Open AccessDrivers of farmers’ intention to adopt integrated pest management: a case study of vegetable farmers in Pakistan
Author(s) -
Khan Fawad Z. A.,
Manzoor Syed Amir,
Gul Hafiza Tahira,
Ali Mudssar,
Bashir Muhammad Amjad,
Akmal Muhammad,
Haseeb Muhammad,
Imran Muhammad Usama,
Taqi Muhammad,
Manzoor Syed Asad,
Lukac Martin,
Joseph Shimat V.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
ecosphere
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.255
H-Index - 57
ISSN - 2150-8925
DOI - 10.1002/ecs2.3812
Subject(s) - integrated pest management , pest analysis , agriculture , confirmatory factor analysis , agricultural science , pest control , business , pesticide , exploratory factor analysis , marketing , geography , agronomy , environmental science , biology , archaeology , service (business)
Integrated pest management adoption is quite low around the globe, particularly in developing countries, due to different factors. Here, we examine the factors affecting the intention of Pakistani farmers to adopt integrated pest management practices in vegetable production using a structured questionnaire. We interviewed 301 vegetable growers in Multan, Pakistan. The reliability and validity of the data, along with the underlying relationship between the observed variables, were identified through exploratory factor analysis. The majority of the farmers (79.4%) relied on pesticides for pest control. More than four out of 10 of the respondents (43.8%) reported that okra received the highest application of pesticides followed by potato (24.5%) and cauliflower (17.9%). Integrated pest management was currently non‐existent among the vegetable growers of the study area. The latent factors—“knowledge of the adverse effects of pesticide,” “belief in the efficacy of non‐chemical pest control measures,” “perceived barriers to the adoption of integrated pest management,” “progressive farming approach,” and “intention to adopt integrated pest management”—were subsequently confirmed using confirmatory factor analysis. The structural equation model suggested that the intention to adopt integrated pest management is significantly affected by farmers’ knowledge of the adverse effects of pesticides (β = 0.274, z ‐value = 3.082, P = 0.002). An increase in farmers’ awareness of the harmful effects of pesticides could lead to integrated pest management adoption for pest control. The scale for intention to adopt integrated pest management developed in this study can be used in future studies and provide valuable insights to the policymakers for devising integrated pest management adoption campaigns in the study area.