Use of digital media, innovation capabilities and results of soybean farmers in PR and MATOPIBA

Abstract

Brazil is one of the most relevant agriculture producers in the world, been a fundamental food supplier. The crop that stands out is soybean, in which the country is the first producer and exporter, with a higher level of yield and a production system based on locally developed science. Soybean cultivation uses intensive technology and innovation and under the light of digital transformation we have been through, is important to understand how soybean growers are using digital media at their private matters, its relation with the use at farms, as the influence of digital at capacities of innovation and at the generation of competitive advantages on agriculture business. 55 growers were interviewed using electronic and telephonic questionnaire, of two important soybean regions, the Center and North of Parana state and MATOPIBA region. The results were analysed using Factorial Analysis and Structural Equations, in order to confirm the hypotheses or constructs. The use of digital media in properties had a significative and positive influence on the capacity for innovation, as well as, on the absorption of innovation. Additionally, the capacity for innovation had also a positive effect on the generation of competitive advantages, but the influence of the absorption of innovation on competitive advantages has not been proven. It is important to improve and push the use of digital media for the agricultural sector and other studies will be necessary, to generate new information and accelerate the digital transformation of the field.