Engaging Technology Adoption Practice as a Farm Strategy Among Pineapple Farmers in Nigeria

Studies around farm level technology transfer have grown up in the last decade with a central focus on technology adoption. However, literature has failed to explain the convergence and relevance of specified technology and associated farm practices as components of technology adoption. The omission of these crucial parts of adoption may lead to inappropriate recommendation and policy designs. The study investigates how farming practices enhance technology adoption within the horticultural farm setting. It also extends investigation to how technology adoption and farm practices support competitive strategy at the farm level.

The study considers a qualitative case study approach of pineapple farmers in Ejigbo, Nigeria, using a Straussian grounded methodological approach to explore the adoption of farm practices support for competitiveness. The purposive method of data collection includes focus group discussion, semi-structured interview, field observation and memo. The storylines that explain the emerging theory of engaging technology adoption through farm practices are grounded in the empirical data collected to explain the phenomenon.

Findings from the study generate two storylines and reveal that attributes such as farming system, fruit quality and mindset enhance the production of pineapple while community cohesion, mutual relationship with change agent, learning from errors and skills development through training foster and strengthen competitiveness at the farm level. The findings suggest that the passion of the farmers for the cultivation of pineapples lies in the attributing factors supporting the technology adoption practices as well as the dynamic reinforcing capabilities strengthening the competitiveness.

The research contributes to the general body of knowledge in the field of strategic management theory and practice. Specifically, it makes a significant contribution to how well pineapple farmers can manage their production system to gain competitive advantage.

The research recommends that agricultural and rural development policy should focus on supporting farmers through reinforcing factors. The research also gives recommendations for potential future research studies in the field of strategic management and agribusiness.