Title:	Dynamics of agriculture 4.0 technology adoption in the agri-food system: insights from an exploratory study in Rio Grande do Sul—Brazil.
Authors:	SILVEIRA, F. da BHARTI, D. KILINÇ, I. FURUYA, D. E. G. TETILA, E. C. PARRA-LÓPEZ, C. BOLFE, E. L. SANTOS, T. T. BARBEDO, J. G. A.
Affiliation:	FRANCO DA SILVEIRA; DHEERAJ BHARTI; IREM KILINÇ, KATIP ÇELEBI UNIVERSITY; DANIELLE ELIS GARCIA FURUYA; EVERTON CASTELÃO TETILA, UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DA GRANDE DOURADOS; CARLOS PARRA-LÓPEZ, INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURAL AND FISHERIES RESEARCH AND TRAINING; EDSON LUIS BOLFE, CNPTIA; THIAGO TEIXEIRA SANTOS, CNPTIA; JAYME GARCIA ARNAL BARBEDO, CNPTIA.
Date Issued:	2026
Citation:	Foods, v. 15, n. 11, 1892, June 2026.
Description:	Despite the growing relevance of Agriculture 4.0 technologies for enhancing productivity, decision-making, and sustainability in agri-food systems, their adoption remains uneven in developing-country contexts. This study aims to analyze the perceived severity and co-occurrence structure of barriers to Agriculture 4.0 adoption in the agri-food system of Rio Grande do Sul (RS), Brazil, using an exploratory quantitative design grounded in a barrier co-occurrence perspective rather than a causal or actor-centered network interpretation. An online survey conducted in 2024 with farmers in RS evaluated 25 literature-validated barriers spanning technological, economic, political, social, and environmental dimensions. The analysis combined a Barrier Severity Index (BSI), reliability testing, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), K-means clustering, ANOVA by farm size, and proximity-based co-occurrence networks constructed from highly rated barriers. The results show that economic barriers remain the most severe overall, particularly the lack of affordable solutions, high maintenance costs, and limited infrastructure. At the same time, farm-size-stratified networks reveal distinct association structures: small farms display a more segmented pattern linking affordability and technical access to institutional and capability constraints; medium farms show the most globally integrated co-occurrence structure; and large farms exhibit a dense but more differentiated configuration combining cost, interoperability, skills, and governance-related barriers. These findings are interpreted descriptively, as the networks capture patterns of co-reporting rather than causal interdependence. The study contributes a network-analytic representation of perceived barrier configurations and highlights the need for scale-sensitive policy mixes that address bundles of constraints rather than isolated obstacles.
Thesagro:	Segurança Alimentar Agricultura de Precisão Inovação
NAL Thesaurus:	Food security Precision agriculture Innovation adoption
Keywords:	Agricultura digital Difusão de inovações Barreiras Rede de coocorrência Sistema agroalimentar Digital agriculture Diffusion of innovations Barriers Co-occurrence network Agri-food system
ISSN:	2304-8158
DOI:	https://doi.org/10.3390/foods15111892
Type of Material:	Artigo de periódico
Access:	openAccess
Appears in Collections:	Artigo em periódico indexado (CNPTIA)