INTERNET USE AND FACTORS AFFECTING ADOPTION OF INTERNET APPLICATIONS BY SUGARCANE FARM BUSINESSES IN THE KWAZULU-NATAL MIDLANDS

Stuart R.D. Ferrer, D.H. Schroeder and Gerald F. Ortmann

No 19078, 2003 Annual Conference, October 2-3, 2003, Pretoria, South Africa from Agricultural Economic Association of South Africa (AEASA)

Abstract: Regression analysis is used to delineate significant determinants associated with the use of Internet applications by commercial sugarcane farm businesses in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands. Eighty-six percent of farm businesses surveyed had Internet connections and 83 percent used Internet applications (including e-mail, on-line banking and gathering information from the World Wide Web) for business purposes. Results indicate that significant determinants of the range of Internet applications by farm businesses include a) the period of time for which the farm business has been connected to the Internet, b) the principal farm decision-maker's education, time available to spend on the Internet and his or her perceptions of the Internet as a source of information, and c) characteristics of other farm computer users. Activities that may promote use of the Internet applications by farm businesses include the development of policies and software to reduce risks of Internet use, and improving the Internet skills of farmers.

Keywords: Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2003
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