IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i11p4500-d1402086.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Influence of Psychological Factors on Dairy Farmers’ Intentions to Adopt Environmental Sustainability Practices in Paraná State, Brazil

Author

Listed:
  • Jessica Ortega de Jesus Sangali

    (Programa de Pós-Graduação em Produção Sustentável e Saúde Animal—PPS/UEM, Departamento de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Estrada da Paca, S/N, Umuarama 87507-190, PR, Brazil)

  • Ferenc Istvan Bánkuti

    (Programa de Pós-Graduação em Produção Sustentável e Saúde Animal—PPS/UEM, Departamento de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Estrada da Paca, S/N, Umuarama 87507-190, PR, Brazil
    Programa de Pós-Graduação em Zootecnia—PPZ/UEM, Departamento de Zootecnia, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Av. Colombo, 5790, Bloco J45, Maringá 87020-900, PR, Brazil)

  • Julio Cesar Damasceno

    (Programa de Pós-Graduação em Zootecnia—PPZ/UEM, Departamento de Zootecnia, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Av. Colombo, 5790, Bloco J45, Maringá 87020-900, PR, Brazil)

  • Henrique Leal Perez

    (Programa de Pós-Graduação em Zootecnia—PPZ/UEM, Departamento de Zootecnia, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Av. Colombo, 5790, Bloco J45, Maringá 87020-900, PR, Brazil)

Abstract

Efforts worldwide have been dedicated to developing strategies for reducing the environmental impacts arising from agricultural production. In developing countries, such as Brazil, where agricultural production stands as one of the most important economic sectors, meeting institutional and market requirements for sustainability is essential for ensuring the country’s competitiveness. This study investigated the intention of Brazilian dairy farmers to adopt environmental sustainability practices. The sample comprised 100 dairy farms in Paraná State, Brazil. The data were analyzed using structural equation models and discussed from the perspective of the Theory of Planned Behavior. The results showed that farmers’ intentions to adopt sustainability practices is not associated with socioeconomic or production characteristics. Structural equation modeling identified three constructs explaining farmers’ intentions to adopt sustainability practices, namely attitude (ATT), subjective norms (SN), and perceived behavioral control (PBC). ATT and SN had a positive and significant influence, explaining 90% ( R 2 = 0.90) of the farmers’ intentions toward sustainability adoption. The lack of influence of the PBC construct suggests that farmers perceive themselves as having limited ability to adopt sustainability practices, mainly attributed to a lack of knowledge and financial resources, low self-confidence, and a heavy reliance on others for the implementation of sustainability actions.

Suggested Citation

  • Jessica Ortega de Jesus Sangali & Ferenc Istvan Bánkuti & Julio Cesar Damasceno & Henrique Leal Perez, 2024. "Influence of Psychological Factors on Dairy Farmers’ Intentions to Adopt Environmental Sustainability Practices in Paraná State, Brazil," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-13, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:11:p:4500-:d:1402086
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/11/4500/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/11/4500/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lalani, Baqir & Dorward, Peter & Holloway, Garth & Wauters, Erwin, 2016. "Smallholder farmers' motivations for using Conservation Agriculture and the roles of yield, labour and soil fertility in decision making," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 80-90.
    2. Elahi, Ehsan & Zhang, Hongxia & Lirong, Xing & Khalid, Zainab & Xu, Haiyun, 2021. "Understanding cognitive and socio-psychological factors determining farmers’ intentions to use improved grassland: Implications of land use policy for sustainable pasture production," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    3. Galloway, Craig & Conradie, Beatrice & Prozesky, Heidi & Esler, Karen, 2018. "Opportunities to improve sustainability on commercial pasture-based dairy farms by assessing environmental impact," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 1-9.
    4. Adnan, Nadia & Nordin, Shahrina Md & bin Abu Bakar, Zulqarnain, 2017. "Understanding and facilitating sustainable agricultural practice: A comprehensive analysis of adoption behaviour among Malaysian paddy farmers," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 372-382.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Riffat Ara Zannat Tama & Md Mahmudul Hoque & Ying Liu & Mohammad Jahangir Alam & Mark Yu, 2023. "An Application of Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to Examining Farmers’ Behavioral Attitude and Intention towards Conservation Agriculture in Bangladesh," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-22, February.
    2. Abadi, Bijan & Yadollahi, Arash & Bybordi, Ahmad & Rahmati, Mehdi, 2020. "The discrimination of adopters and non-adopters of conservation agricultural initiatives in northwest Iran: Attitudinal, soil testing, and topographical modules," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    3. Li, Fuduo & Zhang, Kangjie & Ren, Jing & Yin, Changbin & Zhang, Yang & Nie, Jun, 2021. "Driving mechanism for farmers to adopt improved agricultural systems in China: The case of rice-green manure crops rotation system," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    4. Daxini, Amar & O’Donoghue, Cathal & Ryan, Mary & Buckley, Cathal & Barnes, Andrew P., 2018. "Factors influencing farmers' intentions to adopt nutrient management planning: accounting for heterogeneity," 166th Seminar, August 30-31, 2018, Galway, West of Ireland 276183, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    5. Daxini, Amar & Ryan, Mary & O’Donoghue, Cathal & Barnes, Andrew P., 2019. "Understanding farmers’ intentions to follow a nutrient management plan using the theory of planned behaviour," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 428-437.
    6. Giuseppe Timpanaro & Gaetano Chinnici & Roberta Selvaggi & Giulio Cascone & Vera Teresa Foti & Alessandro Scuderi, 2023. "Farmer?s adoption of agricultural insurance for Mediterranean crops as an innovative behavior," Economia agro-alimentare, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 25(2), pages 155-188.
    7. Murat Okumah & Julia Martin-Ortega & Paula Novo & Pippa J. Chapman, 2020. "Revisiting the Determinants of Pro-Environmental Behaviour to Inform Land Management Policy: A Meta-Analytic Structural Equation Model Application," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-33, April.
    8. Daxini, Amar & O'Donoghue, Cathal & Ryan, Mary & Barnes, Andrew & Buckley, Cathal & Daly, Karen, 2018. "Which factors influence farmers’ intentions to adopt nutrient management planning?," 92nd Annual Conference, April 16-18, 2018, Warwick University, Coventry, UK 273494, Agricultural Economics Society.
    9. Daxini, Amar & O'Donoghue, Cathal & Ryan, Mary & Barnes, Andrew & Buckley, Cathal & Daly, Karen, 2018. "Which factors influence farmers’ intentions to adopt nutrient management planning?," 92nd Annual Conference, April 16-18, 2018, Warwick University, Coventry, UK 273498, Agricultural Economics Society.
    10. Naeem Hayat & Abdullah Al Mamun & Noorul Azwin Md Nasir & Ganeshsree Selvachandran & Noorshella Binti Che Nawi & Quek Shio Gai, 2020. "Predicting Sustainable Farm Performance—Using Hybrid Structural Equation Modelling with an Artificial Neural Network Approach," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-37, August.
    11. Federica Salari & Chiara Marconi & Irene Sodi & Iolanda Altomonte & Mina Martini, 2025. "Environmental Sustainability of Dairy Cattle in Pasture-Based Systems vs. Confined Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-20, April.
    12. Du Peng & Ehsan Elahi & Zainab Khalid, 2023. "Productive Service Agglomeration, Human Capital Level, and Urban Economic Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-25, April.
    13. Morais, Manoela & Binotto, Erlaine & Borges, João Augusto Rossi, 2017. "Identifying beliefs underlying successors’ intention to take over the farm," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 48-58.
    14. Ahmad Yaghoubi Farani & Saeid Hedayati Nia & Karwan Shanazi & Pouria Ataie & Karim Naderi Mahdei & Hossein Azadi, 2025. "Soil conservation projects and their consequences: the behavior analysis of Iranian farmers," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 27(4), pages 9447-9476, April.
    15. Daniela Salite, 2019. "Explaining the uncertainty: understanding small-scale farmers’ cultural beliefs and reasoning of drought causes in Gaza Province, Southern Mozambique," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 36(3), pages 427-441, September.
    16. Kassam, L. & Lakoh, K. & Longley, C. & Phillips, M.J. & Siriwardena, S.N., 2017. "Sierra Leone fish value chain with special emphasis on Tonkolili District," Monographs, The WorldFish Center, number 40706, April.
    17. Elahi, Ehsan & Zhang, Zhixin & Khalid, Zainab & Xu, Haiyun, 2022. "Application of an artificial neural network to optimise energy inputs: An energy- and cost-saving strategy for commercial poultry farms," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 244(PB).
    18. Yan Zhao & Ehsan Elahi & Zainab Khalid & Xuegang Sun & Fang Sun, 2023. "Environmental, Social and Governance Performance: Analysis of CEO Power and Corporate Risk," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-18, January.
    19. Min Zhu & Mengqi Sun & Ehsan Elahi & Yajie Li & Zainab Khalid, 2023. "Analyzing the Relationship between Green Finance and Agricultural Industrial Upgrading: A Panel Data Study of 31 Provinces in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-19, June.
    20. Wang, Qian & Ren, Shuming, 2022. "Evaluation of green technology innovation efficiency in a regional context: A dynamic network slacks-based measuring approach," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:11:p:4500-:d:1402086. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.