Information and communication technology usage trends and factors in commercial agriculture in the wine industry

Abstract

There is need to realise the potential of information and communication technologies (ICT) for farmers and agricultural role players, in order to achieve agriculture development. However in South Africa, it is not yet established which specific ICT are used and how they are used in different agricultural farm enterprises, and if used, their extent of deployment. In addition, few studies have focused on the factors that influence the use of ICT in South African agriculture. This study addresses these issues. This study investigates factors of ICT use that are helpful and necessary for the recognition of the importance and benefits of ICT in Western Cape commercial agriculture, specifically in the wine industry. The study investigates the different forms of ICT used in the wine industry, how they are being used in the industry, what they are used for, how important these technologies are as enablers of production, and the factors that affect their use. This study focuses on the use, not the adoption, of ICT in commercial agriculture. The study involved two groups of participants and was in two phases. In phase one, a survey of commercial farmers was conducted in Robertson Wine Valley. Phase two involved their farm employees who are involved in farm activities ranging from field, winery and administrative work in Robertson Wine Valley. 15 farmers and 60 farm employees responded to the questionnaire. The scope of the results for this study is limited to descriptive statistics, chi-square tests and correlation analysis. From the chi-square and correlation analysis, it was found that ICT training, age, race, current occupation on farm, monthly salary, education level and ICT literacy influence the use of ICT by farm employees.