Australia is the driest continent and is largely reliant on irrigation for efficient agricultural production. Irrigation uses significant volumes of water, and in recent decades many initiatives have been undertaken to improve efficiencies of irrigation systems and management practices. This paper analyses the perceptions and barriers to adoption of irrigation technologies and management practices in agriculture based on a field study undertaken in the Bundaberg region in Queensland, Australia. Overall, most farmers surveyed rated the efficiency of their irrigation systems very highly; nonetheless, more than half the farmers surveyed recognized that their systems and practices had the potential for further improvement through automation. Financial constraints and uncertainty around the economic viability of investing in certain agricultural technologies emerged as major barriers to adoption of available and emerging technologies that could improve irrigation efficiency. This is occasioned by insufficient evidence of the benefits of adopting these innovations. Issues suggested by the respondents for further extension, development and research align closely to known barriers to adoption of agricultural innovations. A key finding and recommendation of this study is that farm-specific cost–benefit analyses of new irrigation technologies and practices are required to facilitate the decision-making process for the improvement of irrigation efficiency.

中文翻译：

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改善灌溉技术采用的障碍和措施：澳大利亚昆士兰班达伯格地区的案例研究*

澳大利亚是最干旱的大陆，在很大程度上依赖灌溉进行高效农业生产。灌溉使用了大量的水，近几十年来，已经采取了许多举措来提高灌溉系统和管理实践的效率。本文基于在澳大利亚昆士兰班达伯格地区进行的实地研究，分析了在农业中采用灌溉技术和管理实践的看法和障碍。总体而言，大多数接受调查的农民对其灌溉系统的效率评价很高；尽管如此，超过一半的受访农民承认他们的系统和做法有可能通过自动化进一步改进。围绕投资某些农业技术的经济可行性的财政限制和不确定性成为采用可提高灌溉效率的现有和新兴技术的主要障碍。这是由于采用这些创新的好处的证据不足。受访者提出的进一步推广、开发和研究的问题与采用农业创新的已知障碍密切相关。本研究的一个重要发现和建议是，需要对新的灌溉技术和实践进行农场特定的成本效益分析，以促进提高灌溉效率的决策过程。这是由于采用这些创新的好处的证据不足。受访者提出的进一步推广、开发和研究的问题与采用农业创新的已知障碍密切相关。本研究的一个重要发现和建议是，需要对新灌溉技术和实践进行农场特定的成本效益分析，以促进提高灌溉效率的决策过程。这是由于采用这些创新的好处的证据不足。受访者建议的进一步推广、开发和研究的问题与采用农业创新的已知障碍密切相关。本研究的一个重要发现和建议是，需要对新灌溉技术和实践进行农场特定的成本效益分析，以促进提高灌溉效率的决策过程。