Agriculture 4.0: is Mexico ready?

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the possibilities and actions required to foster the introduction of technologies consistent with the term “agriculture 4.0” in Mexico.
Design/Methodology/Approach: To identify providers of technology in Mexico. To present the cost-benefit equation regarding the adoption of said technology as applied to the cultivation of maize in different regions. To
design and construct an adoption propensity index that will serve as a basis to propose focused and adequate actions to remove technology access barriers.
Results: Mexico has a young and wide offer of technology, both tangible and intangible, where digital platforms of agricultural management, mobile apps, and remote monitoring predominate. The cost-benefit relationship
offers a large margin to adopt new technologies. However, there are adoption barriers (related to education or infrastructure, for instance) that represent a challenge to different regions of the country: the northern,
northeastern, and western states of Mexico are more likely to adopt new technologies.
Study limitations/Implications: Further experimental and field analyses
are required to delve deeper into potential additional barriers (culture-
related, for example).

Agro productividad 2022. https://doi.org/10.32854/xxxxxx (Los autores no deben realizar ningún cambio en este apartado) 2 of 8

Findings/Conclusions: The cost-benefit analysis offers a large margin for
adoption. However, the propensity to adopt is associated to restricting
factors such as the producers’ educational level, the production unit’s size
and level of mechanization, the access to and use of Information and
Communication Technologies, and the telecoms infrastructure, whose
geographic disparity is significant. The public sector’s intervention is
desirable to reduce the gap between the supply and demand of
technologies, as well as the access barriers to the latter.