The objective of the study was to characterize small-scale dairy production systems to identify the technological preferences according to the farmer and farm characteristics and to analyze the importance and role of the information communication technologies (ICTs) in the dissemination of information related to management and livestock activities. To collect the data, a survey was applied to 170 small-scale dairy farmers from central Mexico. To characterize the farms, a factor analysis (FA) and cluster analysis (CA) were performed. To compare and identify differences between groups, a Kruskal–Wallis test was conducted. Four factors that explain 70.93% of the accumulated variance were identified; these factors explain the use of technology, production characteristics, social connections, and use of ICTs. The cluster analysis identified four groups. Group 1 was integrated by farmers with more experience and the largest farms. Group 2 had higher studies and use of ICTs. Group 3 was formed by young farmers but had a low use of technology. Group 4 contained older farmers with a low use of technology. The young farmers with higher studies have begun to incorporate ICTs into their daily activities on the farm, as observed in Group 2. Smartphones were the most used and were considered important by the farmers of the four groups, since they enable interaction with other farmers and the dissemination of topics of interest related with the farm. In conclusion, four group of farmers were differentiated; therefore, different extension approaches should be implemented to take into account the preferences and the technologies considered most important for each group. The ICTs are emerging technologies among small-scale dairy farmers to communicate information related to livestock management, mainly by young farmers with studies of secondary, as observed in Group 2.

中文翻译：

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在墨西哥中部的小型乳制品生产系统中使用信息和通信技术

该研究的目的是描述小规模乳制品生产系统的特征，以根据农民和农场特征确定技术偏好，并分析信息通信技术 (ICT) 在传播与管理和管理相关的信息中的重要性和作用。畜牧活动。为了收集数据，我们对来自墨西哥中部的 170 名小规模奶农进行了调查。为了表征农场，进行了因子分析（FA）和聚类分析（CA）。为了比较和识别组间的差异，进行了 Kruskal-Wallis 检验。确定了解释 70.93% 累积方差的四个因素；这些因素解释了技术的使用、生产特征、社会联系和信息通信技术的使用。聚类分析确定了四组。第 1 组由经验丰富的农民和最大的农场组成。第 2 组对 ICT 进行了更高的研究和使用。第 3 组由年轻农民组成，但技术使用率低。第 4 组包含技术使用率较低的年长农民。正如第 2 组所观察到的那样，受过高等教育的年轻农民已经开始将 ICT 纳入他们在农场的日常活动中。智能手机是使用最多的，并且被这四个组的农民认为是重要的，因为它们可以与其他农民互动并传播与农场有关的感兴趣的话题。总之，区分了四类农民；因此，应实施不同的扩展方法，以考虑到每个群体的偏好和被认为最重要的技术。