Factors influencing the use of agricultural information by Vietnamese farmers

Abstract

This study examined the factors affecting the use of agricultural information by Vietnamese cereal farmers. A sample size of 245 cereal farmers was selected and surveyed. The participants were classified into small, medium and large cereal farmers. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were applied to analyse the data. The results show that large farmers used information from preferred traders, extension workers, input suppliers, mobile phones and the Internet; smaller farmers employed information from cooperatives, the farmers’ union and television. Large farmers had more access to information on soil preparation, pest/weed control, harvesting, and market and input prices, while small farmers accessed information on inorganic fertilisers. The regression analysis shows that the characteristics of gender, farming experience, participation in training programmes and community-based organisations, access to the Internet and television, information obtained from preferred traders, the Commune Peoples’ Committee, extension workers, cooperatives, the farmers’ union and input suppliers significantly affected farmers’ use of agricultural information (χ2 = 140.784, p < .000).