Acceptance of New Coconut Seed Matag Among Coconut Growers in Bagan Datoh, Perak And Bachok, Kelantan

Cocos nucifera is cultivated as a plantation crop in more than 90 countries for numerous purposes. It is native to coastal areas of Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, etc. The coconut plant has the greatest number of purposes, particularly in the tropics. The demand for coconut is strong; however, a low supply is limited by fewer farmers cultivating the new hybrid seed of MATAG, thereby resulting in a short ability to fulfil the demand of the coconut industry. Therefore, this study was undertaken with the primary aim to evaluate the acceptance factor of new coconut seed MATAG among coconut growers. Other objectives include to identify the knowledge and attitude level of coconut growers towards the new seed MATAG and to clarify the perception level of the agricultural extension activities in technology transfer of the new seed MATAG. A total of 100 respondents, each from Kelantan and Perak, were involved in this study. A questionnaire that consists of five (5) sections was distributed to the coconut growers. Data obtained were subjected to descriptive and mean ranking analysis using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 25. The study finds that the respondents perceived the new coconut seed favorably. Although the attitude and knowledge level among coconut growers toward the new coconut seed is high, the extension agencies must enhance their commitment to transfer the knowledge and information on the new seed. In line with this finding, the study highlights the importance of the extension agencies as the crucial liaison to approach the farmers and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food-based Industry (MAFI) should provide training, disseminate improved technologies and support extension officers to assist the smallholder farmers. The farmers should also cooperate with the extension agents and the agricultural extension agencies should, in turn, encourage the farmers to actively involved in the coconut production as well as helping them to resolve the issues at the farm that are impeding the production.

Presently, Malaysia is one of the top 10 coconut producing countries in the world, topped by Indonesia as the world's largest producer. In 2014, Indonesia recorded a production area of 3.9 million ha that amounts to the productivity of 18 million metric tons (MT), followed by the Philippines and India with productivity area totaled at 3.2 million ha and 1.9 million ha, respectively. After oil palm, rubber and rice, coconut is Malaysia's fourth important industrial crop. In 2013, Malaysia recorded an increased in coconut production for both local and international markets from 550,140 (2010) to 624,727 MT. However, the production subsequently declined dramatically over the next three years from 2014 to 2016, with an estimated value of 530,000 MT. The main coconut producers in Malaysia are Johor, Perak, Sabah, Sarawak, and Selangor. In terms of socio-economy, the coconut industry contributes substantially to eradicate poverty with over 83,000 farming family are depending on the plant as a livelihood. The coconut production in the country composed of 74% of fresh coconut and 26% for the processing industry. According to Marina et al. (2006), Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) is highly demanded in the industry because of the lauric acid content, which offers a wide range of health benefits, including enhancing digestibility and antiviral activity.
As of present, the production of the coconut remains inadequate to satisfy the industrial demands of both conventional and developing industries. The current production is still short of the current estimated demand of approximately 110,000 MT. The limited productivity is evidently attributed to the substantial declining in the acreage of cultivation area from 105,658 hectares in 2010 to 80,360 hectares in 2016. Apparently, growers are attracted to the prospect of earning lucratively from other more competitive crops, especially oil palm, hence the shift from coconut to the golden crop. Consequently, imports of coconut from a neighboring country are required in order to accommodate the local industrial demands. In 2014, Malaysia reportedly import coconut worth 63 million (2014). Therefore, the level of production must be enhanced in order to maximize the competitiveness of the local coconut industry. This would inevitably increase the profitability of income and stimulate the interests of coconut. To achieve the objective of improving the productivity of the local coconut industry, the Department of Agriculture has established several development programs, most notably involving the replanting and coconut estate recovery projects to expand the production area from 4,564 ha in the 8 th Malaysia Plan (MP) to 6,795 ha in the 9 th MP.

1) Area Production of Coconut in Malaysia
As an industry, coconut contributes relatively little to Malaysia's overall economy with an export value of approximately RM28,971 million in 2012. This is because coconut faces a stiff competition with the highly productive palm oil as evidenced by the substantial decline in the total area of cultivation from 100,996.01 ha in 2012 to 82,917 ha in 2017. According to projections under the 11 th MP, the demand for coconut by 2020 is expected to be 1.2 billion a year. Among the numerous coconut varieties, Malaysia cultivates the Malayan Tall as the predominant variety (92.2%). Others include the 4.3% of hybrid MATAG, 1.7% of each MAWA and Pandan (1.7%) and the Malayan Dwarfs constitutes a mere 0.2%. Table 1 presents the distribution of the cultivation area of coconut in Malaysia and the production volume by the state in 2018. Johor has the largest cultivation area in Peninsular Malaysia with 12,949.7 ha, followed by Selangor 9,860.2 ha, Kelantan 9,542.1 ha and Perak 8,421.0 ha. These four states have the highest productivity rates owing to the soil conditions and topography that are ideal for coconut cultivation. Even though both Sabah and Sarawak have a large production area, but the efficiency outputs are significantly lower compared to the four states in Peninsular Malaysia.  Table 2 indicates the major area of coconut production with Bachok has the highest production volume of 45,359.8 tonnes, followed by Tumpat 13,060.8 tonnes, Kota Bharu 7,375.2 tonnes and Pasir Puteh 3,192.1 tonnes. The other districts in Kelantan are also involved in the production of coconut, albeit with lower production volume. Meanwhile, in Table 3, Hilir has the highest cultivation areas of coconut in Perak, which includes the areas of Bagan Datoh and Hutan Melintang. The total area cultivated was approximately 7,617.2 ha, yielding 63,364.9 tonnes of coconut. The official records of planting area and production volume for Bagan Datoh, however, is not available.   (2018) According to the statistics of the agro-food sector in 2018, Kelantan registered a total of 7,144 coconut growers, while Perak has 7,087. Table 4 compares the productivity rates between the coconut varieties of MATAG hybrid and Malayan Tall. The average output production of MATAG during the first six (6) years of the harvest is 18,467 nuts compared to 5,050 nuts of Malayan Tall. The data evidently suggests the grossly insufficient domestic supply of coconut to fulfil the growing demand in Malaysia, which is driven primarily by the rising population. The Department of Statistic Malaysia indeed revealed that Malaysia has expanded its population by 13% to 32 million in 2017. Furthermore, local consumption of coconut in 2006 increased from 506,000 tonnes to 510,000 in 2008 (Department of Agriculture, 2008;Tzotzou, 2014). Table 5 reports the average productivity of four coconut varieties, namely Malayan Tall, Malayan Dwarf, MATAG, and Pandan. Of the varieties, Malayan Tall has the lowest productivity with only 6,000-8,000 coconut per ha, a massive comparison with the other three varieties. Both Malayan Dwarf and Pandan varieties share a similar productivity rate with 27,000-30,000 coconut, compared to the relatively lower output from MATAG (20,000-25,000). The difference may be attributed to the introduction of MATAG as the newest seed, which understandably requires more time to adapt to the environment.

3) Import and Export
The government strongly encourages the cultivation coconut in order to meet the increasing demand for uses in cooking, baking, consumption, tourism activities and others. In 2015, Malaysia posted a trade deficit of RM 27,389,000 as the country exported coconut and coconut products valued at RM67,127,000 while importing RM 94,516,000 worth of coconut. Most of the export coconut comprised of coconut oil and coconut products such as activated carbon, dry grated coconut and coconut milk. The emergence of new products such as Virgin Coconut Oil further highlighted the importance of coconut.

4) Varieties of Coconut
Coconut palm is extensively cultivated in many tropical countries. It has become essential sources of food, drink, fibre, vitamins, minerals and electrolytes associated with remarkable health benefits. Presently, there are 12 distinct varieties of coconut in Malaysia, but only three hybrids are recommended by Department of Agriculture (DOA), which include Kelapa Wangi or Pandan (Aromatic Dwarf), MAWA and MATAG (DOA, 2011).
This study focuses on the MATAG cultivar, which is a hybrid of Malaysian Dwarf/Malayan Red Dwarf and the Philippines Tagnanan Tall. It is capable of yielding more coconut between 10 to 22 coconuts per time relative to other cultivars (Mohd. Taufik and Md. Akhir, 2014). Also, the hybrid begins fruiting in the third year of planting which can be harvested at 48 months (DOA, 2016). In terms of

Problem Statement and Study Objective
MATAG hybrid is a new coconut seed, a famous variety among local growers in Malaysia. The potential contribution of the new variety to the Malaysian economy remains unexplored, which accordingly presents an opportunity for a new business venture for farmers in the country. Considering the growing demands for raw material in cooking and the new functional food of Virgin Coconut Oil, the MATAG hybrid is identified as a suitable variety for commercial cultivation in several states of the major coconut producers in the country, most notably Johor, Perak, Selangor, Kelantan and Perak, owing to the favourable climate conditions.
This study seeks to address several issues that pertain the productivity of commercial cultivation of coconut in Malaysia. First, can the cultivation of MATAG hybrid achieve the maximum planting area in Malaysia to satisfy the future demand? It concerns with the long-term implication of importing fresh coconut from Indonesia to meet the consumers' demand towards the domestic industry. Second, there is currently a lack of infrastructure and technologies to facilitate coconut production. It begs the question on the sufficiency of the new seed. Third, farmers suffer from a lack of knowledge and practices on growing coconut, which could affect the production potential of the crop. Since MATAG is a relatively new hybrid, coconut growers must be informed on the physiological aspects of the plant. The country's aspiration to develop the industry that is capable of fulfilling the demand and achieve a decent supply of coconut would depend on the growers' acceptance of the MATAG variety.
The goal of this study is, therefore, to evaluate the acceptance of the new coconut seed among coconut growers. The study also aims to achieve the following specific objectives: 1) To identify respondents' profile; 2) To determine the knowledge and attitude level of respondents towards the new seed MATAG, and 3) To clarify the perception level of respondents toward the agricultural extension activities in transferring the technology of new seed MATAG.

Literature Review
Acceptance is defined as an individual's willingness and decision to adopt the innovation (Kotler, 1991). It is driven by the attitude of an individual on the use of technology and is influenced by several factors (Davis, 1989). To demonstrate how an individual accepts and adopts a technology or innovation, Davis (1989) proposes two scales viz perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use in the Technology Acceptance Model. Numerous researchers have attempted to identify and understand the factors that affect the users' acceptance by influencing the execution process in a way that reduces the resistance upon engaging the technology (Teo, 2011). Nazuri & Man (2016) demonstrate that farmers perceive based on their experience with the new technology, however, it is not wise to assume that the farmers would characterize the technologies favourably. As a matter of fact, the education background and farmer's depth of knowledge affect the acceptance of the technology. Generally, the initial awareness upon the farmer's decision to accept and adopt the product involves a certain period from a mere couple of days to several years (Lionberger, 1960). This is where extension services play an essential role in relaying information on technology to the farmers. Knowledge of new seed varieties is a key factor in encouraging the adoption of technology and thereby, enhancing agricultural productivity among smallholders (Bekele et al., 2008).
Fundamentally, technology is an information body used to build resources, improve expertise and extract or acquire materials. It also makes use of adjustment and understanding of devices, software, crafts, systems and organizational practices to solve and develop a pre-existing approach to a problem, accomplish a goal, maintain the implemented input/output relation or execute a specific function (Liddell et al., 2000). It can also be described as a new, scientifically-derived, often nuanced input given to farmers by organizations with deep technological knowledge. Parvan (2010) also reiterates the view from Neill and Lee (2001) that the bulk of current literature on the adoption of agricultural technology focuses on Green Revolution (GR) innovations such as irrigation, fertilizer application, and the patterns of high-yield variety (HYV) seeds.

Methodology
The study was focusing on two (2) zones: West and East of Peninsular Malaysia. Hence, Perak and Kelantan were selected as location of study representing the states that are located in West and East Zone. The biggest of production area is Johor, however Perak was selected representing state located in West and Kelantan was selected representing the state from East Zone.
Multi-stage sampling was utilized in the selection of respondents. Specifically, the study was conducted in the districts of Bagan Datoh (Perak) and Bachok (Kelantan). Generally, the numbers of coconut growers from these districts are the highest in Perak and Kelantan. There are 7,087 and 7,144 coconut growers, respectively. A total of 200 respondents were selected from these two (2) districts, each 100 of respondents from Bagan Datoh (Perak) and Bachok (Kelantan). Data gathered from the study was subjected to descriptive and mean ranking analyses.

1) Respondents' Demographic Profiles
The respondents of this study are constituted by a diverse background. Table 7 categorized the age of the respondents. The respondents in Bachok comprised of 30% in the age range of 40-49, 40% in between 50 to 59 years old. The older age ranges of 70-79 and 80-89 each constituted 8%. On the contrary, older age of 70-79 constituted the majority of the growers in Bagan Datoh with 39%. This is followed by the age range of 60-69 (33%), middle-aged of 50-59 (12%) and the oldest age range of 80-89 (9.0%). The younger-aged farmers of 40-49 constituted the least with 7.0%. In terms of gender, a large majority of the farmers in Bachok composed of male (83%) and there were only 17% of female (Table 8). Interestingly, coconut farmers in Bagan Dato were largely predominated by the male (92.0%), higher than male growers in Bachok. There were only 8.0% of female coconut growers participated in this study.  Table 9 shows the racial composition of the respondents in Bachok and Bagan Datoh. Malay constituted predominantly among the growers in Bachok, followed by Siam and Chinese each constituted 3%. Meanwhile, in Bagan Datoh, there were no Siam growers participated in this study with Malay as the large majority (95%) and Chinese only 5%. 3.0 -- Table 10 described the education background of the respondents. In Bachok, 34% of the respondents comprised of SPM-level, followed by coconut growers who attended religious class (28%), PMR-level (16%), certificate/diploma educated (8%) and each 7% of the respondents did not attend a school or at least attended Standard 6. In Bagan Datoh, on the contrary, the majority of the respondents attended religious class (59%), followed by SPM-level (20%). Coconut growers who attended Standard made up only 4% of the total respondents. The remaining respondents in Bagan Datoh comprised of 9% growers who did not attend school and 8% with PMR-level.  Table 11 shows the percentage of respondents who have acquired agricultural education with only 1% from Bachok stated their attendance in the program distributed by the government or private agency. None of the respondents participated in this study from Bagan Datoh ever attended agricultural education.  Table 13 shows the percentage of respondent's experience in coconut farming. In Bachok, the highest frequency of farming experience with 15 years accounts for 44%, followed by 10 years which is 40% of respondents. 8% of the respondents with more than 30 years of farming experience and only 5% of the respondents have at least 5 years of experiences. In Bagan Datoh, more than half of the respondents (66%) have more than 30 years of experience in coconut farming, followed by 20 years, 10 years and 15 years which is 15%, 14% and 5%, respectively.    In terms of land ownership (Table 15), 100% of the respondents in Bagan Datoh own their lands, whereas in Bachok, 97% of the respondents owned their own land and a mere 3% rent and own land.  Table 16, 62% of the coconut farms in Bachok are planted in a farm size of 0.5 ha and below, followed by 1 ha, 2 ha and 3 ha and beyond at 25%, 10% and 3%, respectively. In Bagan Datoh, 47% of the respondents planted coconuts in 2 ha, followed by 36% in 3 ha and beyond. There is only 8% of the respondents planted coconut in 0.5 ha and below and 9% in 1 ha of land. Table 17 shows the composition of the respondents' coconut growing stage. In Bachok, 75% of the respondents indicated their trees are currently fruiting, while 19% of the respondents indicated their coconut at the mature stage and fruiting. There is only 6 % of the respondents has newly planted coconut trees but are already fruiting. In Bagan Datoh, 81% of the respondents indicated their coconut trees are fruiting whereas 19% of the respondents indicated their coconut at the mature stage and fruiting.   6.0 -- Table 18 shows the percentage of respondent's yield. In Bachok, the highest yield recorded by the respondents is around 400-600 number of coconuts, accounting for 52% of the total responds obtained, followed by 601-800, 1001-1200, and 1201-1400 coconut yield, accounting for 37%, 8% and 3%, respectively. In Bagan Datoh, 53% of the respondents indicated their maximum yield of around 1401-1600 of coconut, while 25% of the respondents produced around 801-1000 coconut. The lowest yield around 601-800 coconut accounted for 8% of the total responds obtained from Bagan Datoh.

2) Respondents' Farm Profiles
In Table 19, 84% of the respondents posted an income per season of around RM501-RM1,000. Meanwhile, 11% of the respondents earned around RM1,001-RM2,000 and 5% of the respondents posted the lowest income of RM500 and below. In Bagan Datoh, 81% of the respondents earned higher around RM3,000 and above per season.   Table 20 shows the distribution of coconut production. In Bachok, 59% of the respondents distributed the yield to coconut milk and coconut water sellers, 36% to coconut milk seller only and 5% to coconut water seller. In Bagan Datoh, the yields are predominantly distributed to coconut milk seller, wholesaler and factories, accounting for 75%. The distribution of yield to coconut water seller only accounts for 14%.      Table 23 presents the problems faced by the respondents in Bachok and Bagan Datoh. In Bachok, the uneconomic and small size of land emerged as the major problem faced by the growers (20%), followed by 19% complaining the unsystematic and conventional management practices. The respondents also suffer from the threats of pest and diseases (11%); ageing and shortage of young people to assist in operational activities (14%), and the diminished quality and performance of the coconut fruit after the second generation of planting (7%). Interestingly, 11% indicated that they were untroubled by any of the issues. In Bagan Datoh, the major problem faced by the coconut growers is the threats from ape and wild boars from sustaining the coconut planting (31%), followed by 14% indicated their challenges as a combination of one of several of the mentioned issues. Interestingly, 28% of the respondents indicated that they were untroubled by any of the issues at their farm.   Table 24 shows the respondent's knowledge of MATAG coconut seed. From the result, statement of "F2 production is not a pure MATAG seed" scored the highest mean which is 4.44 and the lowest mean is 4.19 with the statement "The hybrid of the MATAG coconut seed from (Dwarf x Tagnanan)". Table 25 shows the total average mean of 4.44, which is considered high-level knowledge possessed by the respondents of this study on new coconut seed MATAG. The high percentage is 88.5% of respondents have a high level of knowledge and only 11.5% respondents possessed a moderate level of knowledge.   Table 26 shows the result of the respondent's attitude towards new coconut seed MATAG. The statement of "I am sure that MATAG tree will reduce the cost of operation and management" have the highest mean, which is 4.88 and the lowest mean is 4.13 with the statement "I believe that planting MATAG seed will enhance the industry".  Table 28 presents the respondents' perceptions of the new seed of coconut. Five of the six statements -new seed guarantees coconut supply, a new seed is necessary for cultivation, MATAG coconut seed can reduce the difficulty in farm activities, a new seed is crucial in the coconut industry to meet the consumers' demand and the new seed will help farmers improve their product efficiency, scored a mean value of 4.64. The lowest mean (4.53) of the statement "New seed of MATAG coconut is important for effective field production".  Table 29 shows the result of the opinion level of the respondents towards technology in new coconut seed. The total mean of 4.62 is the maximum with 99.5% of the respondents indicated their acceptance toward the technology and while the remaining 5% indicated a moderate acceptance.  Table 30 shows 100% of the respondents in Bagan Datoh involved in PPK activities. Meanwhile, in Bachok, 54% of the respondents were involved with the Department of Agriculture (DOA) whereas the remaining 46% did not involve in any agricultural agency. Table 31 shows the frequency of communication between agricultural agencies and coconut growers. In Bagan Datoh, 100% respondents were contacted by the agricultural agency at least once per year. In Bachok, on the other hand, 44% of the respondents did not receive any contact from the agency. 38% of respondents stated that the agency contacted them around once per two years and 3% of respondents was contacted around once per year.   Table 32, a relatively high percentage of the respondents indicated that they were not involved in any of the activities conducted by the agricultural agency. 23% of respondents have involved in fertilizer and farm management. In Bagan Datoh, majority of the respondents (66%) reported their active participation in all of the activities conducted by the agricultural agency. Table 33 shows the respondent's frequency of involving in activities conducted by the agricultural agency. In Bachok, the highest percentage of 37% of the respondents indicated their involvement once in every two years. 25% of respondents stated their involvement only once in three years and the rest did not involve in any of the activities. In Bagan Datoh, 85% of the respondents indicated their involvement once in every two years and 15% of respondents were involved once in a year. Table 34 presents the respondents' perception of agricultural agencies and extension activities. The highest mean is 4.52 with the statement "Agricultural agencies are friendly and able to communicate with easy language to transfer information". The lowest mean is 3.50 with the statement "Agricultural agencies help to market my agricultural product".

Conclusion and Recommendation
From the descriptive analysis, the majority of the coconut growers involved in this study were male for both districts of Bachok and Bagan Datoh. The growers are between 50 to 89 years of age. The farmers are predominantly Malay by race, with only 3-5% of the growers are Chinese. Most of them have been involved in coconut farming for more than 10 years, while some have experience of more than 30 years. Most of the coconut yield in Bachok is sold to coconut milk and coconut water seller, whereas farmers in Bagan Datoh sell their coconut mainly to wholesaler and factory that produces Virgin Coconut Oil.
In Bachok, planting of the coconut using MATAG variety is relatively low compared to Bagan Datoh where the farmers also plant in combination with Malayan Tall variety of coconut. In Bachok, most of the farmers have a planting area of less than 1 ha. In comparison, the planting areas in Bagan Datoh consist of a land size around 2ha-3ha and beyond. Coconut growers in Bagan Datoh earn higher than in Bachok because the farmers focus mainly on farming coconut. Farmers in Bachok reported coconut farming as a side income.
From the result, the respondents perceived highly towards the new coconut seed. According to them, MATAG variety has a positive effect on development and economic life. They also believed that the hybrid could enhance their income and that the operational management of the coconut hybrid, particularly during harvesting, would also be easier.
Furthermore, the extension agent has played a great role in easing technology acceptance among coconut growers. Considering their level of expertise, the extension agents know more than the farmers. While the farmers only know about the release of the new seed, they do not, however, know any more about the values as well as its benefits. Therefore, the extension agents play a key role in the transition of modern seed technology to farmers. They must be able to convince the farmers to adopt the new seed of MATAG. That is, the adoption of new seed is necessary if the farmers want to increase their yield and maintain the farm easily.

Recommendation
The Department of Agriculture (DOA), particularly in Kelantan, has a major role to play in assisting the farmers to manage their coconut farm and most of the farmers rely on DOA for guidance towards becoming a successful farmer. Yet, the study found that DOA never visited the farm and supplies of MATAG seed in Kelantan are difficult to procure. Furthermore, the farmers also expressed their disappointments at the quality of the seed procured from "Pasar Tani" where the production efficiency falls short of the expectation, i.e. low yield. Their responses should be taken into consideration into future extension service planning. Acceptance of new seed will have an effect on their potential as coconut producer as it could improve the productivity and farm management efficiency.
Meanwhile, in Bagan Datoh, the main agency, namely Pertubuhan Peladang Kawasan (PPK), seemed committed to doing their job, but it is the case that depends on the farmers to accept new seed. This happened because the farmers are severely limited in their energy capacity because of the ageing factor in doing the heavy work. Rehabilitation planting activities have already been undertaken by PPK in Bagan Datoh with offers to manage the farmer's coconut farm. The farmers, in turn, should trust the staffs (PPK) to take over the farm's management. Regardless, the extension officers should provide frequent training on the use of improved technologies, such as the use of fertilizer and pesticides, in order to increase coconut yields.
Finally, the government under the Ministry of Agriculture and Food-based Industry should provide the training, disseminate the improved technologies and fully support the extension officers and smallholder farmers. The government must ensure the accessibility of agricultural inputs to the farmers that include fertilizers and improved seedlings. In order to ensure the new seed of MATAG is accepted by the farmers, all parties should play their roles. It is essential to note that, the role of extension is the most important liaison where effective extension activities would encourage farmers willingness to accept the new seed of coconut.