FARMERS’ EXPERIENCE IN ADOPTION AND USAGE OF ICT SOLUTIONS FOR AGRICULTURE IN THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA

The adoption of new of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in farming activities becoming crucial for developing countries in order to meet the challenges of rapidly growing populations, urbanization and arable agricultural land declination. Because of it, each farmers’ organization or farmer has to concern their agricultural products and services more towards modernized and ICT related routine. The attempt has been made to analyze the reaction of the Macedonian farmers towards ICTs as a source of reliable and timely information about e-banking, online purchasing/selling, marketing, input and output optimization, increased revenue, remote farm management process etc. Semi-structured questionnaire was used for interviewing 132 semi-experienced and experienced farmers that use ICTs as sample for the research. The data were analyzed using appropriate statistics tool like correlation and Rank Based Quotient (RBQ). The findings showed that farmers stressed the cost of ICTs, lack of training, trust level in the government institutions, and lack of ICT infrastructure are thresholds for ICTs adoption and use in agriculture. This research contributes to understand the adoption and use of ICT, identify the constraints associated with ICT use and propose recommendations towards the improvement of ICTs for agriculture in the Republic of North Macedonia.

信息与通信技术（Information and Communication Technologies，ICTs）在农业生产中的应用，对于发展中国家应对人口快速增长、城市化进程加快以及可耕地面积缩减带来的多重挑战而言，愈发至关重要。正因如此，各类农业合作社与农户均需推动其农业生产与服务向现代化、ICT化的日常运营模式转型。本研究旨在分析马其顿农户对ICTs的接受态度，此类技术可为农户提供电子银行、线上购销、市场营销、投入产出优化、增收以及远程农场管理流程等可靠及时的信息支持。本次研究以132名使用ICTs的半熟练与资深农户为调研样本，采用半结构化问卷开展访谈，并运用相关分析、基于秩的商数（Rank Based Quotient，RBQ）等适配的统计工具对数据进行分析。研究结果显示，农户普遍认为ICTs使用成本高昂、培训资源匮乏、对政府机构信任度不足以及ICT基础设施不完善，是制约农业领域ICTs采纳与应用的核心瓶颈。本研究有助于深化对农业领域ICTs采纳与应用的认知，明确ICTs使用面临的各类制约因素，并为北马其顿共和国优化农业用ICTs提出针对性改进建议。