Adopt to adapt? Farmers' varietal innovation adoption in a context of climate change. The case of sunflower hybrids in France

In a context of adaptation to climate changes, the recent development of hybrids with environmental traits, such as drought-tolerance, rejuvenates the question of farmers' adoption of varietal innovation. In this article, due to the limitations of econometric models to investigate farmers' adoption of varietal innovation from an institutionalist perspective, we implement a qualitative design based on semi-structured interviews. The purposive sample of stakeholders involved in several links of the sunflower supply chain is selected in Nouvelle Aquitaine and Occitanie. the two regions leading the French sunflower production. Results show the embeddedness of farmers' decisions in economic, social, and environmental constraints. Moreover, perceptions and concerns diverge between farmers, distributors, and seed companies. Particularly, seed companies' optimistic vision about the future of sunflower production is not shared by farmers and distributors. On the one hand, farmers expect genetics to remedy their technical issues, while distributors are concerned by their economic viability. On the other hand, seed companies focus on the Central and Eastern European markets and capitalize on the quality of the French environment for research and development. (c) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.