| Summary: | This research is mainly about the socioeconomic determinants of oil palm smallholders'
awareness towards Ganoderma disease. Data was collected from the sampled oil palm
smallholders through face to face interview by using structured questionnaire. There
were 620 respondents have been interviewed in this study, where 500 smallholders
from Sabah and 120 smallholders from Peninsular Malaysia. The data analysis was
done by conducting descriptive statistics, reliability test, factor analysis, normality test,
Mann Whitney test and Kruskal-Wallis test. The findings of factor analysis show that
there were three main factors associated with smallholders' awareness towards
Ganoderma disease. The factors are awareness on knowledge of Ganoderma disease
and detection methods, awareness on symptoms of Ganoderma disease and control
methods and awareness on potential spread of Ganoderma disease. The results of
comparison test show that there were significant difference in smallholders' awareness
on knowledge of Ganoderma disease and detection methods according to farm location
and category of smallholder. The comparison test also show that the oil palm
smallholders' awareness on symptoms of Ganoderma disease and control methods
were different according to the farm location, category of smallholder, age of
respondent, smallholders' main occupation and experience in oil palm. Farm location
and experience in oil palm cultivation were also found to be the responsible factors in
differentiating the smallholders' awareness on potential spread of Ganoderma disease.
The profile on awareness of oil palm smallholders towards Ganoderma disease is very
important and useful to the relevant stakeholders and agencies in order to help the
smallholders in combating the disease.
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