A tobit regression model for the timing of smartphone adoption in agriculture

Smartphones are excellent tools well-suited for applications in agriculture because of their mobility and high data processing power access to agricultural apps, and also compatibility with precision agriculture technologies. Although smartphone adoption and its use of agricultural apps are well-studied, variables influencing the timing of smartphone adoption in agriculture have not been closely examined. Comprehending both the timing when a certain technology is adopted and also it is used to identifying the specific characteristics of early and also late adopters aids in the anticipation and thereby the fostering of the diffusion process. This study's objective was to analyze the timing of smartphone adoption for agricultural purposes by applying a Tobit regression model was to a data set of 207 German farmers, which was collected in 2019. The result indicates that significant influences on the timing of smartphone adoption in agriculture include farmers' gender, risk attitude, age, size, and location of their farm, among other factors. And these results may be interesting to several stakeholders in agriculture such as extension services, policymakers, and also researchers as well as smartphone providers and sellers.

Importance:

• Information and communication technologies (ICT) both are important drivers of agriculture production globally.
• ICT has the potential to benefit agriculture production management, production chains, and also marketing of agricultural products.
• ICT can also facilitate the efficient use of natural resources in agriculture and for improving food access and food security.
• Smartphone technology is a fundamental, rapidly evolving sector of ICT.
• Smartphones are multipurpose tools with a high computing capacity, built-in sensors, and mobile internet access. They are very flexible in their functionality through downloading software in the form of applications.
• Just because of advances  in technology  such as the independence of landline data networks

Hubler and Hartje 2016 purpose that smartphones play a key role in the development of rural economies and also in technology. That's the reason Hubler and Hartje 2016 argue that policymakers should support the diffusion of smartphones in rural communities. Concerning developing countries specifically, the use of smartphones is increasing. Smartphones serve as a valuable access point to financial services and information via mobile internet. Particularly in terms of internet access, farmers in remote areas without landline internet stand to benefit greatly from smartphone access. 

In remote regions, DST in the form of apps plays an important role since they provide access to information from agricultural extension services while specifically tailoring information to the farm site. Therefore smartphones are a key instrument in disseminating knowledge to improve on-farm decision-making and providing access to several stakeholders regardless of the farmer's country setting. Apps allow for specific tailoring of functions and information depending on farmers' needs and location. In this way, smartphone usage can contribute to the sustainable development of agriculture globally.

The adoption and diffusion of new agriculture technologies are considered a gradual process ...which is dependent on the characteristics of the farmer and farm site.

This study aims to:

• Identify farm characteristics and the role of farmers regarding their timing of smartphone adoption.
• For this purpose, the classification of factors affecting PAT by Pierpaolo et al.2013 applied to the timing of smartphone adoption in agriculture.