Beyond the Rational Farmer: Behavioural Biases and Technology Adoption in Agriculture
Sanjiv Kumar *
Faculty of Agriculture, Jagannath University, Jaipur-303901, India.
Deen Dayal Bairwa
Faculty of Agriculture, Jagannath University, Jaipur-303901, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Agricultural technology adoption is frequently explained through expected profitability, resource endowments and exposure to information. These explanations are indispensable, but they do not fully account for delayed input purchases, selective learning, heterogeneous responses to apparently identical risks or farmers' attachment to established practices. This critical narrative review examines how behavioural mechanisms interact with material constraints to shape the adoption, sustained use and abandonment of agricultural innovations. Literature published from 1985 to 24 August 2026 was considered, with earlier foundational decision-theory research retained where necessary. Evidence from agricultural economics, development economics, rural sociology, environmental psychology and field experimentation was evaluated by study design, construct measurement, causal identification, ecological validity and transferability. The synthesis distinguishes risk aversion from ambiguity aversion; present bias from seasonal liquidity shortages; informational deficits from selective attention; and social learning from conformity, trust and identity. Field experiments establish that adoption can respond to the timing of offers, credible reductions in downside risk and strategically targeted information. Yet observational studies and meta-analyses reveal marked heterogeneity across technologies, populations and settings, while several apparent psychological effects may represent rational responses to infrastructure, contractual insecurity and poorly measured opportunity costs. Behaviourally informed interventions are therefore best understood as complements to functioning input markets, insurance, extension, appropriate technology design and institutional accountability, not substitutes for them. The review proposes a conditional framework in which technology attributes, perceived consequences, decision architecture and structural feasibility jointly determine adoption trajectories. Priority research needs include pre-registered mechanism tests, repeated revealed-behaviour outcomes, cross-context replication, joint measurement of preferences and constraints, and assessment of distributional effects. Behavioural analysis can improve agricultural policy when it treats farmers as knowledgeable but situated decision-makers rather than presuming that non-adoption constitutes error.
Keywords: Bounded rationality, ambiguity aversion, present bias, agricultural innovation, social learning, farmer identity, decision architecture, adoption persistence