Abstract
The demand for safe, hygienic, organic, and high-quality food products nowadays puts pressure on farmers to produce and practice sustainability. Sustainable agriculture practices (SAPs) are crucial to be implemented on every farm that produced foods to enable the supply of hygienic, safe food products and as a solution of pesticide-residue problems towards a healthier lifestyle. However, the farmers' main challenges towards sustainability and hindering their penetration to the global market are the difficulties in complying with the international standard of quality and certification compliance, such as MyGAP or Malaysian Good Agricultural Practices in cultivating, harvesting, and processing. MyGAP compliance showed that farmers are moving towards sustainable agriculture. This paper was aimed to assess the perception and the factors that influence the Intention to implement SAPs in pepper cultivation among pepper farmers in Sarawak. Descriptive analysis and factor analysis were used to accomplish the objectives of this study. Data collection was through interviews using a structured questionnaire administered on registered farmers under the Malaysian Pepper Board (MPB), planted at least 1 hectare or 2000 pepper trees in Bau and the District of Serian, Sarawak. Systematic stratified random sampling method was used based on the two different districts selected as stratification. The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) was used as the conceptual framework to explain the farmers' behaviour towards SAPs. The results discovered four latent factors influencing Intention to practice SAPs: attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioural Intention, and Intention, with the value of percentages of variance, explained 13.554%, 27.912%, 12.506%, 8.771%, and 7.703%, respectively. Subjective norms showed a high value of alpha at 0.935, followed by attitude (0.817) and Intention towards Sustainable Agriculture Practices (0.804). The findings provided the pepper farmers with invaluable insight on the advantages of adopting sustainable agriculture practices to expand their business locally and intentionally.
Highlights
The demand for safe, hygienic, organic, and high-quality food products nowadays puts pressure on farmers to produce and practice sustainability
A systematic stratified random sampling method was used in this study, and 203 respondents were interviewed face-to-face using a structured questionnaire consisting of statements addressing and measuring the components of respondents' socio-economic, demographic profile, knowledge, and awareness
Data were collected based on farmers registered under the Malaysian Pepper Board (MPB), who planted at least 1 hectare with 2000 pepper trees
Summary
A systematic stratified random sampling method was used in this study, and 203 respondents were interviewed face-to-face using a structured questionnaire consisting of statements addressing and measuring the components of respondents' socio-economic, demographic profile, knowledge, and awareness. Each district has the parts; Bau—Opar, Tasik Biru, Serembu, and Serian— Muara Tuang, Tarat, Balai Ringin These locations were selected for this study because they have the most pepper farmers. Systematic stratified random sampling provides a more representative cross-section of the population and requires less time and money for the study. Factor analysis was used to identify the underlying factor influencing the farmers' Intention (subjective norms and perceived behavioural control) towards SAPs. 2.2 Conceptual framework. The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) is used as the conceptual framework to assess the perception and the factors that influence the Intention to implement SAPs in pepper cultivation among pepper farmers in Sarawak.
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