The use of the Internet to promote agritourism, combined with sales of regional products, also offers enormous potential for less favoured rural areas by stimulating economic activity. The development of alternative or complementary economic activities to agriculture is vital to the future economic viability of many rural communities, though by no means a solution to their structural problems. What the Future Holds With the growing number of Internet users, electronic commerce in agriculture is likely to increase both in terms of the products offered and the range of marketing arrangements. By providing rapid and efficient communication and transactions between producers, processors and retailers, computer networks can facilitate co-ordination between production processes and consumer requirements. As governments reduce their involvement in setting prices, futures and option markets will become the principal mechanisms used by farmers in managing price risks.
Electronic commerce offers unprecedented opportunities for farmers and more broadly for rural areas.
But an number of issues still have be resolved if the full benefits are to be realised. The system can only work if the necessary infrastructure, particulary for transport, is available. Another constraint could lie in the insufficient physical access to electronic networks in rural areas and the costs of such access , although service may be expected to expand and its costs to fall over time. The rapid development of electronic commerce in agriculture nonetheless attests to the dynamic and creative capacities of the private sector in meeting the challenges and exploiting the opportunities of the changing economic environment. A few additional examples are provided as an indication of the range of sites available on the Internet.