Rural Information Research Articles

High-Performance Computational Early Warning Analysis of Agricultural Economy Relying on Binary Fuzzy Cluster Analysis Algorithm

In this paper, a binary fuzzy cluster analysis algorithm is used for an in-depth study and analysis of high-performance computational early warning in the agricultural economy. The definition of interval type-two fuzzy set and its operation are summarized. Considering the uncertain information that will be encountered in the evaluation process, this paper constructs the evaluation model of rural informatization construction performance based on interval type-two fuzzy numbers, which improves the accuracy of the evaluation results. The fuzzy clustering centres are modified according to the nature of the fuzzy clustering centre matrix, and the optimal fuzzy clustering centres and optimal fuzzy clustering division matrix with consistent order are solved. Using the level eigenvalues to find out in the abundant water period, there are 4 monitoring sections of water quality evaluation results for still clean and 5 monitoring sections of water quality evaluation results for slight pollution. In the flat-water period, there are 2 monitoring sections of the water quality evaluation results that are still clean and 7 monitoring sections of the water quality evaluation results are slightly polluted. In the dry water period, the water quality evaluation results of the 9 monitoring sections are slightly polluted. The results and the use of integrated pollutant index evaluation method results are consistent, indicating that the use of fuzzy clustering model for water quality evaluation is practical and effective. Its functional structure includes management business, innovation business, service business, production business, and operation business functions, in addition to the design of the collection and storage scheme based on Hadoop data warehouse, to achieve accurate matching of information of science and technology agricultural services in the whole agricultural industry chain. Finally, the implementation and maintenance of the cloud-based science and technology agricultural service information system are deployed, and the operational effects of its information system-related functions are demonstrated using prototype design. This paper constructs a comprehensive information system for science and technology agricultural services based on cloud technology that integrates management, innovation, service, production, and operation, which meets not only the needs of traditional science and technology agricultural service information systems, such as expert consultation and training demonstration, but also other needs spawned by the development of agricultural modernization.

Application of Artificial Intelligence Technology Optimized by Deep Learning to Rural Financial Development and Rural Governance

The aim of this article is to promote the development of rural finance and the further informatization of rural banks. Based on DL (deep learning) and artificial intelligence technology, data pre-processing and feature selection are conducted on the customer information of rural banks in a certain region, including the historical deposit and loan, transaction record, and credit information. Besides, four DL models are proposed with a precision of more than 87% by test to improve the simulation effect and explore the application of DL. The BLSTM-CNN (Bi-directional Long Short-Term Memory-Convolutional Neural Network) model with a precision of 95.8%, which integrates RNN (Recurrent Neural Network) and CNN (Convolutional Neural Network) in parallel, solves the shortcomings of RNN and CNN separately. The research result can provide a more reasonable prediction model for rural banks, and ideas for the development of rural informatization and promoting rural governance.

The Measurement and Influencing Factors of Total Factor Productivity in the Chinese Rural Distribution Industry

Total factor productivity (TFP) is critical to the sustainable development of the rural distribution industry. Improvements in productivity of the rural distribution industry can promote the high-quality development of the Chinese distribution industry. Studying the characteristics and influencing factors of total factor productivity in regard to the rural distribution industry in China is significant for promoting the transformation and development of the rural distribution industry. This paper uses the DEA–Malmquist Index to measure the total factor productivity (TFP) of the Chinese rural distribution industry and its decomposition index, and uses a panel data model to empirically study its influencing factors. The results show that, from 2008 to 2018, the TFP of the Chinese rural distribution industry showed a trend of rising first and then fluctuating and declining, with an average annual growth rate of 2.93%; the fluctuation direction of the TFP of the rural distribution industry in the eastern and western regions of China is basically the same, which has had a reverse change relationship with the central and northeast regions for many years. The industrial structure, urbanization rate, rural informatization rate, and conditions of the transportation facilities have significant impacts on the TFP of the rural distribution industry, among which the informatization rate has the greatest positive impact.

Construction of the Rural Information Service Platform under Big Data Environment

Construction of the Rural Information Service Platform under Big Data Environment

Improving Effectiveness of Rural Information and Communication Technology Offices: The Case of Qazvin Province in Iran

The information and communication technology (ICT) offices in rural areas of Iran have been developed as government provided counters under a national project in the past decades. The rural ICT offices were expected to benefit the rural people in various socio-economic dimensions such as health, social connectivity, crop diversity, agricultural productivity, occupational capability and the lifestyle in general. However, these middle range offices in Iran did not perform as expected, and thus they require an urgent restructuring to boost up their performances and to enhance their acceptability. This study investigates the effectiveness of the ICT systems and services in place in the Qazvin province of Iran with the purpose of identifying the major requirements needed to fix up the system. The focus of this study was around 10,000 people organised through rural ICT agents and their users in the rural area of Qazvin. The survey involves 138 rural ICT offices operated by 103 cooperative agents. Of them, 16 rural ICT offices were selected randomly, and 165 rural users connected with the selected offices were interviewed by the research team. Collected data have been analysed with structural equation modeling. The study shows that education, policy and management requirements deserve the highest attention, and therefore the best ways to improve the effectiveness of rural ICT offices. This study suggests that the effectiveness of rural ICT offices can be improved significantly through providing in-service education for ICT experts, arranging regular training programme for ICT office agents and using mass media to educate villagers on various aspects of ICTs.

Knowledge and Attitude of Indigenous People towards COVID-19 Pandemic in Ebonyi State, Southeastern, Nigeria

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic came like a storm that shook the whole world. The response of many government was lockdown and restriction in movement. But in most rural communities information on the actual reasons for the lockdown were scanty. Many were rather curios as their markets, schools, transportation and social lives were disrupted by the government without adquate enlightment. This study was done to asses the level of knowledge and attitude of the indigenous rural dwellers in Ebonyi State towards the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Descriptive statistics was adopted to asses the knowledge and attitude of the rural dwellers towards COVID-19. One community each from the three senatorial zone were selected. Out of 150 respondents, 86% are men and 64% are women. Structured questionaire were administered directly to responders after due explanation. The questionnaire was completed and given back to the researcher. Result - Three communities were covered for the 150 respondents, 58% of the respondents are in the age group of 20-35 years, 30% are in the age group of 36-55 years, only 12 % is from the age group of above 56- and above years. Awareness- Only 40.3% of the respondents are aware of the Corona Virus disease. 36% of the respondents are heard from radio, 37% of them heard from friends, 35.5% heard from government agency, 48% heard from community health workers, 49% heard from social media. Only 20% knew the causative agent of COVID-19, while 13.3% knew about the signs and symptoms, 10% of responders knew about the methods of transmission. 16.7% are aware of the possible prevention methods. 38.7% considered it a new disease, while 30% considered it a health challenge. Knowledge of the preventive measures such as: Handwashing regularly with soap and water, use of hand sanitizers and face mask and social distancing protocol were also negative. Conclussion: There were paucity of knowledge and negative attitude of indigenous rural dwellers towards COVID-19 pandemic among the indigenous rural dwellers in Ebonyi State.

Rural women's agricultural knowledge and information systems about agro-food processing including extension education factors

Rural women's agricultural knowledge and information systems about agro-food processing including extension education factors

Coordinated development of agricultural economy and rural tourism based on big data

In China’s national economic system, the agricultural economy is an important component. Regardless of the development model, development direction and scale of the agricultural economy, it will have an important impact on the development and progress of the national economy. As the country attaches great importance to agricultural development, the reform of agricultural development is gradually being deepened. The application of big data can effectively analyze the agricultural economy and rural tourism market information, which is conducive to promoting the coordinated development of the two. At the same time, China has put forward a strategy of “village revitalization”, which brings new development opportunities for agricultural economy and rural tourism. Based on this, this article first analyzes the connotation and characteristics of big data, then introduces the development of agricultural economy and rural tourism under big data, and finally discusses the strategy of combining the two to improve the overall quality of rural economic development.

Rural Tourism Development in Guilan: A Grounded Theory Study (Case Study: Rahmatabad and Blukat District in Rudbar County)

Purpose- Rural tourism, in the perspective of developed economies, is considered as a context-based experience that has a broad range of attractions. Also, it can increase the opportunities to provide services to local communities. Thus, their maintenance has become an integral part of the rural economy. In this regard, the study explored the understanding of rural development in Rudbar County, Guilan province. Design/methodology/approach- This study, in terms of goal is applied-developmental, in terms of paradigm is qualitative, and in terms of method is a grounded theory which is based on an inductive approach. The statistical population consisted of two groups of key rural informants and tourists of Rudbar County. Using a purposive sampling, 18 people were selected by snowball method and data were collected applying in-depth and semi-structured interviews, reaching saturation. To analyze the narratives, three stages of open, axial and selective coding method were used. Findings- Findings showed that the vital commodities of rural in Rudbar are the supply of a mixture of approaches such as ecotourism, agrotourism and participatory approaches such as the view of scenic byways. In the elevated villages near Darfak peak, the commodities are long hiking or cycling alongside Sefidrood River as well as heritage areas. Also, in the development of rural in the study area, the categories of products of the destination, space opportunities of the destination, infrastructure of the destination, cultural support and beliefs of the destination, responsible participation of the destination, cultural acceptance of the destination, marketing for the destination, human capital of the destination, employment in the destination were important. The most important category (core category) was known as tourism product development policy. Research limitations/implications- Lack of proper access to infrastructures such as mobile coverage accessibility, Internet and accommodation opportunities, frequent cut-offs of tap water in some villages for long hours, and access to tourists and key local informants were among the problems in the way of this study. Practical implications- In order to achieve the development of rural tourism, it is suggested that special attention be paid to the development policy of Guilan product supply in different dimensions. Since most of the incoming tourists to Guilan are nature tourists, increasing the village's service such as improving mobile and Internet access, improving the village's water and electricity quality, travel agency offices and active tour operators in the villages, automobile repair shops, local food restaurants and eco-resorts are vital. Originality / Value- A grounded theory systematically examines phenomena in their natural state in the form of regular steps. In this method, generalization is not the purpose. Instead, the goal is to understand the phenomenon and its various dimensions.

Adopting a Pragmatic Approach to Rural Information Systems and Services Delivery for Sustainable Community Development in Nigeria

The availability and access to rural information systems and services in rural communities in Nigeria and elsewhere have been recognized as an essential public service utility that can rapidly cause unprecedented development of rural communities. This paper attempts to chronicle the state and condition of rural information systems and services provided in rural Nigeria and their connections to community development. The essence of the paper is to provoke discussion on the relevance of rural information services and to offer direction on the essentials of strengthening and enhancing information systems and services in rural communities. It was argued that library and information professionals especially librarians should assume new roles and strategies to strengthen and enhance rural information systems and services through a pragmatic approach. A pragmatic approach will allow every major key player to compliment ideas with actions. The need for government and other major players accept their responsibilities and also appreciate the invaluable place of building well-informed rural communities as a panacea to developmental challenges confronting Nigeria as a nation is advocated.

The Elder Health Information Technology Framework for Geriatric Care in Rural India: A Policy Initiative

Healthcare monitoring and analysis of healthcare parameters is a reality to reduce costs and increase access to specialist and experts that holds the future for geriatric care in India. This paper proposes distinct methods towards the implementation of rural elder health information technologies (IT), which includes electronic medical records, clinical decision support, mobile medical applications, and software driven medical devices used in the diagnosis or treatment of disease for the older adult population in the villages of India. The purpose is online patient satisfaction at the microlevel (village panchayat) through methods accessible and affordable by establishing a common standard of operations at the village primary care units giving way to early disease detection and routine screening among the aged population avoiding institutionalization. The rural elder health IT framework is of great interest for all stakeholders in the field, as it benefits the investors and the consumers, adding to the technological infrastructure, thereby opening new avenues of research in health informatics, telemedicine and enhancing the scope of geriatric research, which in turn enhances the health-related quality of life for the rural older adults in the remote villages of the nation.

Sistem Teknologi Informasi Dalam Rintisan Desa Tangguh Bencana

Desa Tangguh Bencana merupakan suatu program pembentukan masyarakat desa agar lebih mandiri dalam menghadapi bencana yang melanda desa tersebut. Program ini dilakukan pada desa yang dianggap rentan terhadap bencana. Metode yang akan diterapkan dalam kegiatan Pengembangan masyarakat ini berupa kegiatan Sistem Informasi Desa yang berbasis teknologi informasi dengan partisipasi masyarakat dalam pemecahan setiap masalah melalui diskusi bersama. Selain itu juga akan dilakukan penanganan bencana bersifat struktural diantaranya pelengkapan alat kebencanaan dan jalur evakuasi. Hasil dari kajian bahwa pelaksanaaan program pengembangan masyarakat melalui sistem informasi ini juga akan didukung oleh mitra dari lembaga-lembaga yang berkaitan dengan masing-masing permasalahan. Selain itu menghasilkan rekomendasi a) masyarakat memiliki kesiapan dalam menghadapi ancaman bencana alam baik dari segi sarana dan infrastruktur maupun dari segi sumber daya manusia; b) upaya pemberdayaan selama tidak terjadi bencana akan mampu meningkatan indeks pembangunan manusia (IPM) berdasarkan aspek ekonomi, kesehatan, dan pendidikan; c) masyarakat mampu melakukan tindakan mitigasi dan pemulihan secara mandiri tanpa harus bergantung pada bantuan pemerintah ketika terjadi. Kesimpulan kelompok sasaran mampu mengaplikasikan Teknologi Tepat Guna Sistem Informasi (Community Based Information Network) Desa Tangguh Bencana. Hasil menunjukan bahwa partisipasi masyarakat sangat tinggi dan mampu mengoperasionalkan SID.

El enfoque de capacidades en la promoción del derecho a la información en comunidades en vulnerabilidad

El derecho a la información es un derecho humano de utilidad para la exigencia de otros derechos y la participación en el espacio público; sin embargo, la información pública no está al alcance de todas las personas de forma equitativa debido a barreras como la digital, la escolaridad, la alfabetización, la pobreza económica, la etnia, el género, entre otras. Mientras que las políticas de promoción del derecho a la información se han basado en difusión en medios masivos y proyectos con enfoque de “formación de usuario”, que no necesariamente consideran el desarrollo de capacidades en las personas y la reducción de barreras para el acceso y el uso de información pública de sectores en vulnerabilidad. Este artículo propone el uso del enfoque de capacidades en las políticas de promoción del derecho a la información, para lograr que las personas puedan usar información pública como herramienta indispensable de la capacidad de control sobre su entorno político. Para ello, se desarrolla un marco analítico de capacidades de acceso y uso de información pública y se aplica en un estudio de caso del programa “Transparencia proactiva” de Artículo 19 México y Centroamérica, que promueve el derecho a la información en comunidades rurales y mayoritariamente indígenas en Chiapas, México, con la finalidad de identificar estrategias orientadas al desarrollo de capacidades para el acceso y uso de información pública. A partir de ello, se ofrecen algunas recomendaciones desde el enfoque de capacidades para mejorar las políticas públicas de promoción del derecho a la información en personas en vulnerabilidad.

Smallholders' Agricultural Production Efficiency of Conservation Tillage in Jianghan Plain, China-Based on a Three-Stage DEA Model.

Based on interviews with 695 smallholders in Jianghan Plain, this paper introduced the three-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) model to analyze the agricultural production efficiency of conservation tillage adopters and explored the impact of environmental factors on agricultural production efficiency. The empirical results showed the following (1) Planting area, seed consumption, labor input, pesticide usage, chemical fertilizer usage, agricultural film usage were selected as input indicators, agricultural output was chosen as an output indicator, and the traditional DEA model was used to calculate the production efficiency of smallholders, and the agricultural production efficiency of smallholders was found to be at a low level. In addition, environmental and random factors both have significant impacts on efficiency, so they should be stripped. (2) After excluding environmental factors and random factors, the drop in pure technical efficiency of smallholders in the third stage was higher than the drop in scale efficiency when compared with the first stage. Moreover, the true technical efficiency was the main restricting factor for the agricultural production efficiency. (3) Educational level of smallholders, policy support, and information acquisition were the factors that affect the technical efficiency significantly. Improving the efficiency of agricultural production technology for smallholders requires strengthening rural basic education, improving subsidy policies for conservation agricultural technology, and establishing and improving rural information technology services.

Research on the Evaluation Model of Rural Information Demand Based on Big Data

In recent years, the imbalance of rural information supply and demand has seriously hindered the process of rural informatization. Rural information demand is a decisive factor in the relationship between rural information supply and demand. Therefore, research on the influencing factors of rural information demand has attracted much attention. The traditional rural information demand factor analysis does not consider the correlation between factors. The factors themselves carry a lot of repeated information, which seriously interferes with the objectivity of the analysis results. Proceeding from the complexity and diversity of influencing factors of rural information demand, based on the selected subjective and objective factors, based on the forward partial correlation analysis and post-ROC test, a probit discriminant model of influencing factors of rural information demand was constructed, and the relationship with Lingshou was determined. There are 24 factors that are significantly related to county rural information needs. The research results show that this method not only eliminates the factors that carry highly repetitive information and the correlation is not significant but also makes the results more reliable. At the same time, it also found that rural information supply is related to farmers’ information cognition ability, acceptance awareness, and acceptance ability. This study provides new methods and new ideas for solving related problems.

Utilization of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) Tools for Sharing of Agricultural Related Information in Osun State: Implications for Rural Information Needs

The study was motivated by the need to harness technological advancement to enhance agricultural production in Osun State. The study assessed the utilization of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) tools for sharing of agricultural related information in Osun State, Nigeria. The study illustrated the socio economic characteristics of the Respondent, identified the available ICT tools for sharing of various agricultural related information, identified agricultural related information shared through various available ICT tools, measured the frequency of utilization of the identified ICT tools and assessed the severity of challenges encountered by Respondent in the utilization of ICT tools in the study area. Sixty percent of Extension Agents in each of the three zones in the study area were sampled. The data collected were examined using descriptive statistics tools while regression analysis was used to test the significant relationship between the socio-economic characteristics of Respondents and their frequency of utilization of ICT Tools for sharing of agricultural related information in the study areas. The analysis of the data was carried out with the use of SPSS version 22. The findings revealed that the average age of Respondents was 39 years; more than half of the respondent (67.1%) were male; most (81.4%) of the respondent were married; majority (68.6%) of the respondent were Christian; about (70%) of the respondent had tertiary education. The mean household size was 5 members per household; majority of the respondents belonged to one association or the other and they access the internet with their own data plan. Radio (wms 2.7) was ranked first as most available ICT tools for sharing information in the study area. Furthermore, information on availability and sources of farm inputs (wms2.3) was ranked most shared information while information on storage facilities (wms1.0) was ranked the least shared information by the Respondents. Also, the initial cost of procurement of ICT gadgets, cost of maintenance, risk of theft of gadget, and fluctuating power supply were the major challenges encountered with the use of various ICT tools. Regression analysis identified a significant relationship between selected socio-economic characteristics of the Respondents and frequency of Utilization of ICT Tools for sharing Agriculture related information. The study recommended use of Radio as medium through which agricultural related information should be shared bearing in mind its ease of access, little cost of procurement and maintenance, extent of reach and frequency of usage among the respondents. Provision of access to internet facility was recommended in order to afford respondents a limitless right to use information on the World Wide Web. Finally, alternative source of power to enable respondents recharge their ICT gadgets was recommended to make up for unreliable electricity supply.

Transaction Costs and Farm-to-Market Linkages in China: Empirical Evidence from Apple Producers

Using field surgveyed data from two apple production belts in China, this study estimates the impact of transaction costs on smallholders’ market participation and integration. The analysis is based on an innovative measurement of the transaction costs and a disaggregated analysis of sales, information, negotiation, and monitoring costs. The results reveal that farmers’ market participation levels are mainly determined by the proportional transaction costs and price, while their market integration depends on the fixed transaction costs and price. This suggests that, to lower the transaction costs and enable specialization and market participation, it is necessary to invest in and construct adequate farming infrastructure, update the rural information system, improve the structure of farmer households, and subsidize specialized rural cooperative organizations.

The Relationship Between Happiness and Consumption Expenditure: Evidence from Rural China

We use data from the 2016 China Labor-force Dynamics Survey (CLDS) to examine the relationship between happiness and consumption expenditure of rural farmers in China. A two-stage residual inclusion approach is applied to tackle the potential endogeneity issue of happiness. The empirical results show that a higher level of happiness is associated with an increase in consumption expenditure in general. Further analysis reveals that higher levels of happiness are positively and significantly associated with higher expenditures on basic living goods, education and gifts. We also find that both household income and access to the Internet boost happiness and increase consumption expenditure. Happiness plays a larger role in improving the consumption expenditure of rural households compared with their urban counterparts. Our findings may suggest that improving rural income via income diversification strategies and investing in rural information and communication technology infrastructures would encourage rural farmers’ happiness, promote the upgrading of rural consumption and boost sustainable economic growth.

Cooking Energy Nexus in the Policy on Rural-Urban Indices and Climate Change Mitigation in Nigeria

Despite the preponderance of solid fuels as a major source of cooking energy in Africa, mainstreaming their contributions to rural-urban inequalities and climate change in scholarly debates and policy advocacy appears incommensurate. This article engages the discursive reconstruction of the interdisciplinary debate about how energy choices shape poverty incidences and climate change. Emphasis is on the conceptualisation of rural-urban inequalities and climate change in relation to cooking energy sources. How may policy advocacy for cooking energy choices in Africa induce poverty alleviation and climate change? What lessons are discernible from national policies on cooking energy and why the tendency for more alternative cooking energy at the urban centres than the rural areas? These questions are analysed mainly from a systematic review of policy literature and quantitative data sourced from key rural and urban informants in the south-western region of Nigeria, the most populous state in Sub-Saharan Africa. The theoretical foundation is hinged on Rational Choice Theory to explain how individual cooking energy choices can interact to generate often surprising aggregate outcome on poverty incidences and climate change. Evidence mainly reveals that cooking energy choices significantly shape rural-urban indices and climate change mitigation. Implications for climate change and development are also discussed. Keywords: climate change mitigation, urban-rural indices, rational choice, alternative cooking energy, Nigeria, Africa DOI: 10.7176/JESD/11-8-10 Publication date: April 30 th 2020

PRIVATE CLOUD STORAGE IN RURAL'S MANAGEMENT AND INFORMATION SYSTEM USING ROADMAP FOR CLOUD COMPUTING ADOPTION (ROCCA)

The draft Management Policy and Rural Information system are all articles with several articles governing all information security. In concerning Business Continuity Management it is written "The information system and security work unit backs up data periodically, to safer backing up data using Cloud computing facilities." Cloud computing has advantages as file management. Private cloud storage is a form of cloud computing that is intended for limited use in certain circles and one of its functions is used for backing up data or file management. On the other hand, there is software that can be used to implement private cloud storage, namely Owncloud. To run the Rural Information Security Policy Draft article on Business Continuity Management and for the provision of data centers, a study was conducted to implement private cloud storage using Owncloud. The method used in this study is the Roadmap for Cloud computing Adoption (ROCCA) with five stages, namely the stages of analysis, design, adoption, migration, and management. The results of this research are private cloud storage using Owncloud as a medium for storing, securing, and sharing files that are flexible and highly scalable that can be accessed via the internet by users.