International Journal of Technology Management and Information System (IJTMIS) eISSN: 2710-6268 [Vol. 2 No. 4 December 2020]
Journal website: http://myjms.mohe.gov.my/index.php/ijtmis
A PRELIMINARY STUDY ON THE USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FOR LIVESTOCK FEED MANAGEMENT
PRACTISES IN MALAYSIA
Fazwa Mohd Fadzilah1, Shafinah Kamarudin2*, Masnindah Malahubban3, Nurul Nadwa Zulkifili4 and Amelia Natasya Abdul Wahab5
1 2 4 Faculty of Humanities, Management and Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia Bintulu Sarawak Campus,
Bintulu, MALAYSIA
3 Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, Universiti Putra Malaysia Bintulu Sarawak Campus, Bintulu, MALAYSIA
5 Faculty of Information Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, MALAYSIA
*Corresponding author: [email protected] Article Information:
Article history:
Received date : 13 November 2020 Revised date : 25 November 2020 Accepted date : 1 December 2020 Published date : 6 December 2020
To cite this document:
Mohd Fadzilah, F., Kamarudin, S., Malahubban, M., Zulkifili, N., & Abdul Wahab, A. (2020). A PRELIMINARY STUDY ON THE USE OF
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FOR LIVESTOCK FEED MANAGEMENT PRACTISES IN MALAYSIA.
International Journal Of Technology Management And Information System, 2(4), 10-21.
Abstract: The dependency of Malaysian imports on raw meat products in particular, is high. This is closely linked to the challenges of Malaysia's livestock industry, which includes the high prices of livestock. The current industry revolution 4.0 is expected to give an advantage in this sector, especially from the use of ICT in the livestock industry. Nevertheless, studies on farmer's acceptance level towards the use of ICT applications such as mobile applications in livestock feeds are lacking. Therefore, this paper aimed to explore the use of IT among farmers in managing livestock feeds. The methodology of this paper involved several phases, which consist of (1) problems identification, (2) review of literature studies, (3) data collection with participants, and finally (4) preparation of reports. This paper is expected to reveal the current IT adoption by farmers in the livestock industry; specifically, on mobile apps usage, which is in line with industry 4.0. It is also expected that farmers will be more open and flexible towards the use of mobile apps in livestock feeding and develop the capability to challenge themselves in making their own ruminant feed based on knowledge and guidance from experts (i.e., agriculture officer and veterinary officer), especially in terms of livestock feed formulation.
1. Introduction
Through decreasing its dependence on technology from developed countries, the Malaysian livestock industry needs to move towards embracing the Industry 4.0 revolution. It becomes increasingly important that industry players boost the livestock industry of the country to remain relevant and push the livestock industry towards high-income transformation, for both researchers and farmers (Mohammad Nor & Rosali, 2015). The livestock industry reported a production value of RM 14.785 billion in 2018, accounting for 14.86 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) and 1.11 percent of the country's GDP (Department of Veterinary Malaysia, 2017). A Bank Negara Malaysia report, however, stated that Malaysia remained highly dependent on imports, particularly for beef and mutton (Nazli et al., 2018). In addition, the report also claimed that Malaysia had not yet achieved self-sufficiency in this area.
In general, the livestock industry in Malaysia is facing several problems, such as a shortage of quality breeds, high feed prices for livestock, and a shortage of experts and human resources (Leman et al., 2017). The production costs of livestock are a major challenge faced by the livestock industry. The Agricultural Policy 2011-2020 therefore emphasizes increasing the production of livestock (Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry of Malaysia, 2011). This has been accomplished by providing some incentives for farmers and the private sector to grow fodder and use local ingredients in livestock production, intensifying research activities and stressing the need to produce more high-quality animal feed formulations reasonable prices (Veterinary Department of Malaysia, 2017). As a preliminary study, this paper seeks to discover the extent of IT use (i.e., mobile apps) among farmers in managing their livestock feeds.
2. Literature Review
The Malaysian livestock industry is a significant and essential component of the agricultural sector, providing employment opportunities, and producing beneficial animal protein for the population (Aimi Athirah et al., 2019). This sector remains a critical component of Malaysia's economy by contributing 12% to the national GDP and providing jobs to 16% of the population (Tona, 2018).
Keywords: livestock feeds, mobile application, IT usage, ruminant.
2.1 Problem Statements
Details of the identified problems are described as follows.
2.1.1 The Dependency of Malaysian Imports on Raw Meat Products is High
Livestock is an important industry as it provides the largest supply of protein to the population of Malaysia. However, many net food importers struggle to meet domestic demand (Chung et al., 2018). In reality, Malaysia is experiencing a shortage of fresh beef production compared to high market demand. The reasoning behind this is that Malaysia's beef industry remained stagnant due to low productivity, and private sectors were found uninterested in investing in this field (Abdurofi et al., 2017). As a result, Malaysia imported between 75% and 80% of beef from different parts of the world to appease domestic demands (Mahamood et al., 2016). While Malaysia can produce pork, poultry, meat, and eggs, the country still needs to import milk, beef, and mutton (Abdullah et al., 2020). The imports of beef and mutton rise annually, leading to an increase in the trade balance of food products. According to statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry (2011), the market deficit for livestock production in Malaysia was 3,568,000 metric tonnes in 2010. The deficit is expected to increase in 2020, as production is estimated to only hit 11,175,000 metric tonnes compared to livestock demand of up to 14,790,000 metric tonnes. The deficit estimate for 2020 will be 3,615,000 metrics tonnes (Abdurofi et al., 2017). This clearly shows that Malaysia will be highly dependent on imports of livestock products, in particular beef and mutton, from various countries, such as Australia, New Zealand, India, and Thailand, to ensure that the supply of meat meets the demand of the population of Malaysia (Aimi Athirah et al., 2019).
2.1.2 Lack of Quality Breeds
The current livestock industry in Malaysia is facing a lack of quality breeds, especially beef and beef production (Department of Veterinary Malaysia, 2017). The livestock research and development (R&D) program aims at promoting the production of high-quality animals and nutritious food products to be made available at reasonable prices. As land resources become increasingly scarce as a result of rapid industrialisation, R&D efforts are geared towards maximizing land use and thus maintaining a harmonious relationship with nature. For ruminant animals, an integrated production system with planting crops is recommended for maximum utilization of resources (Jelan & Sumarmono, 2019). For example, Brakmas cattle, a composite breed developed by MARDI of Kedah-Kelantan cattle and Brahman bull imported from the United States of America, are well adapted to the plantation environment (Mohammad Nor & Rosali, 2015). Among the government agencies and higher education institutions in Malaysia involved in livestock R&D are MARDI (Production Research), the Department of Veterinary Services through the Veterinary Research Institute (Disease Research), Universiti Putra Malaysia (production and disease research) and Universiti Malaya (production research). R&D in the field of livestock comprises food, animal husbandry, animal welfare, livestock production and waste management.
It is expected that R&D will produce innovations that will improve farm productivity, higher quality breeds, healthier animals and an effective production systems. However, the technology built must be suitable and affordable for farmers. The use of technology applications will contribute to a sustainable, modern livestock industry that would support farmers from the get go.
2.1.3 High Prices of Livestock Feeds
A major inhibiting factor for the expansion of this industry is the cost of livestock feed. In general, the cost of livestock feed accounts for more than 25% of the overall cost of production. The cost of livestock feed in percentage to the overall cost of production is between 5.4% and 19.3% for cattle, 22.9% to 31.6% for goats and 58.9% to 71.2% for poultry (Loh, 2002). The key factor leading to the higher cost of livestock feed is the supply of raw materials from other countries.
Maize is one of the key ingredients for animal feed and is imported from Thailand, Argentina and Brazil (Nazli et al., 2018).
Price instability is also levied on the price of imported feed ingredients (Aimi Athirah et al., 2019).
Furthermore, alternative feed formulations are poorly produced using locally available raw materials (Jelan & Sumarmono, 2019). It has been proposed that the issue of the import bill could be solved by increasing the availability of major feedstuffs or entirely using agricultural waste.
Domestic grain production for animal feeds, however is not feasible (Ministry of Agriculture and Agro Based Industry Malaysia, 2011); this is due to several factors, such as low returns, lack of arable land and high cultivation costs. Moreover, due to its low palatability and nutrient content, the use of agricultural waste is not encouraged (Chung et al., 2018).
Based on all the listed problems mentioned above, the current study aims to answer the following research questions listed as follows:
(a) What are the current livestock feed management practices in Malaysia?
(b) To what extent is the use of IT (i.e., mobile apps) among farmers in Malaysia for managing their livestock feeds?
Thus, there were two objectives outlined in this paper:
1. To identify the current livestock feed management practices in Malaysia by farmers.
2. To explore the extent of IT use (i.e., mobile apps) among farmers in Malaysia in managing livestock feeds.
3. Methodology
As mentioned in the previous section, the main aim of this study is to identify the current livestock feed management practices in Malaysia and also to explore the extent of use of IT especially mobile apps among farmers in Malaysia, in regards to how they manage their livestock feeds. In general, this study was carried out using a qualitative descriptive approach. All participants involved in this study had given their informed consent for inclusion before participating in the study. Participants voluntarily enrolled, and consent was obtained. Four out of five (4/5) veterinary officers approached via phone call for the expert's category agreed to participate in the data collection. For the farmer's category, about 20 invitations were sent out, but only six people (6/20) agreed to be part of the study. Nonetheless, this study has followed the following steps to achieve its goals. The steps are illustrated in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Step-by-step phases involved in this study
Phase 1 involves identifying issues and problems that have triggered the research to be carried up in this study. Therefore, research objectives and research questions were developed to find the solution to the issues raised in the study.
After that, in phase 2, a rigorous literature search was carried out to find the related research on livestock feed management practice and the IT use amongst livestock farmers. All relevant literature was consolidated and analysed. Several criteria were proposed from previous studies related to this topic and were used in developing questionnaires for the next phase; data collection with participants of the study.
In phase 3, an online survey was conducted with the participants of this study, which consisted of veterinary officers, as the expert group, and farmers as the main stakeholder. These two groups of participants are the main stakeholders in this study. Therefore, two sets of questionnaires were designed based on this study's objectives and the different groups of participants. The questions were tailored specifically according to the roles of respondents in the livestock field. Subsequently, an invitation email was sent to the selected participants asking them for their consent to participate in this study. Following this, the online survey form consisting of all the questionnaires was sent immediately after receiving the participants' acceptance notice. Participants were given about two days to answer the survey form and they were required to answer it based on their expertise and experience in managing livestock feeds. The online survey form consists of three main sections, which are (a) demographic of participants, (b) current practice in managing livestock feeds, and last but not least, (c) ICT ownership and facilities.
Lastly, in phase 4, once the authors have received all the participants' answers, a report is prepared based on the findings and were summarized in this paper.
3.1 Participants Selection Phase 1:
Problems Identification
Phase 2:
Review of Literature
Studies
Phase 3: Data Collection
with Participants
Phase 4:
Preparation of Reports
Basically, participants involved in this study are divided into two main categories which are the experts (veterinary officer) and the users (farmers). This is crucial to ensure the involvement of all parties who plays an important role in the field of livestock feed in Malaysia. The farmer's demographic information is shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Farmer’s Demographic Information (n=6)
Demographic Information Frequency Percentage (%)
Gender
• Male
• Female
5 1
83.3 16.7 Organization
• Dyas Farm
• Personnel
• Dackmer Farm
• Penternakan Lembu Sado
1 3 1 1
16.7 50 16.7 16.7 Range of Age
• 20 – 30 years old
• 31 – 40 years old
• 41 – 50 years old
• 51 – 60 years old
4 0 1 1
66.7 0 16.7 16.7 Educational Level
• Upper Secondary School
• STPM/Certificate/Diploma
• Bachelor Degree
2 2 2
33.3 33.3 33.3 Years of Experience in Livestock
• Less than 2 years
• 2 years – 5 years
• > 5 years – 10 years
• > 10 years and above
1 0 2 3
16.7 0 33.3
50 Role
• Farmer 6 100
Specialization in Livestock
• Cow
• Goat
• Chicken
• Quail
• Deer
• Ostrich
6 3 1 1 1 1
100 50 16.7 16.7 16.7 16.7
Based on Table 1, a total of six farmers participated in the study. There were five (5/6) male farmers and one (1/6) female farmers in the group of 20-30 age group (4/6), 41-50 age group (1/6), and 51-60 age group (1/6). Most of the participants (4/6) had tertiary education and above. Most (5/6) farmers had more than five years of experience in husbandry.
In this study, veterinary officers' involvement was also important because they are specialists in husbandry. They were selected based on their expertise and competency in this study. The expert's demographic information is shown in Table 2.
Table 2: Veterinary Officer's Demographic Information (n=4)
Demographic Information Frequency Percentage (%)
Gender
• Male
• Female
3 1
75 25 Organization
• Universiti Putra Malaysia
• Department of Veterinary Services
1 3
25 75
Range of Age
• 20 – 30 years old 4 100
Educational Level
• Bachelor Degree
• Master/PhD
3 1
75 25 Years of Experience in Livestock
• 2 years – 5 years
• > 5 years – 10 years
3 1
75 25 Position
• Veterinary Officer 4 100
Specialization in Livestock
• Cow
• Goat
• Chicken
• Exotic
3 2 1 1
75 50 25 25
4. Results and Discussion
This study's main purpose is to identify the current livestock feeds management practices in Malaysia experienced by farmers and explore the extent use of IT among farmers such as mobile apps in managing their livestock feeds. Thus, an online survey has been conducted with the focal person in this study. Through this survey, it is hoped that the present study could gain a clear picture of the actual situation in Malaysia in terms of issues related to livestock feeds management and IT usage in managing livestock feeds at their farm (i.e., mobile apps). Based on the survey findings, the data can be summarized into several items that had been segregated accordingly to each issue. Each item represents issues and aspects that this paper is focusing on. The data can be divided into two main areas: (1) Livestock Feed Management Practices and (2) ICT Ownership
and Facilities. The summary of the findings was recorded and finalized in the following table (Table 3).
Table 3: Preliminary Survey Results
No Item
Group of Participants Farmer
(n=6)
Veterinary Officer (n=4) Question Percentage
(%)
Question Percentage (%) 1
(a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f)
Challenges in Managing Livestock Feeds High prices of livestock feed.
Livestock production cost is high.
Difficulties in producing livestock feeds.
Lack of knowledge in producing livestock feeds.
Lack of training in livestock feeds production.
Difficult in obtaining advice from experts in livestock areas.
Q1
83.3 33.3 16.7 50 50 16.7
Q1
100 75 50 75 75 100 2
(a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f)
Frequency Seeking Advice from Experts in Livestock
Once a week Once in 2 weeks Once a month Once in 6 months Once a year Never
Q2
16.7 0 16.7 33.3 16.7 16.7
Q2
25 0 0 0 75
0 3
(a) (b)
Livestock Advisory Services Agencies Pertubuhan Peladang Kawasan (LPPK) Department of Veterinary Services
Q3 16.7
83.3
- -
4
(a) (b)
Current Practice in Livestock Feeds Management
Preparing own livestock feeds.
Buy livestock feeds available in market.
Q4 Q5
66.7 33.4
Q3 & Q5 Q4
25 75 5
(a) (b)
Livestock Feeds Ratio Formulation Resources Obtain exposure on preparing livestock feeds ratio based on correct formulation.
Livestock feeds ratio formulation sources.
Q11 Q12
83.3 100
Q6 Q7
100 100 6
(a)
Expenditure on Livestock Feeds
High cost spends every month on buying the ready-made livestock feeds in the market.
Q6 100 Q10 100
7 (a) (b)
Nutritious Livestock Feeds
Livestock gain nutritious and adequate nutritional feeds.
Livestock suffers from growth and health problems.
Q7 Q8 & Q9
83.3 16.7
- -
8
(a)
Potential in Producing High-Quality Livestock Feeds
- - Q8 50
No Item
Group of Participants Farmer
(n=6)
Veterinary Officer (n=4) Question Percentage
(%)
Question Percentage (%)
(b)
Small-holder farm and farmers are able to produce their own-made high-quality livestock feeds.
High quality livestock feeds can be produced based on correct formulation nutrients calculations.
-
-
Q9 100
9 (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h)
ICT Ownership and Facilities Farmer owns a smartphone.
Farmer's livestock farm location has access to a mobile phone network.
Farmer's livestock farm location has internet access.
Farmer realized the existence of livestock feeds mobile apps.
The farmer has never downloaded livestock feeds mobile apps.
The farmer has never used any livestock feeds mobile apps.
The farmer agreed with the idea of livestock feeds mobile apps usage in Malaysia.
The usage of livestock feeds mobile apps will assist farmers in managing their livestock feeds.
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7
100 100 100 50 100 100 100
Q3
Q6 Q4 & Q5
- - - 50
- - 100 100
4.1 Challenges in Managing Livestock Feeds
In order to explore the real circumstances faced by the farmers in managing livestock feeds, the participants were asked about the challenges that they encountered in managing livestock feeds throughout their daily routine at the farm. Based on Table 3, most of the farmers (83.3%) agreed that the price of livestock feeds available in the market are high. This was also supported by veterinary officers of whom, all (100%) agreed on this point. Thus, this can be used as supporting evidence of the particular issue which was also highlighted in previous literature. The survey also found that half of the farmers (50%) agreed that they have limited knowledge in livestock feeds production and rarely went for training to gain more valuable info on the exact way to produce livestock feeds based on raw materials available in Malaysia. However, for the veterinary officers, all of them (100%) are more likely to agree with the statement of "Difficulties in obtaining advice from experts in livestock areas". As experts in this area of study, this statement is likely to be closely related to their personal experience with farmers. Farmers rarely meet them to seek advice pertaining livestock feeds at the farm.
4.2 Current Practice in Managing Livestock Feeds
The survey findings presented in Table 3 revealed that most of the farmers prefer to prepare their own feeds for the livestock. About 66.7% of them stated that they prepare their own livestock feeds while 33.4% preferred to buy the ready-made livestock feeds that are available in the nearest local store or market. However, it can be seen that the answer from farmers disagrees with the answer received from the experts. Meanwhile, about 75% of the veterinary officers said that the
farmers are more likely to buy the ready-made livestock feeds as compared to preparing them from scratch.
4.3 Livestock Feeds Ratio Formulation
Most of the farmers (83.3%) agreed that they had obtained exposure on how to prepare the livestock feeds ratio based on correct formulation. The veterinary officers (100%) agreed that they had given the correct formulation of livestock feeds among farmers. All of the farmers (100%) also mentioned that they have referred to the right source for livestock formulation ration.
4.4 Expenditure Spent on Livestock Feeds
As for the cost, both farmers and veterinary officers (100%) agreed that a high cost was spent every month buying the ready-made livestock feeds in the market. This statement strongly supports the previous literature studies saying that the monthly cost paid to buy livestock feeds was high.
4.5 Potential in Producing High-Quality Livestock Feeds
All veterinary officers agreed that high-quality livestock feeds could be produced based on correct formulation nutrients calculations. Small-holder farms and farmers can produce their own-made high-quality livestock feeds.
4.6 ICT Ownership and Facilities
Based on Table 3, it can be concluded that most of the farmers are not familiar with the livestock feeds mobile apps. About 50% of them realized mobile apps' existence in livestock feeds, but none have downloaded it. This may be due to the reliability of the apps. The farmers realized the existence of particular apps that may help them manage livestock feeds. Still, they are in doubt whether that particular apps will benefit them in the right way. In general, their livestock farm does have access to mobile networks and the internet, indicating a good sign of ICT facilities at the farm areas. However, the findings presented might be biased since most of the participant's farm location was located around the city as compared to a farm situated in the rural areas, where internet access can be erratic or non existent altogether.
5. Conclusion
The conclusions of the current study cannot be applied to all farmers in Malaysia. The small sample size of the current study was due to the limited number of farmers who willingly agreed to engage in the study. There is a need for follow up studies with more detailed and varied samples to validate the current results. Nevertheless, for more detailed future studies, in-depth insights produced from this study will be useful to formulate testable hypotheses. Further studies aimed at developing an intention model to measure the adoption of livestock feed mobile apps can help identify gaps to improve the livestock industry and create better daily routine practices for farmers in Malaysia.
6. Acknowledgement
This work is supported by the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education and the research grant from Universiti Putra Malaysia (Grant no.: GP-IPM/2018/9644900). The authors wish to acknowledge their sincere gratitude to anonymous experts and participants involved in this study.
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