can be considered as the main stakeholders of the horticultural sector. This thesis gathers information found about growers’ subjective evaluation of innovations in recent scientific publications, their relationship to the sustainability dimension of new practices and technologies and the factors potentially influencing their decision-making process. The most recurrent decisional factors found in the papers are sorted out in a matrix which applicability is tested in the second part of the thesis during several interviews of French horticultural growers. Some correlations are found between the literature and field results, especially about the decision-making pattern growers follow when considering adopting a sustainable innovation. The importance the interviewees bring to social and economic decisional factors also correlate with the ones found in the literature review. The current COVID-19 pandemic has however been added to the matrix due to its exceptional impact on global production systems. The final updated matrix can be used as a guide for researchers or professionals aiming to design sustainable innovations better adapted to growers’ demands and expectations.