FACTORS AFFECTING THE NEED FOR A SPECIALIZED E-COMMERCE PLATFORM FOR MANAGING AGRICULTURAL ENTITIES

Small holder farmers appear to have much to gain from the use of information technologies in the business, particularly given their spatial dispersion in terms of remoteness and its' small scale turnover. However, the available statistics show a lower rate of usage of information technologies for agriculture business purposes. This article presents an investigation of factors affecting the adoption of e-commerce solutions by small-scale farmers in Lithuania. The aim was to identify the factors that cause the interest of small-scale farmers in e-commerce and to the adaptation of a specialized e-commerce platform for agriculture businesses in Lithuania. The research is novel, as it addresses an unexplored area - the use of e-commerce solutions by farmers in Lithuania. The novelty of this research is based on the idea that small-scale farmers will develop their farms if they start to use the tools from the electronic platforms in their everyday activities. The research was done using questionnaires from 284 respondents (about 0.25 percent of all Lithuanian farmers, according to the 2019 data) from all regions of Lithuania. Data were collected using only online questionnaires in December 2022 and January 2023 years. The results show that there are important factors causing farmers' reluctance to use electronic platforms, such as the farmer's age and experience. The results of the study provide an important contribution to the development of information technology in agriculture, including confirming the need to introduce and develop a specialized e-commerce platform in the agricultural sector.