Information Behaviour of Farmers

Contents

Introduction. 1

Literature Review.. 1

Expert Information. 2

Discussion. 2

Conclusion. 3

Introduction

Various farmers and other organizations have made every attempt to motivate the farming community with data. Farmers have taken an interest in learning about new farming methods to increase agricultural production. In modern agriculture, farmers must have the latest knowledge and technical know-how. In this case, it is an inevitable duty for the data intermediary to assess information needs and define their information finding actions. Therefore, this literature review’s intention is to represent farmers’ current awareness of agriculture, their information needs, behavior quest, contact networks, information preference, and ways and means of improving the situation related to information. Information seeking activity is a broad concept that includes how people express their desires for information, discover, analyze, and use the information needed. According to Phiri et al. (2019), knowledge-seeking behavior requires personal motives for seeking information, the types of information being pursued, and the methods and means of looking for the appropriate information. In recognizing individual’s and organizations’ knowledge-seeking behavior, obstacles that hinder individuals from seeking and obtaining information are also of considerable significance.

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The development of cognition or information relies on people engaging in particular practices such as dairy farming and home management. To stay successful in a developing environment, farmers continually maintain and change their farm enterprises (Ranjan et al., 2019).  This is accomplished by fine-tuning current processes and technology or introducing advancements, such as new technologies, products, or procedures. They seek other varieties of alternatives practices and available technology. The farmer needs to select which invention or innovation suite would have more excellent value and better meet the farm company’s needs. Listiana (2019) indicates that this method is fundamental to the farmer, as it generally has significant consequences for the farm organization. The farmer would also devote time and resources to gathering information before making a significant decision, weighing the options, and choosing the right one to reduce the chance of “doing it wrong.”This approach is referred to as tricky decision-making (Parmar et al. 2019). Knowledge-seeking activity is termed the purposeful hunt for information to guide decision-making (Phiri et al. 2019). The usefulness of diverse sources of knowledge that can encourage farmers to follow better practices must also be measured.

Literature Review

Sources of farm information play a vital role in the life of the farmers. Innovative solutions for the ultimate consumers make them aware of the valuable knowledge, inspire awareness, build curiosity, assist in the cognitive appraisal, and eventually empower them for adoption (Jalali et al. 2020). Besides, the most crucial factor in the decision-making process is knowledge. The importance of knowledge depends specifically on its substance and its timeliness. In this sense, users need to be aware of the different sources of information,its significance, the resources being provided, and the current information structures to access the right information at the right time (Widiyanti et al., 2020). Significant input and factors for agriculture and rural growth were considered knowledge (Jalali et al., 2020). The knowledge that arrives from beyond the immediate region will offer fresh insights and understanding of new possibilities. New thoughts and activities can be stimulated by expertise obtained from the structured study or generated in other areas (Chen & Lu 2020). It is, however, obvious that the proper distribution of knowledge is extremely important for agricultural growth.

The knowledge flow should be understandable, well understood, embraced, and enjoyed by the users, and as simple as possible. In this situation, information sources play a crucial role in getting communications from final consumers about better fish culture practices. To meet their farming needs, farmers typically collect input from multiple sources. The interests of knowledge sources differ from farmer to farmer (Jalali et al., 2020).  However, most extension organisations have limited space and time to perform studies on how various sources of knowledge impact the diffusion of emerging technology that has been improved. The agriculture sector has seen a substantial change in recent years, from conventional agriculture to new systems. The various forms of agricultural information now available are a necessary consideration when considering sources of agricultural information. The principal means of supplying agricultural knowledge will continue to be journals and books, both famous and scholarly(Alagappan & Kumaran 2020).

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Considering the high degree of usage of farmers’ knowledge on specific crop production activities, for example, application of fertilizer, application of pesticide, disease control, and control of weeds.  Phiri, (2019), argues that it is important to analyse the main drivers of the use of accessible and available information by farmers. The use of these forms of knowledge is regulated by farmers’ opportunities to extension facilities and is incredibly important. The scales of the effects do, however, differ in various types of details. For example, providing access to extension programs enhances the possibility of information being used by farmers for fertilizer application, whereas those for pesticide application, disease control, and weed control differ. This indicates that, to a large degree, access to expansion appears to have a considerably higher effect on the usage of pesticide application information than the remaining use of information by farmers.The use of terminology and distance from the source of information greatly impacts the use of information on pesticide and fertilizer applications.

Several restrictions have also been discovered in the literature to counteract the actions of farmers pursuing agricultural knowledge. Inadequate extension agents accompanied by a shortage of information resources were the key restrictions. More extension agents are then recommended to be hired and resourced to extend their activities to resource producers. Farmers face a range of unique difficulties and possible obstacles to looking for knowledge effectively. To a large degree, various farmers and knowledge suppliers have their expert vocabulary and languages; this may be a significant obstacle to contact and comprehension for all farmers Listiana et al. (2019).According to Ranjan et al. (2019), many farmers consider physical sets of materials valuable for successful information retrieval. Such as those available in the public domain can also create barriers to searching for information because they cannot be changed to satisfy individual needs. This is particularly the case for interdisciplinary farmers, who frequently need to look for multiple sub-disciplinary sets of knowledge at the same time. In the Chen & Lu (2020) review, scholars stated that the key challenge that hindered their use of electronic services was a lack of time. This study’s other challenges included a lack of resource knowledge, lack of access to a relevant agricultural research paper, lack of online indexes, lack of library directions, and network connectivity issues.

Expert Information

The expert disclosed that farmers rely on interpersonal data sources. The least trusted their personal knowledge when they acknowledged that if they were to increase the degree of efficiency, they could not count on it. There was a significant knowledge difference between farmers about marketing and irrigation. These two questions are crucial to increase farm incomes and achieve food security. For farmers to be successful at each point of their production, agricultural extension agents must include post-harvest problems in their training package. Most farmers have a high degree of data seeking activity and usage, which means their ability to explore and use increased productivity data. Improving access to extension facilities and hiring more extension workers is vital for the government. Agriculture divisions need to use several sources of knowledge and other techniques to provide appropriate agricultural information to farmers.

Agriculture development must be incorporated into the E-extension network and applied to small farmers. This is achieved by increasing the use of available information by farmers for specific development practices. Such as the use of certified improved crops, the application of pesticides, the application of fertilizers, and the management of weeds and diseases would entail investment in extension services, increasing farmers’ access to education, larger farmers, and higher yields. These variables can expand the search for and use of knowledge to enhance farm productivity. They must have assertive information-seeking behaviour for farmers to increase their agricultural productivity, which would enable them to introduce advanced production technologies. Data seeking behaviour means obtaining the necessary information—sufficient evidence for resolving perceived perceptions and information gaps that exist.

Discussion

In several ways, agricultural knowledge communicates with and affects agricultural production. It will help advice land, livestock, labour, management, and capital decisions. Relevant, usable, and accurate information and expertise will arguably increase agricultural productivity. Agricultural knowledge generation is also most also handled by agricultural organisations that set up information networks to broadcast information to farmers to make informed decisions to use market opportunities and manage current production processes. Therefore, to maintain and develop them, there is a need to consider the functions and usage of specific agricultural information systems.

Wilson’s information behaviour model indicates that information-seeking behaviour occurs due to the need for experienced farmers who make demands on formal or informal sources of information or resources to fulfill their needs, culminating in the success or failure to locate appropriate information. The farmers then use the information available, if successful, and can either entirely or partly fulfill the perceived need or fail to meet the need and have to reiterate to the search process not successful. The model also demonstrates that part of the way used to source for the farmers is through involving other farmers by sharing information. The information shared is viewed as valuable and then c communicated to other farmers and improved their production.

Conclusion

Most of the farmers are willing and prepared to search for and use available data and information to maximize their productivity and profits. In disseminating information, farmers prefer an interpersonal medium of communication. Lack of credit facilities, difficulties accessing information from the internet, high prices of farming equipment, and limited information from extension agents are the main restrictions faced by farmers. These restrictions restrict farmers’ productivity and can endanger the nation’s food security if the pattern is not reviewed. The government should provide farmers with loan facilities and strengthen the Agricultural Development Program’s extension enterprises by recruiting more extension agents to provide farmers with details. This would enable farmers to follow advanced processing methods and raise farmers’ efficiency to achieve food security.

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