Papers by M. Salleh
Agricultural extension services have a pivotal role in agricultural and rural development through... more Agricultural extension services have a pivotal role in agricultural and rural development throughout the globe and Pakistan is no exception to this fact. It serves as a tool for the education of farming community and dissemination of technologies and improved crop production techniques for a judicious use of natural resources. As the present public extension systems, in many countries failed to address the issues and concerns of small and poor farmers, which necessitate a search for new extension model that is more effective, efficient, and responsive to different categories of farmers. The provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhawa initiated a new public-private partnership extension program in the province during the year 2000. This emerging system branded locally as Farm Services Centers (FSCs) has mandated with the inputs delivery, market facilitation, exchange of experiences and knowledge to target community. However, extent to which this public-private partnership is instrumental in developing and dissemination of agricultural technologies is yet to be established. This study tried to fill up that information gap by analyzing strengths and weaknesses of FSCs through SWOT analysis. To carry out the SWOT analysis, out of 24 districts of KPK, two districts Swabi and Lakki Marwat selected randomly for data collection regarding FSCs. From the two districts, 491 farmer respondents were selected for interview from the registered farmers in the respective FSCs. The results showed that the most important strength of FSC was "managed by farmers' bodies" with mean value of 4.05, SD 1.29, while that of AED was "Delivers extension messages effectively". The weaknesses of both extension systems, as diagnosed by the respondents were "no sale arrangements for surplus produce" with mean value of 4.12, SD 1.22 & 2.0 respectively. Government should ensure the mandated activities at FSC forum particularly the facilitation by line agencies and NWFP Agricultural University, Peshawar as is committed under the PC-1 and by-laws of FSCs; it should be a forum of technology dissemination, market orientation for surplus production and cooperative farming. Department should provide more facilities to the staff indulged in FSC activities to motivate their working efficiency in coins and kind. Facilitate the stakeholders' demand for separate meeting place for female members to ensure participation and effectiveness of skills trainings.
Thesis Chapters by M. Salleh
Pertanika JSSH
Information technologies (ITs) have been employed in various fields of human endeavours especiall... more Information technologies (ITs) have been employed in various fields of human endeavours especially to engender socio-economic development. One key sub-sector in which the adoption of ITs is increasingly becoming critical in Malaysia is the farm-based (agri-based) enterprises. However, previous studies have suggested that a number of factors influences the adoption of ICT by enterprises, especially small and medium firms. This study was prompted by the urge to determine the factors that influence the adoption of IT among farm-based enterprises. A pre-test study was conducted with 50 IT-using entrepreneurs selected from five farm-based firms that were selected using systematic random sampling from a population of 500 farm-based entrepreneurs (selected from 50 farm-based firms) in Selangor, Malaysia. The study applied modified Entrepreneurial Event Model (EEM) theory with System Support and Readiness and Perceived Benefits as independent variables, while IT Adoption was the dependent variable. The data was collected using a structured questionnaire and analysed using descriptive and factor analyses. The findings revealed that System support and readiness and Perceived benefits are the critical factors that determine IT adoption; and that most of the enterprises (M = 3.81, SD = 1.00) adopted basic entrepreneurial ITs while quite a number of them (M = 3.68, SD = 1.23) adopted advanced entrepreneurial ITs. The limitations of the study include the size of the sample. Recommendations for effective application of IT into practical usage for farm-based enterprises development were included.
Books by M. Salleh
Driving Agribusiness with Technology Innovations, Mar 1, 2017
This chapter proposes a modified conceptual framework for investigating the influence of cognitiv... more This chapter proposes a modified conceptual framework for investigating the influence of cognitive, management characteristics and organizational size factors on information and communication technology (ICT) adoption by agribusinesses. Agro-based small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) often deal in commodities that have shorter shelf life. Given that, researchers often face challenges determining the appropriate conceptual framework to adopt, which yields results that proffer both practical and theoretical solutions to business problems, hence, it is imperative for agri-preneurs to harness technology for maximum profit and food security. The unified theory of use and acceptance of technology (UTAUT) model, which has four key predictors, was adopted with the integration of two external variables: SME Managerial Characteristics and SME Organizational Size. Factor analysis shows that five out of the six predictors loaded strongly. The study concludes that researchers in technology adoption should consider integrating organization and management quality variables into their research frameworks.
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Papers by M. Salleh
Thesis Chapters by M. Salleh
Books by M. Salleh