The Intention of Agro Farmer Toward the Application of Kitosanplus in Malacca

Abstract

Kitosanplus is a polysaccharide which primarily made up of glucosamine and N-acetylglucosamine that is derived from a low-acetyl form of chitin where both of cellulose and chitin have a similar structure and composition. Created by mixing of an alkaline material like sodium hydroxide with the chitin shells of shrimp and other crustaceans, Kitosanplus act as either pesticide or fertilizer with the nature of biodegradable and environmental friendly. However, many of the agro farmers were not familiar and lack of expertise in using Kitosanplus as organic fertilizer for their plant. The study is conducted among 53 respondents of agro farmers which take place in Malacca. The study is aimed to determine the agro farmer intention, the relationship between age and perceived behavior of agro farmer and to identify the most influential factors among the agro farmers intention towards the application of Kitosanplus. Agro farmers' willingness on the application of organic fertilizer especially Kitosanplus is determined by the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) consisting of attitude, social norms and the perceive behaviour control. The age had a significant correlation with perceive behaviour control of agro farmers towards the Kitosanplus application which is at 0.472. In addition, perceive behavior is the most important factor among agro farmers intention towards the application of Kitosanplus as it shows a higher variance which is 80.523%. In conclusion, the application of Kitosanplus should be implemented by the agro farmers in order to produce better quality crops.