Rural Communication
Farmers in Vietnam, Indonesia, and Myanmar adopt digital technologies based on performance, ease of use, and peer review
While digital technologies could enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of farming activities, the Grow Asia report in 2019 still showed that farmers’ adoption of digital technologies remained low across Southeast Asia. In their interviews with 100 farmers from Vietnam, Indonesia, and Myanmar, the Grow Asia team found that farmers would only decide to adopt a technology based on performance, ease of use, and reviews from fellow farmers. Farmers also moved
Family Farming
Age and level of education, determinants of social media use among farmers in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Agriculturists and extension workers have been exploring how to harness the use of social media for agriculture. However, social media adoption among farmers in developing nations remains to be a challenge. A survey among 365 farmers in Chiang Mai, Thailand, revealed that only 66 respondents had adopted social media. Furthermore, only 8 out of the 66 respondents relied on social media for agriculture-related information. For 25 out of the 66,
In the Spotlight
Regional Expert Consultation Workshops on Transforming towards Resilient, Sustainable, Profitable, and Inclusive Rice-Based Agri-Food Systems in Asia
Rice ratooning is not a new practice with farmers. It has been successfully adopted in many countries including China, India, Japan, Philippines, Thailand, USA, Brazil, and Colombia. However, the adoption of traditional ratoon rice with the first crop harvested manually has been limited due to labor shortage as well as low and unstable grain yield in ratoon crop. The challenge, therefore, is to develop rice ratooning technology with the main
ComDevAsia in Action
Asia–Pacific region’s vulnerability to COVID-19 pandemic speeds up adoption of digital tech in agrifood systems
Agrifood systems in the Asia-Pacific region have been particularly vulnerable to shocks from the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenges, quickening the adoption of digital technologies, QU Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said. Qu was speaking in a special event entitled “Innovation, Science and Digitalization: Transforming agrifood systems in Asia and the Pacific region” at FAO’s 36th Asia Pacific Regional Conference. He said the systems