The Impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on Pesticides Use of Potato Farmers in Indonesia

Abstract

Reducing pesticides is an important driver in preserving a healthy and sustainable environment and protecting human health. In the digital era, understanding the role of information and communication technology (ICT) on pesticide use in crucial. Therefore, This study aim to estimate the impact of ICT on farmers’ pesticide used. This study uses a cross-sectional data from a survey to 150 farmers in Indonesia. Furthermore, the data is analyzed by ordinary least square (OLS) and instrumental variable quantile regression (IVQR). The main results indicate that ICT has an essential impact on pesticide used reduction. Farmers who has access on the ICT tend to use lower pesticide that the farmers who did not use the ICT. The IVQR results, make the claim more robust, which is show a negative and significant impact of ICT on farmers pesticide use in all quartile groups. Therefore, this finding implies that there is a need to develop agriculture related ICT continuously among smallholder farmers to reduce the pesticide use.