International Journal of Technology Management and Information System (IJTMIS) eISSN: 2710-6268 [Vol. 2 No. 2 June 2020]
Journal website: http://myjms.mohe.gov.my/index.php/ijtmis
THE ROLES OF ICT FOR KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN AGRICULTURE
Wan Mohd Rusydan Wan Ibrahim1*, Norzaidi Mohd Daud2 and Roshidi Hassan3
1 3 Arshad Ayub Graduate Business School, Universiti Teknologi Mara, Shah Alam, MALAYSIA
2 UiTM Press, Universiti Teknologi Mara, Shah Alam, MALAYSIA
*Corresponding author: [email protected]
Article Information:
Article history:
Received date : 26 December 2019 Revised date : 25 April 2020 Accepted date : 7 May 2020 Published date : 12 May 2020
To cite this document:
Wan Ibrahim, W., Mohd Daud, N., &
Hassan, R. (2020). THE ROLES OF ICT FOR KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN AGRICULTURE. International Journal Of Technology Management And Information System, 2(2), 1-13.
Abstract: Knowledge Management (KM) concept started in 1997. It emerged from the academic world and become a burning issue in business and technology leaders. The idea of KM is to manage knowledge in an organization so that it will be valuable and contributed to the organization’s strategic requirement. KM practice in an organization consists of activities such as processes, strategies, and systems that sustain and enhance the storage, assessment, sharing, refinement, and creation of knowledge. KM also must be aligned to the organization’s goals and strategies which creates value for the organization. Agriculture considered as one of the oldest jobs in the world. No matter how modern we are, humans have to rely on food to survive and this is the role of agriculture industry which can’t be replace by any industry in the world. KM practice in agriculture were in the form of agriculture extensions. In agriculture extension, the role of extension agents is very critical as they connect government agricultural agencies and farmers or agriculture entrepreneurs. In Malaysia, agriculture extensions for food crops were done by agencies such as Department of Agriculture (DOA), Malaysian Agriculture Research and Development Institute (MARDI), Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), Malaysian Pineapple Industry Board (MPIB), Malaysian
1. Introduction
Farmer can be considered one of the oldest job in human history. The importance of agriculture sector, past and present cannot be neglected as it supplies the third most important thing for human to survive after air and water, which is the food. Growth of world population is projected to around 8.3 billion in 2030 (FAO, 2019). This huge growth of human population means there’s urgency in agriculture sector development to fulfil the food supply in the future. Based on the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (FAO, 2015), there’re 17 goals being set (Figure 1) and goals number 2 i.e. ‘zero hunger’ were specifically for agriculture sector. To reach this goal of ‘zero hunger’ the production of food through agriculture sector is very critical. Roles of government agencies in developing agriculture sector and activities rely on the efficiency of their service in reaching the target group i.e. farmers and agriculture entrepreneurs.
Figure 1: Sustainable Development Goals (source: United Nations, 2019)
organizations goals in Malaysian agricultural development. In this era of industry 4.0, the role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is very important. Advancement of ICT especially in mobile device and internet connectivity can help the KM in agriculture sector. This paper will discuss the how ICT can contribute to the KM activities in agriculture which is agriculture extensions and examples of initiatives that being practiced by few government agriculture agencies in Malaysia.
Keywords: ICT, Knowledge Management, Agriculture Extension.
In Malaysia, the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry (MOA) and Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) are responsible in development and security of agriculture sector for food production. List of agencies involved under both ministries are as in Table 1. Transfer of latest knowledge and technology of agriculture from government agencies to their target group namely farmers, agriculture entrepreneurs, practitioners, and researchers, etc. are done through agriculture extension activities. This paper will discuss how the activities in agriculture extension aligned with concept of knowledge management and how Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can facilitate the process of knowledge transfer in agriculture in focus of food crops sector.
2. Literature Review 2.1 Agriculture Extensions
According to Jones and Garforth (1996), the word "extension" derives from an educational development in England during the second half of the nineteenth century, around 1850. During 1867, lecturers in Oxford and Cambridge universities serve the educational needs to society in the urban area through “university extension” service which cover mostly on literacy and social topics.
It was on 1890s where agricultural subjects also being covered in rural areas by peripatetic lecturers (Jones, 1994). Fast forward, this extension services were currently known as agriculture extension. There’re two main goals in agriculture extensions which are: 1) technology transfer, and 2) human resource development, where the latter is much broader (Nagel, 1996). Rivera &
Gustafson (1991) suggested that changes of agriculture extension in the future will come from four main direction i.e. economy and policy climate, social context in rural areas, system knowledge, and information technology.
Table 1: List of Malaysia’s government departments and agencies responsible for agriculture and food sector (source: MOA, 2019; MPI, 2019)
Departments / Agencies Ministry
Department of Agriculture (DOA) MOA
Department of Veterinary Service (DVS) MOA
Department of Fisheries (DOF) MOA
Malaysian Quarantine and Inspection Service Department (MAQIS) MOA Malaysian Agriculture Research and Development Institute (MARDI) MOA
Farmers’ Organization Authority (LPP) MOA
Federal Agriculture Marketing Agency (FAMA) MOA
Muda Agriculture Development Authority (MADA) MOA
Kemubu Agriculture Development Authority (KADA) MOA
Malaysian Pineapple Industrial Board (LPNM) MOA
Fisheries Development Authority of Malaysia (LKIM) MOA
Agrobank MOA
Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) MPI
Malaysian Palm Oil Certification Council (MPOCC) MPI
Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) MPI
Malaysian Cocoa Board (LKM) MPI
Malaysian Pepper Board (MPB) MPI
2.2. Agriculture Extensions in Malaysia
Department on Agriculture (DOA) is one of the oldest government agencies in Malaysia. It was formed on 1905 during British colonial era to implement government agricultural policies. In 1926, Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia (Now, Malaysian Rubber Board) was formed to take over the function in rubber development from DOA. After Malaysia gained independence in 1957, more agriculture agencies has being formed such as Federal Agriculture Marketing Agency (FAMA) on 1965, Malaysian Agriculture Research and Development Institute (MARDI) on 1970, and Farmers’ Organization Authority (LPP) on 1973. This results in reorganization of DOA’s function to focus on extension services for farmers as their core business. The history of DOA’s agriculture extension services were divided into 3 eras i.e. 1905 to 1959, 1960 to 1994, and 1995 onwards (Table 2). Current practice of agriculture extension services is illustrated in Figure 2. The success of agriculture extension in Malaysia are reflected by the self-sufficiency ratio (SSR) where reports from Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) shows that in 2017, 16 from 33 selected agriculture commodities (including livestock and fisheries), recorded SSR of more than 100%
(Figure 3). Crop commodities that showed SSR of more than 100% are starfruit, papaya, jackfruit, sweet corn, pineapple, banana, watermelon, spinach, lady’s finger, long bean, brinjal, cucumber, and tomato.
2.3. Knowledge Management and Agriculture Extension
Knowledge Management (KM) concept started in 1997. It emerged from the academic world and become a burning issue in business and technology leaders. (Frappaolo, 2006). The idea of KM is to manage knowledge in an organization so that it will be valuable and contributed to the organization’s strategic requirement. KM practice in an organization consists of activities such as processes, strategies, and systems that sustain and enhance the storage, assessment, sharing, refinement, and creation of knowledge (Hajric, 2018). KM also must be aligned to the organization’s goals and strategies which creates value for the organization. Based on the concept, definition and goals of KM, it is very clear that agriculture extensions can be included as knowledge management practice in agriculture sector. There’s another argument on the similarity between KM and agriculture extension. Zecca and Rastorgueva (2017) argues that although “both these issues have the similar objectives; however, extension implies counselling of farmers, delivering information to them; whilst knowledge management is related to an arrangement of information provision within an enterprise, it may include extension as an external source of information”. However, Rivera and Sulaiman (2009) stated that extension provides an important service component in the knowledge system, as well as in the agricultural development process.
Furthermore, Rivera and Sulaiman (2009) also highlighted the main concern for extension in the context of ‘agricultural innovation systems’ (AIS) is to promote innovation, so that new knowledge is applied and used. This argument seems to support the opinion that agriculture extension is the KM for agriculture sector.
Table 2: History of DOA’s agriculture extension services
Era Year Main Activities
1905 to 1959 1940 Propaganda and educational approach (school visit, agriculture roadshow and visit, and usage of radio shows
1950s Extension visits to individuals/families and development of states Agriculture Training Institutes
1959 Group approach through farmers’ associations
1960 to 1994 1977 ‘Visit and training’ system (2L – Latihan & lawatan) approach through farmers’ groups
1980s Formation of ‘women extension groups’ (KPW – Kumpulan pengembangan wanita) to promote processing of agro-based products 1984 Extension approach through group projects
1995 onwards 90s to 2006 • Focus on DOA’s projects (Permanent Food Production Park, Development of Abandoned Land, Satellite Farms, 10 tonne/ha Paddy, Nucleus Orchard, Integrated Paddy Field); Youth Agriculture Entrepreneurs Development Program; Agro-based Industry Development Program; and Farm Group Projects.
• Till 2006, a total of 4,145 group projects were formed involving 191,844 ha of land and 125,884 participants.
• A total of 996 KPWs was formed involving 2,336 projects and 24,414 participants
2008 Techno-Agriculture Extension System (SPTP – Sistem Pengembangan Teknologi Pertanian) were introduced to empower the farmers through structural transfer of suitable knowledge and technology, such as crop calendars so that they can incorporate Good Agriculture Practices, to increase their income
Figure 2: Flowchart of DOA’s extension service (source: Department of Agriculture, 2019)
Figure 3: Self-sufficiency ratios of agriculture commodities in 2017 (source: Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2018)
2.4. ICT in Agriculture Knowledge Management
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) plays very important role in this era of Industry 4.0. Advancement of ICT especially in mobile device and internet connectivity can help the KM in agriculture sector. Traditionally, face to face interaction between extension agents or officers and their target groups i.e. the farmers and agriculture entrepreneurs are needed when conducting their roles in transferring knowledge and technology. Zecca and Rastorgueva (2017) suggested sustainable knowledge management model which include both human and technology- oriented approach (Figure 4), which means that both approaches complement each other. FAO together with International Telecommunication Union (ITU) listed roles of ICT in agriculture sector (Figure 5). Specifically, for agriculture extension and advisory service, ICT bridge the gap between agriculture researchers, extension agents, and farmers, thereby enhancing agricultural production (FAO & ITU, 2016). Malaysia can be considered having good internet infrastructure with more than 2.6 million fixed-broadband subscriptions and another 39 million of mobile- broadband subscribers (Figure 6). For broadband penetration rate, most states in Malaysia scores more than 100 per cent with the lowest figure is Sabah state i.e. 80.6% (Figure 7). This facts and figures prove that usage of ICT and mobile device with internet connection are suitable to be applied in Malaysia for agriculture knowledge management. Kamarulzaman and Mohayidin (2011) stated that rapid information technology development enabled firms in manufacturing, agro-based and food industries in Malaysia to improve their knowledge management system initiatives. This is to ensure that they can produce more value-added products. In government sector, example of this concept is the development of mobile application for farmers as practiced by DOA and MARDI. DOA has launched two mobile apps, ‘AgriMaths’ and ‘100 Tip Tanaman’
(Figure 8). These two mobile apps were developed on 2017 under ‘e-Agriculture Extension’
project. This is an initiative of DOA to transform the extension services through mobile platform for fast and easy access, anywhere, and everywhere. ‘AgriMaths’ or agriculture mathematics is an application that contain information on calculation for crop production, fertilizer and pesticide formulation, and cash flow. ‘100 Tip Tanaman’ on the other hand provide 100 simple tips and tricks on agriculture.
Figure 4: Sustainable model of knowledge management (source: Zecca and Rastorgueva, 2017)
Figure 5: Role of ICT in agriculture (source: FAO & ITU, 2016)
MARDI also produce mobile apps as part of their knowledge management practice (Asmuni et.al, 2017). There’re 16 mobile apps containing information on crops and livestock (Figure 9).
Figure 6: Statistics of Malaysian broadband subscribers for 2nd quarter of 2019 (source: Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, 2019)
Figure 7: Percentage of broadband penetration rate per 100 inhabitants by states in 2019 (source: Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, 2019)
Figure 8: Mobile apps developed by DOA (source: Department of Agriculture, 2017)
Figure 9: Mobile apps developed by MARDI (source: Asmuni et.al, 2017)
3. Conclusion
Agriculture remain as a very important industry not only in Malaysia but also worldwide. The role of producing food for human population makes agriculture sector relevance now and then. It is important to develop and modernize agriculture sector so that it become more efficient, more productive and conserve the environment which is aligned to UN’s sustainable development goals.
This is where knowledge management in the forms of agriculture extension play their role, so that government aspiration in promoting sustainable agriculture as well as introducing new technique and technology will reach the target group effectively. Malaysia has a good ICT infrastructure including internet penetration. This is why the usage of ICT as medium in agriculture knowledge management in Malaysia is crucial as society become more dependent on their mobile device and internet in their daily activities. Although information for extension services can be gather by the farmer themselves, the face to face method of agriculture extension is still relevant. Technology may help in ease the extension service, but it cannot replace the ‘human interaction’ between extension agents and farmers. To sum up, agriculture sector should evolve towards modern technology and ICT can help in facilitate knowledge management process to reach the goals of sustainable development.
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