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      Prometheus is published by Pluto Journals, an Open Access publisher. This means that everyone has free and unlimited access to the full-text of all articles from our international collection of social science journals. Furthermore Pluto Journals authors don’t pay article processing charges (APCs).

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      Prometheus

      Volume 37, Issue 4
       
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      Farmer-driven innovation: lessons from a case study of subterranean clover seed production

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            Abstract

            Farmers are often overlooked and undervalued as sources of innovation, but can be powerful drivers of ingenuity and development. We evaluate historical developments in the Australian subterranean clover seed-production industry as a case study of farmer-driven innovation. Subterranean clover seed machinery patents (75% of which were patented by farmers) are analysed using conventional innovation frameworks, such as the theory of inventive problem solving (TRIZ), to extract lessons for supporting farmer-driven innovation. The small scale of this industry, compared with mainstream cereal-cropping industries and the isolation of farmers, provides analogous lessons for agriculture in developing countries. Economic drivers are important in enabling farmer innovation and the value proposition for developing new inventions must be clear to justify the time and expense. Farmers are different from firms and their on-farm knowledge and experience can form an essential part of innovation. Drivers of innovation also differ, with farmers less likely to attempt to commercialize inventions. Farmers can also be hesitant to share their inventions, instead holding them as trade secrets in competitive industries. Support and collaboration are needed from government and researchers to assist in commercialization or dissemination of useful innovations and to prevent knowledge from being confined to a localized farmer or region. Advances in agriculture require farmer input in research and development, but the benefits will be greater if farmers are enabled to be drivers of innovation.

            Content

            Author and article information

            Journal
            Journal ID (doi): 10.13169/prometheus.37.4.0353
            Title: Prometheus
            Abbreviated Title: PROM
            Publisher: Pluto Journals
            ISSN (Electronic): 1470-1030
            Publication date Pub: 14 December 2021
            Publication date Collection: 2022
            Volume: 37
            Issue: 4
            Electronic Location Identifier: 37.4.0353
            Affiliations
            [1 ]School of Engineering, The University of Western Australia
            [2 ]Centre for Engineering Innovation: Agriculture and Ecological Restoration, The University of Western Australia
            [3 ]School of Agriculture and Environment, The University of Western Australia
            [4 ]Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia
            Author notes
            Correspondence: Wesley M. Moss ( wesley.moss@ 123456uwa.edu.au )

            Accepting editor: Kevin Scally

            Article
            DOI: 10.13169/prometheus.37.4.0353
            SO-VID: 8e779ffb-7019-4d27-994b-6cfef70432b3
            Copyright ©
            License:

            All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

            History
            Page count
            Pages: 18
            Categories
            Subject: Research papers

            ScienceOpen disciplines: Computer science,Arts,Social & Behavioral Sciences,Law,History,Economics

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