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The present research aims to compare information-seeking behaviour of ordinary and elite saffron farmers in Iran.

The study sample consisted of 375 saffron farmers (295 ordinary and 80 elite saffron farmers) selected using the cluster sampling method. Data were collected by a kind of researcher-made questionnaire.

The results showed saffron onion, pesticides, cultivators and farmland worker were the main components of saffron farmers’ information-seeking behaviour of both groups. The most important sources of information for both groups included reference to past experience, neighbouring saffron farmers, contact with informants and other family members. The main criteria which affected the behaviour of the two groups on the use of information sources were provided information in local language, native people, clear and intelligible information and low cost. Farmers were also confronted with common problems such as lack of attention to the needs of farmers and insufficient number of technical experts. It was also found that there was no significant relationship between information-seeking behaviour of elite and ordinary saffron farmers and their performance.

Saffron is one of the most important agricultural export products in Iran, and this paper is the first research in this subject. The results can help develop information-seeking behaviour of farmers.

This paper is a partial reflection of a research in strategy development to help agriculturists in Nakhon Si Thamarat Province to increase the capacity of the community enterprises to a “good level” of performance. The purpose of this study was to examine the information behavior of farmers regarding the success of the community enterprises management in Nakhon Si Thamarat, Thailand.

A qualitative research method was applied, using in-depth interviews, observation and field notes. The study area covered community enterprises located in the Muang District, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, Thailand, which were evaluated to study the levels of information behaviors. Data were collected from 45 respondents from 9 community enterprises 3 categories (passive, common, and active levels). Five interviewees were gathered in each category for the purpose of this research.

The findings show the following information behaviors of farmers that support the management capacity of the community enterprises between the passive level and the active level: information needs (arising from a clear occupational purpose of an individual or a group of individuals), information-seeking (the farmers knowing and understanding the problems that require information, choosing the right information sources), searching multiple sources and selecting the right information and using this information for development and occupation.

This research constructed a body of new knowledge of farmers’ information behaviors of community enterprises. This knowledge will lead to the development of an information behavior model for community enterprises which will help strengthen the capacity toward the active level.

Generating an in-depth understanding of information needs and seeking behaviour is important both for restructuring existing agricultural information systems (ISs) and for creating new ISs. Many information seeking models have been developed over the years, most are narrowly focused on a specific role or discipline. However, no such specific model has been developed in reference to agriculture or an allied discipline. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to develop a model to explore the information seeking behaviour (ISB) of farmers.

The model proposed in this paper is based on Wilson’s model. The theoretical insights and empirical evidences comprehended at the study were embedded into Wilson’s model to develop a model that explores the ISB of farmers. The proposed model was quantitatively evaluated using empirical data gathered through a survey of 289 farmers. Furthermore, the model was qualitatively evaluated by subject experts against criteria of simplicity, comprehensiveness, exactness, generality and clarity.

The key finding of this study is the model developed to explore the ISB of farmers. The adapted model provides theoretical and empirical bases for exploring farmers’ ISBs. Thus, the model will be useful in developing valuable design insights to apply to user-centred agricultural ISs.

The originality of this study relates to its demonstration of how existing models can be reconsidered and adapted based on related literature and then tested and presented as adapted models. The proposed model will be useful to promote informational studies in agriculture.

The purpose of this paper was to study the information behavior of farmers regarding value adding in production and marketing. This paper is a component of a larger and more comprehensive research study of farmers and their behavior regarding the acquisition and use of information.

This research was qualitative and based on the Grounded Theory. In-depth interviews, observations and field survey recordings were conducted to collect data. Pan Tae Sub-district, Khuan Khanun District, Phatthalung Province, Thailand was selected as the research field site. The sample consisted of 14 key informants selected by the theoretical sampling technique. These informants were successful in value adding to their production and marketing process.

Farmers require information because of problems associated with low product prices and being taken advantage of by middlemen. Farmers’ information-seeking behavior includes: transfer of information from governmental academic officers and community leaders, exchanges of information among community farmers and training/study trips. Farmers use information in brand building, product differentiation and development of product quality, all with the main objective of increasing income.

Information behaviors of farmers were theoretically summarized from farmers’ development in their social and farming context. The new and expanded knowledge obtained from a Thai context will be useful for the science and profession of library and information science. This information will also improve methods of communicating valuable information to farmers, thereby improving productivity and quality of life.

The purposoe of this paper was to study the information needs and information-seeking among Thai farmers that lead the development of a mobile phone application for the purpose of production and marketing promotion.

The qualitative research was performed by in-depth interviews, observations, field notes and content analysis. The 48 primary informants were the best-practice farmers around Songkhla Lake Basin.

The results demonstrate the farmers’ need for information on the following topics: increasing production, developing quality, reducing costs, manufacturing products, increasing marketing and sales channels and changing to short-lived crops. The farmers acquired information directly targeted to their needs and behaviors by making inquiries, exchanging ideas and joining study trips and training, which resulted in production and marketing promotion and, hence, higher incomes.

As a result, their farming will yield high-quality products, bringing them more income and a better standard of living. When the lives of the farmers, who are the majority of the Thailand population, are improved, the holistic conditions of national economic development will in turn be good, leading to security, wealth and sustainability.

Contemporary literature reveals that, to date, the poultry livestock sector has not received sufficient research attention. This particular industry suffers from unstructured supply chain practices, lack of awareness of the implications of the sustainability concept and failure to recycle poultry wastes. The current research thus attempts to develop an integrated supply chain model in the context of poultry industry in Bangladesh. The study considers both sustainability and supply chain issues in order to incorporate them in the poultry supply chain. By placing the forward and reverse supply chains in a single framework, existing problems can be resolved to gain economic, social and environmental benefits, which will be more sustainable than the present practices.

The theoretical underpinning of this research is ‘sustainability’ and the ‘supply chain processes’ in order to examine possible improvements in the poultry production process along with waste management. The research adopts the positivist paradigm and ‘design science’ methods with the support of system dynamics (SD) and the case study methods. Initially, a mental model is developed followed by the causal loop diagram based on in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and observation techniques. The causal model helps to understand the linkages between the associated variables for each issue. Finally, the causal loop diagram is transformed into a stock and flow (quantitative) model, which is a prerequisite for SD-based simulation modelling. A decision support system (DSS) is then developed to analyse the complex decision-making process along the supply chains.

The findings reveal that integration of the supply chain can bring economic, social and environmental sustainability along with a structured production process. It is also observed that the poultry industry can apply the model outcomes in the real-life practices with minor adjustments. This present research has both theoretical and practical implications. The proposed model’s unique characteristics in mitigating the existing problems are supported by the sustainability and supply chain theories. As for practical implications, the poultry industry in Bangladesh can follow the proposed supply chain structure (as par the research model) and test various policies via simulation prior to its application. Positive outcomes of the simulation study may provide enough confidence to implement the desired changes within the industry and their supply chain networks.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the entrepreneurial attitudes of upcountry vegetable farmers in Sri Lanka with respect to the characteristics of innovation, opportunity seeking and risk taking and considers their implications for rural development efforts.

The study was carried out in the hilly areas of the Badulla district in the Uva Province of Sri Lanka. Primary data were collected through a survey using a researcher-administered questionnaire as the data collection instrument and the individual farmer as the unit of analysis.

Most vegetable farmers in the upcountry areas were found to be attitudinally entrepreneurial. Entrepreneurial attitudes were determined more by educational background and farming experience than age, gender, extent of farmland, type of farming and ownership of farmland. Farming experience related positively with innovation, opportunity seeking and risk taking, but farmers’ educational background showed no significant association with innovation.

It is suggested that farmer-owned companies with appropriate institutional arrangements could reduce transaction costs for buyers, and introduce accessible rural finance schemes to enhance provision of assets and technology. Such a rural setting would gain from initiatives on marketing alternatives and entrepreneurial skill development. Future research could benefit from analysis of the financial and social performance and entrepreneurial skills of vegetable farmers.

The entrepreneurial attitude of farmers is an under-researched area of study particularly in the Sri Lanka context. Rural development initiatives could target entrepreneurial farmers based on these criteria to achieve maximum production impact. However care needs to be taken to consider the potential distributive impact of such targeting on farmers regarded as non-entrepreneurial.