Determinants of agriculture information utilization among farmers: Contextualization of Wilson's information behavior model

Abstract

In modern agriculture, information plays a crucial role in increasing productivity and development. Thus, active utilization of agriculture information can be instrumental for the agriculture development and the quality of life of farmers. Despite Pakistan's agriculture-based economy, literature reports that Pakistani farmers do not utilize the information effectively. Therefore, a study was conducted to explore the determinants of agriculture information utilization among farmers. Data was collected quantitatively through a survey design, and the population included all farmers of District Okara Punjab, Pakistan. The sample was recruited based on convenient sampling technique. Since the questionnaire was developed, therefore its content validity was confirmed through expert scrutiny and the internal consistency and reliability of measures were determined through Cronbach's alpha. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS-22 and path analysis was calculated through the Analysis of Moment Structure (AMOS). Data analysis confirmed that Pakistani farmers were paying average level of active attention towards seeking agricultural information. Whereas path analysis established that the realization of agricultural information needs leads to utilization of agriculture information, and information seeking behavior plays a significant mediating role in this regard.