Can digitalization improve agriculture? Exploring the impact of ICT on grain food production in SAARC countries

Abstract

In the last two decades, the use of information and communication technology (ICT) has greatly enhanced the productivity of the global agricultural sector. There has been a substantial increase in global sustainable food production and food consumption. This research investigates the enduring impacts of ICT on grain food production in SAARC countries. This study employs balanced panel data from 2002 to 2019. In order to accomplish the objective of the research, we use the Method of Moments Quantile Regression (MMQR). The results indicate that the use of Mobile phones and the Internet has a significant and favourable effect on grain food production across all quantiles. Furthermore, the results of the causality tests validate a significant bidirectional causal relationship between Internet usage, cropland, fertilizer usage, rural labour, and grain food production. On the contrary hand, there is an unidirectional connection where Mobile phones use influence grain production. The study's results suggest that authorities of SAARC countries should invest supplementary resources to improve ICT infrastructure in rural regions. Therefore, farmers may improve their agricultural productivity and increase their revenue by using digital technology.