Adoption of Sustainable Agricultural Practices Among Smallholder Dairy Farmers in Malaysia: Contributing Factors and Smart Farming Prospects

Authors

  • Thanuja Rathakrishnan Faculty of Business and Law, Taylor’s Business School, Taylor’s University, Lakeside Campus, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia 
  • Chubashini Suntharalingamb Center for Agriculture and Biosciences International, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
  • Lim Yi Shern Ministry of Education Malaysia, 62604 Putrajaya, Malaysia
  • Loong Shih Keng Tropical Infectious Diseases Research and Education Centre, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • Lee Hai Yen Tropical Infectious Diseases Research and Education Centre, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • Tee Keng Kok MBA Centre, Xiamen University-Malaysia, 43900 Sepang, Malaysia
  • Sathis Sri Thanarajoo Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
  • Siva K Balasundram Department of Agriculture Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24191/jsst.v2i2.34

Keywords:

Theory of Planned Behaviour, Smallholder, Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Model, Smart dairy farming, Malaysia

Abstract

Adoption of Sustainable Agricultural Practices (SAP) among smallholder dairy farmers in developing countries, especially within the Asia Pacific region remains low. This is probably attributable to the fact that psycho-social factors are not considered during the adoption process. The current study was carried out in order to increase the adoption of SAP in Malaysia, by investigating psycho-social factors among dairy farmers. It adopted the enhanced Theory of Planned Behaviour to investigate smallholder dairy farmers’ intention to uptake SAP in Malaysia. This study applied the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) to model how psycho-social factors influence farmers’ SAP adoption decisions.  A key finding of this study was that farmers who are equipped with the right attitude and belief have the ability to adopt SAP and are inclined to adopt SAP in their farms. Hence, it was proposed that a holistic approach is recommended towards formulating policies and drawing intervention strategies that focus on the farmers’ needs and abilities.  This would motivate farmers to make choices that would lead to a change of behaviour towards adopting SAP. Additionally, the producer-led approach adopted in this study provided insights into smallholder dairy farmers’ beliefs and behaviour. 

Published

2022-09-30