Title: Quantifying of farmers' acceptance and perception in developing kenaf, Hibiscus cannabinus, industry in Malaysia

Authors: Norfaryanti Kamaruddin; Mohd. Shahwahid Haji Othman

Addresses: Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia ' Faculty of Economics and Management, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract: Kenaf is a new crop to farmers in Malaysia. Although kenaf has much potential as an alternative raw material to wood fibre, the cultivation is developing at slow pace. This paper aims to gather farmers' acceptance and perceptions on developing kenaf as a new industry. A survey to registered Kenaf farmers was conducted in the East Coast region of Malaysia through structured questionnaires and personal interviews. Factor analysis result shows that there are five elements that contribute to the farmers' acceptance levels, which are; level of satisfaction and knowledge, kenaf programme's performance and resource availability, availability of land and crop protection, and industrial linkages. Out of these elements, only the first two elements are highly significant to the level of acceptance on developing the kenaf industry. The results contribute to a better understanding of factors that significantly affect farmers' acceptance in developing a new crop in Malaysia.

Keywords: kenaf industry; farmers; farmer acceptance; authority; green economics; farmer perceptions; Hibiscus cannabinus; Malaysia; new crops; agriculture.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGE.2012.051491

International Journal of Green Economics, 2012 Vol.6 No.4, pp.401 - 416

Published online: 12 Dec 2014 *

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