ICT and farm productivity: Evidence from the Chilean agricultural export sector

Abstract

With the use of modern information and communication technologies (ICTs), farmers in developing and transition countries can overcome non-market information asymmetries and increase farm productivity. Which kind of ICT is most effective is still uncertain. This study aims at investigating the impact of different kinds of ICTs on farmer's performance by using survey data collected from raspberry, avocado and table grape farmers in Chile in 2012. The results of our analysis show that the use of ICTs for communicating with trading partners has a significant impact on farm productivity. This especially counts for the use of mobile phones by smallholder raspberry producers, whereas the use of various internet communication channels has controversial effects on avocado producers (mainly mediumsized farms) and table grape producers (mainly large farms).