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Innovation in the UK fresh produce sector : identifying systemic problems and the move towards systemic facilitation
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Menary, Jonathan, Seers, Kate and Collier, Rosemary (2019) Innovation in the UK fresh produce sector : identifying systemic problems and the move towards systemic facilitation. Agricultural Systems, 176 . 102675. doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2019.102675 ISSN 0308-521X.
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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2019.102675
Abstract
Innovation has been promoted to help meet the various challenges faced by the UK fresh produce sector. However, what barriers hinder the development and spread of new ideas in the sector have not been investigated. This article explores the social and economic constraints to innovation by combining the agricultural innovation systems (AIS) conceptual framework with a functional-structural analysis. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 32 key informants, including growers, agronomists, researchers and representatives from major retailers. The findings show that, whilst the UK fresh produce sector is highly innovative, a number of systemic problems slow or prevent the acquisition and utilisation of knowledge. The privatisation of public extension services has led to a degree of horizontal and vertical fragmentation, with increasingly ‘closed’ groups and lack of nationwide research coordination or guiding visions for the sector. Variation in business size and crop type make coordination or coherent visions challenging to establish, presenting problems for intermediary organisations in matching the supply and demand of agricultural knowledge. At the same time, a stark power asymmetry exists between suppliers and retail customers, whose policies have led to a “defensive” innovation culture and lack of trust – producer organisations represent a response to this asymmetry, as well as increasingly important factor in the (now globalised) development and diffusion of agricultural innovations. Systemic instruments to facilitate better coordination and communication are proposed, such as innovation platforms to bring together otherwise closed groups around common problems and the use of road-mapping to provide a guiding vision for the future of the sector. Retail-led grower groups also provide a means to improve trust between suppliers and customers in the sector and promote new technological trajectories.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | |||||||||
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| Subjects: | S Agriculture > S Agriculture (General) | |||||||||
| Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Life Sciences (2010- ) Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Health Sciences > Warwick Research in Nursing |
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| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Agricultural innovations -- Great Britain, Agriculture -- Technology transfer -- Great Britain, Agricultural development projects -- Great Britain | |||||||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Agricultural Systems | |||||||||
| Publisher: | Elsevier | |||||||||
| ISSN: | 0308-521X | |||||||||
| Official Date: | November 2019 | |||||||||
| Dates: |
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| Volume: | 176 | |||||||||
| Article Number: | 102675 | |||||||||
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.agsy.2019.102675 | |||||||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | |||||||||
| Publication Status: | Published | |||||||||
| Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | |||||||||
| Date of first compliant deposit: | 12 August 2019 | |||||||||
| Date of first compliant Open Access: | 27 February 2021 | |||||||||
| RIOXX Funder/Project Grant: |
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