Determinants of Green Technology Adoption among Malaysian Paddy Farmers: Evidence from Northwest Selangor
Abstract
Adopting sustainable practices is becoming increasingly vital to enhancing the sustainability and resilience of rice production. In Malaysia, efforts such as the Malaysian Good Agricultural Practices (myGAP) and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) have been promoted to foster more environmentally friendly paddy farming. Nonetheless, adoption rates among farmers are inconsistent, and evidence on the socioeconomic, farm, and institutional factors influencing adoption remains limited. This study investigates the socioeconomic, farm, and institutional determinants of green technology adoption among Malaysian paddy farmers, focusing specifically on the roles of farmer training, land tenure, and farm management practices. Data were collected from 457 paddy farmers in the Integrated Agricultural Development Area (IADA) Barat Laut Selangor, including 252 conventional farmers and 205 adopting green technology. Green technology adoption was defined as implementing myGAP and IPM. A binary logistic regression with heteroskedasticity-robust standard errors assessed the relationship between adoption and various socioeconomic, farm, and institutional factors. Results indicate that training participation is the strongest positive predictor of adoption, followed by planting method, which also has a significant positive effect. Conversely, gender and rented land tenure were significant negative predictors. Age, formal education, main occupation, land type, irrigation, loans, government assistance, and organic fertiliser use were not statistically significant at the 5% level. The findings suggest that green technology adoption among Malaysian paddy farmers is more closely linked to experiential learning, farm management practices, and land tenure than to formal education. Enhancing farmer training and extension services, improving institutional support for tenant farmers, and promoting practical learning opportunities could help expand the adoption of sustainable rice-farming practices.