Social capital, agriculture Extension services and access of resources toward innovation adoption in household farming in Malaysia

Abstract

The objectives of the researcher were to find out the impacts of social capital, extension services and access of resources on innovation adoption in household farming, for which, a major mediating impact of human capital has been considered as well. The target population of the researcher was a subsector of the agricultural sector in Malaysia, which is household farming sector. The researcher performed detailed review of literature and then adopted research design for this study having quantitative research method, positivist research philosophy, deductive research approach and cross-sectional time horizon. Moreover, from the target population, a sample of 330 individuals is selected based on purposive sampling technique. The researcher has collected the data with the help of self-administered questionnaire-based survey and 323 valid responses have been obtained by the researcher. The collected data is arranged and analyzed with the help of Microsoft excel and SPSS software, with the application of confirmatory factor analysis and regression analysis. The results propose significant impacts of extension services and access of resources on innovation adoption in household farming, and the human capital significantly mediates the relationship present among social capital, extension services, excessive resources, and innovation adoption in household farming as well. However, the impact of social capital on innovation adoption in household farming has been found to be insignificant. The study is significant for considering a subsector in the agricultural sector of Malaysia, and it is also significant and novel for considering diversified factors while analyzing the innovation adoption in household farming.