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Farmers’ intended and actual adoption of soil and water conservation practices

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  • Bagheri, Asghar
  • Teymouri, Ali

Abstract

Soil erosion is either caused by natural agents or induced by human activities. Human activities play a decisive role in soil erosion type and extent. Numerous studies have been conducted on the adoption of soil and water conservation (SWC), but farmers' intended and actual adoption of SWC practices are not well documented. This study employed the theory of planned behavior to model farmers' intended and actual adoption of SWC practices in Heris County in East Azarbayjan province, Iran. Except for the extended construct of moral norms, all research hypotheses were validated, confirming the importance of socio-psychological factors in farmers’ decision-making. Low-cost practices that could be implemented using available facilities were adopted, but technical and costly practices were not. Respondents had fairly positive intentions towards adopting the SWC practices (mean = 3.24). While the adoption rate was slightly lower than the intentions, the intended and actual adopted practices were strongly correlated (r = 0.837). The respondents had relatively positive attitudes towards SWC (3.59). The construct of subjective norms (3.13) showed that referent people were highly influential on farmers’ decisions to adopt SWC practices. While moral norms exhibited the highest mean score (3.78), it did not influence the intention significantly, indicating that majority of the respondents were morally committed to SWC. Regarding perceived behavioral control (PBC), the respondents had moderate to good control over their behavior in the use of some practices while their control was low in using technical practices (3.23). Attitudes, PBC, moral norms, and subjective norms explained 83.6% of the variance of intentions, and PBC and intentions captured 77.9% of the variance of actual adoption. The results have implications for policymakers and extension agencies.

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  • Bagheri, Asghar & Teymouri, Ali, 2022. "Farmers’ intended and actual adoption of soil and water conservation practices," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 259(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:259:y:2022:i:c:s0378377421005217
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2021.107244
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    1. Passarelli, Mariacarmela & Bongiorno, Giuseppe & Cucino, Valentina & Cariola, Alfio, 2023. "Adopting new technologies during the crisis: An empirical analysis of agricultural sector," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 186(PA).
    2. Hope Mwanake & Bano Mehdi-Schulz & Karsten Schulz & Nzula Kitaka & Luke O. Olang & Jakob Lederer & Mathew Herrnegger, 2023. "Agricultural Practices and Soil and Water Conservation in the Transboundary Region of Kenya and Uganda: Farmers’ Perspectives of Current Soil Erosion," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-32, July.

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