Critical factors for oil palm plantation workers acceptance and use of mechanization technovation tools

Abstract

Oil palm plantation workers, still rely on manual tools and using mechanization technovation tools has been big issues as they rejected to use. Thus, in emphasizing technovation tools in a human activity, this study aims to examine several factors influencing acceptance and use technovation machine tools in Malaysia based on the revised Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model. A total of 126 oil palm plantation workers answer the questionnaire. This model was analyzed using SPSS technique and conducting reliability test, correlation analysis and regression analysis. The results reveal that performance expectancy, facilitating condition and intention to use were supported as important factors to accept and use of technovation. However, effort expectancy and social influence have been rejected because not significantly influence intention to use technovation. The results of study give implications and suggestions to future researchers and practitioners in order to address problems regarding technovation acceptance.

Adoption of mechanization alternatives in oil palm crops in the Colombian Orinoquía natural region

“…This study shows the availability of mechanized technologies that have shown their efficiency in cutting, lifting, and collecting oil palm bunches, such as motorcycle trailers, grabbers, and minitractors with trailer, grabber and cableway systems (Alfonso et al, 2009b(Alfonso et al, , 2009aMahadi et al, 2018;Shuib et al, 2011Shuib et al, , 2020. However, the results also show low adoption of the most efficient technologies; the difficulty in mechanizing FFB harvesting processes is evident in studies conducted in Malaysia (Nawi et al, 2015;Norhajijah et al, 2021). This difficulty has been related to soil characteristics, funding availability, area of operation of these technologies, and crop yield, among other factors (Mosquera-Montoya et al, 2023).…”

“…Due to its inherent nature, the harvest stage demands sophisticated equipment, leaving few alternatives available for machinery and adopted systems. Enhancing the humanmachine interface is crucial during product design, and manufacturers must actively disseminate information and provide training to workers (Nawi et al, 2015). As suggested by Ramli et al (2021) and Syarifudin and Zareen (2021), a Manufacturing Powerhouse with expertise in developing and marketing high-capital equipment is also needed to bridge the gap between research, development, and technology adoption in plantations.…”

Use of modern technology and innovations to increase the productivity of oil palm smallholders

“…Feedback from oil palm growers indicates that modern technology has changed the management and operation of oil palm cultivation to increase productivity. Mohd Nawi et al (2018) clarified that the technology used in harvesting oil palm bunches includes collecting loose oil palm fruits, transferring the harvest to lorries for transportation to the factory while the technology for application in field operations includes fertilizer application, pest and disease control, and the cutting of palm fronds. Such applications of technological innovations have contributed immensely to the development of the palm oil sector in Malaysia.…”