The current state of the issue of information needs and dispositions among small Czech farms

Abstract

The supply of fast, accessible and high-quality information to individual users is the key aspect of information assurances of the agricultural sector. This aspect is closely related to the so-called information need. The paper aims to evaluate the current state of the information needs and information support and their impacts on small farms in the Czech Republic. There is a strong necessity to improve the economic performance of farms in the Czech Republic. Moreover, the need for the introduction of new ICT in farming and farm management has rapidly increased at present. In farming, the ICT directly supports the operational agricultural activities and it can also serve as an interactive and flexible tool for monitoring the progress of the farm economic performance. The analysis of the current state of the issue of information needs and dispositions among Czech farms was based on the questionnaire survey. We obtained 165 correctly filled answers from agricultural enterprises. Survey results are analysed with descriptive statistics, frequency tables, the clustering analysis and the correlation analysis. The results show that with 95% probability: (1) The level of the information needs is related to the current state of the ICT and the decision support system at the farm, (2) The influence of the information need level to the level of new technologies usage was not confirmed, (3) Legislation issues represent a crucial part of the information needs of agricultural subjects, (4) Large enterprises with more than 500 ha have a much better level of the information support than the companies with fewer hectares, (5) Companies with less than three employees face problems with their information support, (6) Czech farms in average use advanced ICT and information systems, and (7) The farmer’s decision-making is not strongly facilitated through the ICT.