Search

In AgroPV (agrophotovoltaic) applications, in which renewable energy production and agricultural production are combined through photovoltaic panels on agricultural land, has come to the fore as an innovative application that alleviates or eliminates competition on land use, especially with the widespread use of renewable energy production in developed countries. In Turkey, although there is not yet a fully-fledged legislation in this area, both the increasing risks in terms of agricultural yields and income due climate change and the rising financial difficulties due to increased input (especially energy) costs indicate that AgroPV may have a strong potential not only in terms of the widespread use of renewable energy but also in terms of sustainability of agricultural production. Yet, there are few studies exploring factors that enable or hinder farmers’ acceptance and adoption of AgroPV. In this study, we will present how social sciences (in particular scholarship on the behavioral aspects of agricultural production) can contribute to our understanding of farmers’ adoption of new technologies in general and AgroPV in particular. The theoretical discussion will be complemented by a preliminary analysis of in-depth interviews that were conducted with ''pioneer/expert'' farmers in Turkey.

During the second half of the eighteenth century, the Ottoman policy-makers adopted a more liberal attitude towards price formation in the Ottoman grain markets. This was accompanied by the fiscal and administrative centralization of the grain trade. These seemingly contradictory policy changes could, in part, be explained in the context of conjectural changes in grain demand and supply, which rendered pre-emptive privileges and price controls less effective. The policy change, however, was not only a practical response to the strains on the pre-existing supply network but also reflected a new concern with the state of agricultural production along with the emergence of emulation as a development strategy.