MORTEX technology acceptance to improve the latex production among RISDA rubber smallholder

Abstract

The Malaysia Rubber Board (MRB) has introduced many technologies to increase latex production, such as the MORTEX technology. Unfortunately, production of natural rubber in Malaysia had decreased to 62.5% in 2020, and it became worst when technology adoption or acceptance among smallholders was relatively low. This study aims to identify the MORTEX technology acceptance among RISDA rubber smallholders in Kelantan. This study has adapted Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) for instrument development. A simple random sampling technique was employed in selecting 100 RISDA rubber smallholders in Kelantan. Descriptive analysis and Pearson correlation analysis were used to analyse the data. The finding indicates a negligible correlation between perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use on MORTEX technology acceptance. Besides, the level of MORTEX technology acceptance indicates an average mean score (M=3.18), while perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use both have shown a high mean score (M=4.04) and (M=4.03), respectively. This study is significant to the government, researchers, and smallholders or farmers to understand the factors and importance of agriculture technology adoption for improving crop productivities. The findings are important and valuable to investigate further factors affecting the acceptance and usage of agriculture technology such as MORTEX by smallholders.