Realising the potential of information acquisition in promoting sustainable agriculture: A systematic review

A growing body of literature identifies information constraints as a potential barrier to farmers’ adoption of sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs) and information acquisition (IA) as the key to breaking the dilemma. Due to the heterogeneity of information, channels and farmers, IA has different effects on farmers’ sustainable behaviour in different SAP scenarios. This study systematically reviews the mechanisms, empirical cases, models and methods of the impact of IA on farmers’ adoption of SAPs. Results show that IA plays a crucial role in promoting SAPs, and exposure to different information sources/channels usually has differential effects on farmers’ intention or behaviour to adopt SAPs. It is worth noting that the positive effect of the use of modern information channels (especially the Internet and smartphone) on SAPs is gradually being demonstrated in empirical studies across countries, and the effect of Internet or smartphone use on farmers with different resource endowment characteristics may also be heterogeneous. According to further analysis, traditional and modern information channels should complement each other and be fully integrated into SAPs extensions. This study also discusses the gaps that need to be bridged in IA-to-SAPs and describes possible future research directions. These findings will contribute to the scientific design of information interventions and environmental policies in SAPs extension services.