International Journal of Rural Management

Indonesian smallholder oil palm farmers are found to face major issues, such as poor leadership, a lack of trust and trouble getting useful information through informal networks. The question is whether the skills of farmers to get along with each other affect how many people use sustainable practices. The combination of survey and interview responses of 93 farmers was conducted in group interactions. For technical proficiency: β = 0.374, p < .001 (28% of variance), and for human skills: β = 0.518, p < .001 (27% of variance), planning and decision-making skills were found as strong predictors. Because of 47% influence over decisions and 43% are found involved in regular peer assistance, it seems that group function appeared weak. While 36% stop participating, this suggests that conflicts between people or the perception of favouritism may be a factor. Whether farmers actually can get along and work together effectively in institutional design appears to matter far less (f² = 0.018). Therefore, planning and social skills, as well as encouraging informal leadership networks, and recognising the fact that women and younger farmers in decision-making should be the priority for agricultural extension.

Women in the hilly regions often operate small ventures to support their livelihood, and the survival of these ventures profoundly depends on the skills possessed by the owners. Given the distinct set of challenges caused by geographical isolation and limited infrastructure, understanding the skills that support women’s entrepreneurial success is crucial for formulating effective training programmes. This research seeks to identify the skills held by women microentrepreneurs operating in North Bengal’s hilly regions. Based on the data collected from women-led microenterprises, exploratory factor analysis has been employed to identify the core skill areas critical for women microentrepreneurs in the hilly regions. The skill dimensions identified were further verified using confirmatory factor analysis. The findings revealed six key dimensions reflecting how these women adapt their strategies for the survival of their ventures in a competitive business environment. By giving empirical insights into the skills of women entrepreneurs at the microenterprise level, the study has practical implications for rural development policies, particularly in laying the groundwork for focused training programmes and support mechanisms that can enhance women’s economic participation in such backward regions.

This mixed-method study investigated gender inequities in household access to educational technology among 378 rural Tamil Nadu households (443 children) from 12 districts, applying the capability approach, social reproduction theory and intersectionality lenses. Binary logistic regression, structural equation modelling and in-depth interviews with 378 parents and 68 children indicated significant gaps: 68.4% of males and only 34.9% of females had access, with female gender being associated with 79% lower odds (OR = 0.21) following controls. Capability deprivation mediated 43% of gender’s influence, and females faced higher constraint in all domains: over time, in autonomy, in skills and in cultural support. Maternal schooling was revealed to be the strongest protective factor. Four mechanisms that perpetuated inequities from qualitative analysis included gendered perceptions of risks, time competition due to domestic chores, strategic allocation of resources based on perceived returns and gendered technology identity process. Results suggest gender inequality endures despite expanded device availability and that it operates through capability constraint rather than mere material access mechanisms. Effective programme interventions need to employ multilevel interventions: infrastructure investments, school-centred compensatory programmes, maternal schooling interventions and community-level attitude interventions targeting household governance mechanisms that translate structural inequalities into differential digital outcomes.

While previous research focused on diverse aspects of agricultural marketing in India, limited studies have quantified farmers’ non-satisfaction across market channels and regions in the country. This study aims to bridge that gap by using nationally representative survey data for 2018–19. Descriptive statistics and multivariate procedures are used for the purpose. Results show that farmers in India mostly sell their disposable surpluses in local markets or to private buyers, while institutional buyers have the smallest share. Farmers expressed non-satisfaction with the sale outcomes in about 38% of the sales cases; the dominant reason being low produce prices. Logistic regression shows that, compared to the institutional channels, sales to private buyers or those completed in local markets are associated with higher odds of non-satisfaction among the farmers. The findings suggest measures to increase farmers’ market power and to facilitate remunerative produce prices for an economically viable agriculture-based livelihoods in the country.

India is an agrarian state where a large number of people depend on agriculture for their livelihood. The majority of Indian farmers cultivate paddy and suffer from a significant amount of loss every year due to the volatility in the prices of paddy. This study has attempted to analyse the perception of the farmers regarding the factors affecting the stability of paddy prices in West Bengal. For this analysis, primary data were collected from 827 farmers of Coochbehar district using a simple random sampling method. Furthermore, secondary data were gathered from relevant government reports and research papers. Collected data were analysed using various statistical tools such as the Cuddy–Della Valle Index and structural equation model. The findings indicate that production practices and costs have a positive impact on stabilising the paddy price. However, marketing channels and government policies have a negative effect on the same. Based on the findings, this study recommends crop diversification, technology adoption and enhancement of government procurement, which can play a major role in the stabilisation of paddy price.

This study examines the impact of access to formal credit on the technical efficiency of farms. The stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) is used to estimate technical efficiency by utilising primary survey data collected through a multi-stage random sampling technique. The results reveal that technical efficiency scores range from 0.56 to 0.97. There is a relatively high level of technical efficiency among borrower households (score 0.88) compared to non-borrower households (score 0.67), which implies that credit access enables farmers to use better technologies and optimise input use. The major inputs, such as labour, chemicals, machinery and farm size, are positively associated with farm technical efficiency, whereas land tenancy, seed price and fertilisers tend to decrease farm efficiency. The gamma coefficient (0.76) justifies the application of SFA, implying that inefficiency in the farm inputs is more likely than random shocks. In addition, the age of the household head, farming experience, education, occupation, membership, farm size, household assets and access to credit are the primary factors determining efficiency. These findings highlighted the requirement to have policy interventions in order to improve the socio-economic environment, institutional support, access to credit and managerial skills of farmers, which would increase productivity and achieve sustainable agricultural development.

This study seeks to determine the factors influencing the effectiveness of informal farm machinery rental services and also to assess these factors across the different sample districts of Assam. The study uses a sequential exploratory mixed-method research design to achieve these objectives. First, qualitative interviews were conducted with 20 informal service providers to identify operational constraints. The insights from these interviews led to the development of the survey instrument for the quantitative phase. In the quantitative phase, 400 farm machinery rental service users were surveyed in the sample areas. To determine the factors, exploratory factor analysis was conducted, and then analysis of variance was used to assess the factors across the districts. The exploratory factor analyses revealed two key factors, that is, technical service efficiency and service delivery, which influence the effectiveness of the informal farm machinery rental services. Technical service efficiency showed a higher variance than service delivery. Therefore, the study suggested policies to strengthen the service delivery for promoting sustainable and equitable mechanisation in the study area.

Yogyakarta is recognised as the province with the highest digital literacy index in Indonesia. However, paradoxically, farmers in the region have not widely adopted digital technology. This situation indicates that there are barriers hindering the digitalisation process, particularly at the farmer level. Based on this context, this study aims to evaluate the intensity and pattern of digital technology adoption among farmers, identify the main barriers they face and analyse the degree to which these barriers influence their decisions to adopt digital technologies in agricultural activities. A total of 104 shallot farmers from rural coastal areas were randomly selected and interviewed. The collected data were analysed using descriptive statistics and partial least squares structural equation modelling. The results show that only 53.85% of farmers have adopted digital technologies, with basic devices such as smartphones and mobile phones being the most commonly used. The primary barriers identified include limited knowledge and experience, insufficient access to information, inadequate digital infrastructure and sociocultural constraints. Therefore, efforts to accelerate digital technology adoption should be closely aligned with local cultural practices, particularly in communities where traditional customs remain highly influential in daily agricultural activities.