Asghar Bagheri Iran Precision Irrigation Technologies inArdabil County, Potato Growers' Attitudes andPerceptions towards a * Corresponding author’s email: [email protected] ofMohaghegh Ardabili,University Iran Accepted: 08FebruaryReceived: 2020, precision irrigation drivers; perceptions; Attitudes; barriers; Keywords: Department ofWater EngineeringandAgricultural Faculty ofAgricultural Management, Sciences andNatural Resources, Research Paper 05 May2020 a,* ISSN:2159-5860 (Online) ISSN: 2159-5852(Print) Available onlineon:www.ijamad.iaurasht.ac.ir International JournalofAgricultural Management andDevelopment andSaharPirmoazzen

Abstract T of thevariance inbarriers. skill, managerial,andlogisticbarriersaccounted for 63.12percent variance indrivers, andthefive factors ofknowledge, technical, which accountedand financialbenefit, for 63.18percent ofthe of greater thanone,namely water efficiency, easy farming practices, the barriers.Factor analysis extracted three factors witheigenvalues the items ofdrivers andtheotherfor responding to theitems of divided into two subgroups of120farmers, onefor responding to percent ofthevariance infarmers’ attitudes.Thesamplewas knowledge ofPIT, andinformation sources accounted for 46.5 Based onregression analysis, thevariables oflevel ofeducation, and cultivated areas showed anegative correlation withattitudes. income, andknowledge ofPIT. However, age,farming experience, showed asignificantandpositive correlation withlevel ofeducation, the attitudesofrest were somewhat very positive. Attitudes than halfofthemhadmoderate to high negative attitudes,while literate. Theirknowledge was lowonworking withPIT. More good farming experiences. Themajorityofthemwere lowly Results showed thattherespondents were inmiddleagewith of theinstrumentfor attitudes,drivers, andbarriers,respectively. culated to be0.813,0.870,and0.766,implying thehigh reliability It was validated by apanelofexperts. Cronbach’s alphawas cal- Ardabil County. Aquestionnaire was usedastheresearch instrument. ployed for datacollectionfrom asampleof240potato growers of irrigation technologies (PIT).Asurvey research methodwas em- a towards andperceptions ofthedrivers andbarriersofprecision his study aimedto investigate potato growers’ attitudes https://dorl.net/dor/20.1001.1.21595852.2021.11.1.5.7 65 International Journal of Agricultural Management and Development, 11(1), 65-78, March 2021. 66 International Journal of Agricultural Management and Development, 11(1), 65-78, March 2021. gion ( suming crop istheprevalent crop ofthere- scarcity, while potato asahigh water-con- tation of296mm,alsosuffers from water abil County, withanaverage annualprecipi- spatial andtemporal distribution( tion is224-275mm/year withnooptimum of theworld. Itslong-term average precipita- Karami, 2010 use ef from 92to 87percent by increasing water agricultural share inwater consumption Furthermore, Iran aimsatdecreasing the from 43percent atthepresent to 55percent. withdrawal percentage shouldbereduced groundwater resources, thesurface water tive, to control theoverexploitation of tive perspec- impacts. Basedonthecountry’s irrigation development andmaximizeposi- to avoid orminimizeany negative effects of proach towards water resource development icy inIran emphasizesanintegrated ap- The current water resource management pol- ( management schemesisfar from satisfactory However, theperformance ofmany water subsidized agricultural water andenergy use. tures, low-interest loanprovision, and plemented, suchasinvestments ininfrastruc- percent ( whose ef is mostly carriedoutby surface methods & Karami, 2010 tical solutionsto theef productivity since1960( has beento improve theirrigated agriculture is imperative for theregion. the applicationofwater-saving technologies consumption ( accounting for 93percent ofthetotal water of Iran isthemainconsumerofwater supply, use isnotoptimalandtheagricultural sector this country. Despite thewater scarcity, water main barriersto agricultural development in Keshavarz etal.,2013;Nazari2018 Iran islocated inthearidandsemiaridzone Modern irrigation technologies are ofprac- The mainpriorityofthegovernment inIran f Hassanpanah etal.,2015 iciency ( f Ali, 2011;Nazarietal.,2018 iciency ishardly more than30-50 ). Several policieshave beenim- INTRODUCTION Ardakanian, 2005 FAO, 2008 ). Water shortageisoneofthe Potato Growers' Attitudes... /Bagheri andPirmoazzen f icient useofwater in ). Forouzani & ). Therefore, Therefore, ). ). Irrigation Forouzani ). Ard- ). ( technologies ( farmers were more inclinedto adoptthese adopt while younger andmore educated ior. Elderly farmers were often reluctant to showed different impactsonadoptionbehav- technologies. Ageandlevel ofeducation tors inthedecisiononadopting irrigation ables have alsobeenfound to becriticalfac- ( more respectively than80and90percent, 2013 al., 2011;Koundouri etal.,2006;Shahzadi, Nouri andNooripoor, 2013;Pezeshkirad et et al.,2018;Mostakhdemi&Razzaghi, 2012; et al.,2013;Ezzati2014;Mohammadi and useofPIT( have beenfound to in and agricultural experts), andriskfactors formation andvisitingdemonstration farms mented systems), extension-educational (in- loan), technical (well-designed andimple- literature. Economic(income, low- interest gies hasbeenthefocus ofasizeablebody of the adoptionbehavior ofirrigation technolo- 2013 2013 and ef essential strategy to dealwithwater scarcity have beenfound inseveral studies( mentation anduseonyieldnetincome used while positive impactsoftheirimple- loss, they have notbeenfully accepted and water requirements andminimizingwater tance ofsuchtechnologies inmeetingcrop adoption. persion have been othercriticalbarriersto bani, 2011;Pirayesh, 2013 size asanin dictory. Somestudies have mentionedfarm on theadoptionbehavior have beencontra- al., 2014;Shaterian etal.,2011 found itasabarrier to adoption( drip irrigation systems withef gation technologies (PIT),i.e.,sprinklerand agriculture. Theapplicationofprecision irri- Mohammadi etal.,2018 Ali, 2011;Nowroozi &Chizari,2006 Based ontheliterature, socioeconomicvari- Understanding thefactors thatdetermine ). Moreover, landfragmentation anddis- ). ). Results asto theimpactoffarm size f icient managementofwater supply f luencing factor ( Rahmani etal.,2016;Shahzadi, Afrakhteh etal.,2015;Evans f luence theadoption ). Despite theimpor- ) while othershave Bagheri &Ghor- ). f iciencies of Shahzadi, Ezzati et ), isan factors affecting theadoptionofPIT. pletion ofitswater table.According to in recent decades,resulting inthedramatic de- been faced withgroundwater over-abstraction ing crops, especially potato, theregion has However, dueto thefocus onwater-consum- a high potential for agricultural development. 2016).The region(Sobhani andGoldoost, has ature varies from -38°Cto 40°C,respectively itation oftheregion is296mmanditstemper- northwest ofIran. Theaverage annualprecip- 1500 meters above sealevel islocated inthe ( technologies, suchaspressurized systems decision to adoptandusemodernirrigation impacts ofperceptions andattitudesonthe several studiesinIran have highlighted the cal, social,natural, andeconomic.Results of tion technology into four factors, i.e.,techni- wheat growers to apply pressurized irriga- al. (2014) the study ispresented in and barriers.Thetheoretical framework of tudes towards andperceptions ofPITdrivers aimed to investigate potato growers’ atti- established intheliterature. Thisstudy attitudes andperceptions have notbeenwell tors ontheadoptionbehavior ofPIT, farmers’ 2015 2017; Tohidyanfar &Rezaei-Moghaddam, 1097 km North and48 Momvandi etal.,2018;Movahedi etal., Study area: Farmers’ attitudesandperceptions are key ). Despite theimpactofattitudinalfac- 2 categorized obstaclesperceived by andanelevation ofabout1300- ˚ Ardabil plain(38 METHODOLOGY 37 - 48 ́ ˚ 90 Potato Growers' Attitudes... /Bagheri andPirmoazzen East)withanarea of ́ Figure 1 Figure 1 . TheTheoretical framework ofthestudy ˚ 27 . Ezzati et ́ - 38 Ros- ˚ 55 ́ ducted amongasmallsampleof30farmers for face validity. Then,apilotstudy was con- panel ofexperts con second to respond to theitems ofbarriers.A one to respond to theitems ofdrivers andthe spondents were divided into two subgroups, understanding offarmers’ perceptions, re- one (very low)to f attitudes andperceptions were intheform of PIT was usedfor datacollection.Allitems of drivers andbarriersofthedevelopment of attitudes towards andtheirperceptions of related to socioeconomicpro naire consistingofsomesectionsandscales Ardabil plainisthe Namin, andNirCounties,respectively, the cluding 17500,5500,and1000hainArdabil, the county. With24000haofpotato farms in- forage, andseveral othercrops are grown in in rotation Cereal, withwheat. potato, beans, main crops oftheregion, which iscultivated grown inthisregion. Potato isoneofthe rangelands inthiscounty. Several crops are 1982 haoforchards and100thousandhaof sand harain-fed). Furthermore, there are lands (65thousandhairrigated and47thou- obstacle to agricultural development. Therefore, water shortageisthemostcrucial amounted to 47percent during1980-2012. tamzadeh etal.(2015) 2015 producing region ofIran ( ive-point Likert-type scales ranging from Instrument anddata collection: The countyhas112thousandhaofcrop- ). f ive (very high). For abetter f f irmed thequestionnaire irst/second top potato- Hassanpanah etal., , thereduction f ile andfarmers’ Aquestion- 67 International Journal of Agricultural Management and Development, 11(1), 65-78, March 2021. 68 International Journal of Agricultural Management and Development, 11(1), 65-78, March 2021. lation ofthestudy. tudes asbelow( into negative to positive categories ofatti- mean (ISDM)was usedto divide respondents interpreted. method was used to ing thestructures. TheVarimax rotation bers offactors were examined before de data collection. f the high reliabilityThe oftheinstrument. drivers, andbarriers,respectively showed ues of0.813,0.870,and0.766for attitudes, reliability ofthequestionnaire. Thealphaval- to calculate Cronbach’s alphaandcheckthe (1998) Fami, 2016 face interviewing method. lage). Thedatawere collected by aface-to- (20 villagesand10-15farmers from eachvil- using amultistagerandom samplingmethod sample of240potato growers was selected was usedto determine thesamplesize,anda of thecounty(N=3500)( must beextracted. According to a guidelineto determine howmany factors (eigenvalue of greater thanone)was usedas numbers offactors. Thelatent root criterion drivers andbarriersinafew interpretable statements offarmers’ perceptions ofthe tor analyses were usedto summarizethe scales, respectively. Principalcomponentfac- amined using12and14items on barriers ofthedevelopment ofPITwere ex- sis ofattitudes.Perceptions ofthedrivers and analyses were employed for inferential analy- Correlation, regression, andMann-Whitney respondent to useininferential analyses. summed upto getanattitudescore for each very high. Theitem scores were then 12-item scaleranging from 1=very lowto 5= wards PITwere measured usingaLikert-type used for dataanalysis. Farmers’ attitudesto- inal draft oftheinstrumentwas usedfor Interval ofstandard deviation from the Population andsample: Data analysis: , factor solutionswithdifferent num- ) constituted thestatisticalpopu- SPSS Ashoori etal.,2016 Cochran’s (1977) f (ver. 22) Potato Growers' Attitudes... /Bagheri andPirmoazzen ind factors easierto be Bagheri &Shabanali Allpotato growers software was Hair etal. f ive-point ): formula f in- greater than10( Collinearity islikely to occur when VIFis values may vary withintherange of0-10. regression analysis for prediction. TheVIF ef cates thelower variance of theregression co- is likely to occur. Thelower value ofVIFindi- and inthecaseofvalues of<0.2,collinearity sis isnotpossiblefor tolerance values of<0.1, the regression analysis. Theregression analy- about thevariables, andthemore possible erance value, thehigher theinformation factor (VIF)were tested. Thehigher thetol- toward PIT. Tolerance andvariance in to explain factors affecting farmers’ attitudes dents ( 2007 technologies. sion programs andfocus onwater-saving tension policymakers shouldrethink exten- Thisresultleast important. impliesthatex- However, extension coursesranked asthe lowed by Radio/TV agricultural programs. rial onPITwas themostessentialsource fol- PIT ( tivation. more thanfour hectares offarms undercul- erate (underdiploma).Onaverage, they had SD=10.21). Two third ofthemwere lowly lit- farming experiences (mean=21.07and middle age(47.24years) with goodyears of to copewith water shortage. with PITandappropriate cropping patterns ever, theirknowledge was lowonworking rigation followed by thebene good knowledge ofsuitabletimesfor crop ir- Stepwise regression Analysis was employed D =Positive, Mean+SD

f icient, implyingicient, more suitabilityof Table 2 ). Table 1 ) showed thatthe written mate- Table 3 ) showed thatthey were in O’Brien, 2007;Rogge etal., RESULTS , therespondents had f ile oftherespon- f its ofPIT. How- f lation adpres-28 1.67 1.41 0.96 22.64 14.65 2.84 SD 4.58 10.21 5.08 60.58 47.24 - Mean 21.07 - - - - Levels - Level ofeducation Cultivated areas (ha) Land parcels Farm income(MT*) Family members Farming experience (years) Age (years) Variable okn ihPT25 0.95 1.04 2.57 3.16 0.91 0.83 3.17 2.90 Working withPIT Appropriate cropping pattern to copewithwater shortage PIT maintenance Water requirement ofcultivated plants utbetmsfrco riain39 0.61 SD 3.92 Mean Bene Suitable timesfor crop irrigation How muchdoyou know on: xeso ore .21.07 0.98 0.96 1.10 0.64 2.92 SD 2.96 3.41 3.30 3.35 Mean Extension courses Visit to demonstration farms Contact withagricultural experts Radio/TV agricultural programs Written material onPIT Information sources MT= MillionTomans Table 1 Mean range from one(very low) to Farmers’ Knowledge aboutIrrigation Water Management Table 3 Mean range from one(very low)to Table 2 Socioeconomic Characteristics ofthe Respondents (n=240) Farmers’ Information Sources onPIT(n=240) f t fPT33 1.1 3.32 its ofPIT Potato Growers' Attitudes... /Bagheri andPirmoazzen f f ive (very high) ive (very high) ihreuain2 12.08 29 Higher education ne ilm 6 68.75 165 Under diploma ilm 619.17 46 Diploma eesFeunyPercent Frequency Levels 69 International Journal of Agricultural Management and Development, 11(1), 65-78, March 2021. 70 International Journal of Agricultural Management and Development, 11(1), 65-78, March 2021. be easy to apply. thesesystemsthis support, are perceived to on government supports.However, having needed for PIT, farmers have beendependent dicates thatdueto thesubstantialinvestment tion ofPITisdif loans ment’s itive attitude towards theitem of 12 items, therespondents showed avery pos- wards PITare illustrated in urement of the respondents’ attitudesto- I rvnssi aiiy .21.21 1.39 3.42 3.09 1.21 0.64 1.04 3.48 3.35 0.96 3.07 3.41 In windy areas, theuseofsprinklerirrigation systems increases water loss. PIT saves irrigation andlaborcosts. Farmers withsmallerfarms are lesslikely to adoptandusePIT. PIT prevents soilsalinity. Crop yieldsusingPITare often higher thanthoseofsurface irrigation. Drought andwater shortagecanbemanagedby PIT. Levels ofattitudes PTsvswtr .81.0 3.88 SD 0.96 Mean 3.93 0.97 3.71 PIT ismore ef PIT isincompatiblewiththeconditionsofsomecrops. PITsaves water. Maintenance costsofPITare high. It isdif to adoptanduse. The government’s Statements oiie4 17.92 25.42 18.33 38.33 43 61 44 92 Positive Fairly positive Relatively negative Negative Negative attitudestowards PITwere mostly Attitudes towards PIT: The Classi Table 5 Mean range from one(very low)to Table 4 Farmers’ Attitudes towards PIT (mean=4.94)followed by f cl ouePT . 0.65 4.0 icult to usePIT. f inancial supportandlow-interest f ication ofFarmers BasedonAttitudes f cetta ufc riainmtos .70.74 3.57 icient thansurface irrigation methods. f icult f inancial supportandlow-interest loans encourage farmers (mean=4).Thisresult in- Potato Growers' Attitudes... /Bagheri andPirmoazzen Results onthemeas- Table 4 f ive (very high) the applica- . Among govern- f divided into four groups ( positive. attitudes oftherest were positive to very very negative attitudestowards PIT, butthe half oftherespondents showed relatively to loss sprinkler irrigation systems increases water (mean=3.03), and of moderate attitudestowards thestatements related to costsandconditions.There were farmers’ age,farming experiences, andculti- Based ontheISDM,respondents were Based onthecorrelation analysis ( (mean=3.07). PIT saveirrigation andlaborcosts in windyareas, the useof .40.23 4.94 Table 5 % ). More than Table 6 ),

g -0.371 rho Age Variables noe0.435 0.267 -0.182 -0.164 0.637 Knowledge Income Cultivated areas Farming experience Level ofeducation variables ofthemodel. cates low collinearitybetween thepredicting entered inthemodel. AVIFvalue ofoneindi- erance value was closeto onefor allvariables was signi farmers’ attitudestowards PIT. TheF-value the impactsofindependentvariables on and income,was positive andsigni other variables, i.e.,education,knowledge, with attitude.Theassociationofattitude vated areas showed anegative correlation nomto .6 .8 .9 .1 .4 .9 1.001 0.999 0.045 2.017 0.097 0.180 0.362 Information nweg .6 .5 .4 .6 .0 .9 1.005 0.995 0.000 5.064 0.245 0.052 0.261 Knowledge dcto .2 .9 .2 2870000951.005 0.995 0.000 12.837 0.621 0.298 3.825 Education *= Standard Error oftheestimate Regression Analysis to ExplainFactors Affecting Farmers’ Attitudes Table 7 ** Spearman’s Correlations Analyses ofAttitudes andOther Variables Table 6 osat2.9 1.958 24.693 Constant The results revealed thatthree variables Regression analysis was appliedto examine =.8 R R=0.687 Model p <0.01 f icant. Asshownin icant. 2 = 0.472 Unstandardized t.ErrBt oeac VIF Tolerance Beta Std. Error B coef f icients Potato Growers' Attitudes... /Bagheri andPirmoazzen R 0.465 2 Adj.= Table 7 Standardized t.*429F6.0 0.000 F=67.606 Std.E*=4.209 coef f icant. icant. , thetol- f icients - (Knowledge) +0.362(Information) wards PIT: formed, representing farmers’ attitudes to- following linearregression equation was (beta=0.245). According to theresults, the farmers’ attitudesfollowed by knowledge (beta=0.621) was thekey factor inexplaining were signi ( variance infarmers’ attitudestowards PIT tion sources captured 46.5percent ofthe model. Education,knowledge, andinforma- ** ** ** Table 7 ** ** ** 2600.000 12.610 Y= 24.693+3.825(Education) + 0.261 t ). Basedonthebetavalues, education f p icant, sothey wereicant, includedinthe -value Watson=2.248 Collinearity statistics Durbin- p -- -value 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 71 International Journal of Agricultural Management and Development, 11(1), 65-78, March 2021. 72 International Journal of Agricultural Management and Development, 11(1), 65-78, March 2021. osblt fmlil rpig28 .80.882 0.532 1.48 0.580 1.17 2.89 0.669 3.63 0.552 0.752 1.28 0.753 1.09 1.07 0.98 3.65 0.97 0.789 3.79 3.73 4.07 4.35 0.93 Variance accounted for (Total: 63.184) Possibility ofmultiplecropping Government lendingandfacilities 4.41 0.624 Better pestandweed control andreducing pesticideuse irrigation system 0.91 Possibility offertilizer andpesticideapplicationwith Increasing area undercultivation 4.43 Reducing production costs Controlling irrigation depth SD Increasing irrigation water ef Increasing soilfertility Mean Increasing crop yields Improving product quality Converting dry-land to irrigated farms Drivers to develop pressure irrigation Eigenvalues ability ofthedatafor factor analysis ( square=679.28, test ofsphericity(KMO=0.793 andChi- Meyer-Olkin (KMO)measure andBartlett’s to beappropriate for factor analysis. Kaiser- drivers ofPITdevelopment were recognized factors. Twelve items ofperceptions towards barriers to smallnumbersofinterpretable to summarizestatements ofthedrivers and ple cropping (mean=2.89). score was related to thepossibilityofmulti- creasing crop yields(mean=4.35).Thelowest proving product quality(mean=4.41)andin- irrigated farms (mean=4.43),followed by im- key driver for PITwas converting drylandto rotation, andfactor loadingsofhigher than Varimax rotation methodwas usedfor factor ond andthird columnsof drivers andbarriersare presented inthesec- developing PIT Perceptions towards drivers andbarriers al., 1998;Tabachnick &Fidell,2007 Factor Analysis for the DriversofPIT Table 8 Factor analyses were separately employed Mean scores andstandard deviations of p <0.001 )con Potato Growers' Attitudes... /Bagheri andPirmoazzen f cec .011 0.559 1.19 3.80 iciency Tables 8 f irmed thesuit- and Hair et ). The 9 . The tices, 3.Financialbene for 63.18percent ofthevariance. respectively. Thesethree factors accounted tices for (29.02%)followed by had thehighest share invariance accounted 8 ers to dents was PIT development perceived by therespon- f more signi the eigenvalue, themore importanceandthe each factor to thetotal variance. Thelarger An eigenvalue indicates thecontributionof tors withEigenvalues of>1were extracted. 0.45 were assumedto besigni (mean=4.23). infarmsmachinery equippedwith PIT fragments followed by irst factor was named .111 0.618 0.809 1.19 1.22 3.71 3.72 ). BasedontheKaisercriterion, three fac- As illustrated in 1. Water ef

-- -- (18.72)and f ix systems’ problem (mean=4.33)and lack oftraining programs for farm- f icant theeffect ofthefactor. The the problem ofdispersionfarm f iciency, 2.Easy farming prac- Table 9 f inancial bene 90 87 15.44 18.72 29.02 .822 1.85 2.25 3.48 123 f it water ef , themainbarrierof easy farming prac- Factors dif (mean=4.40) f iculty of using ofusing iculty f icant ( f f iciency it s (15.44), Table and

and Chi-square=374.78, and Bartlett’stest ofsphericity (KMO=0.659 for factor analysis was con ate for theanalysis. Thesuitabilityofthedata of thescalewere recognized to beappropri- analysis was employed. Allthe14statements ers into asmallnumberoffactors, factor (14.25%) followed by highest share in variance accounted for which was named values of >1were extracted. The signi loadings ofhigher than0.45were assumed 1998; Tabachnick &Fidell,2007 ie aus--19 .517 .51.62 1.65 1.72 1.85 1.99 - - 11.54 11.79 12.32 0.725 13.22 14.25 - - Eigen values 1.08 Variance accounted for (Total: 63.184) 3.91 new irrigation methods Easier useoftraditional methodscompared to gation methods Insuf tion ofwater amongfarmers Lack ofproper planningfor shiftinganddistribu- Inadequate irrigation rotations tices withnewirrigation methods Incompatibility oftraditional cultivation prac- region Lack ofexperts innewirrigation methodsinthe new irrigation methods h rbe farclua adfamnain35 .90.548 0.777 Lack ofsuf 0.99 irrigation methods 4.33 1.39 Lack ofextension activities to introduce modern Theproblem ofdispersionfarm fragments 3.52 The problem ofagricultural landfragmentation tem parts Lack ofsecurityandtheproblem ofstealing sys- during thecropping year Insuf equipped withPIT The dif SD Lack oftraining to Mean Drivers to develop pressure irrigation To summarizethestatements ofthebarri- Factor Analysis for the Barriersto PITDevelopment Table 9 f f f icient icient water supply andwater pressure icant ( f iculty ofusingmachineryinfarms f icient information onthebene f inancial supportto adoptnewirri- Table 9 f xsses rbe .010 .8 0.458 0.488 1.06 4.40 ix systems’ problem knowledge ). Five factors withEigen- Potato Growers' Attitudes... /Bagheri andPirmoazzen p technical <0.001 )( f barrier, hadthe irmed by KMO f (13.22%), irst factor, Hair et al., Hair etal., ). Factor f its of .413 0.888 0.722 0.825 1.33 0.772 3.54 1.16 0.745 4.05 1.35 3.49 1.23 3.65 1.05 0.595 4.06 1.14 4.14 .810 0.731 1.08 0.756 4.18 1.65 3.87 .310 0.470 1.09 4.23 . .80.568 1.28 4.0 ( ceptions are key factors inPITadoption gies. Therefore, farmers’ attitudesandper- adopt andusemodern irrigation technolo- pacts ofattitudinalfactors onthedecisionto port barrier 3. Skillbarrier, 4.Managerialbarrier, 5.Sup- the variance. f support skill ive factors accounted for 63.12percent of Momvandi etal.,2018;Movahedi etal., Several studieshave highlighted the im- 1. Knowledge barrier, 2.Technical barrier, (12.32%), DISCUSSION ANDCONCLUSION (11.54%)barriers,respectively. The Varimax rotated component matrix 12345 managerial (11.79%),and 73 International Journal of Agricultural Management and Development, 11(1), 65-78, March 2021. 74 International Journal of Agricultural Management and Development, 11(1), 65-78, March 2021. ( their attitudes.Inlinewithprevious studies companies, andlow-quality components inappropriate design,andimplementationby lation, lackofavailability ofef farmers for maintenance after system instal- towards PIT. Failure to adequate training of useful for changingpotato growers’ attitudes on themaintenance ofthesystems, canbe radio/TV andextension programs, especially the respondents were lowly literate, proper of PITwillbe.Consideringthattwo-thirds of tudes willbeandthemore likely theadoption the more knowledge is,thepositive theatti- in 2017 Oladele, 2005 2015; Pezeshkirad etal.,2011;Adeoti, 2009; and ontheadoptionofPIT( tension coursesto bepositive onattitudes Previous studieshave found theimpactofex- information sources onattitudestoward PIT. showed apositive andsigni on water-saving technologies ( should beredirected to placemore emphasis cate thatextension policiesandprograms 2015 2017; Tohidyanfar &Rezaei-Moghaddam, al., 2018 ( tension campaignsonthesubject matter information shouldbeprovided through ex- and usethesetechnologies, complementary it issuitablefor positive attitudes,to adopt irrigation technologies. Despite thefact that media donotprovide speci lowest rank. Radio/TV programs asmass nologies ( training ontheadoptionofirrigation tech- rigation. Despite thekey role ofextension programs followed by written material onir- formation source was radio/TV agricultural investigated inthisstudy. tions ofthedrivers andbarriersofPITwere Iran, farmers’ attitudestowards andpercep- 240 potato growers from Ardabil countyof Alcon etal.,2011 Alcon etal.,2011 Regression analysis alsoshowed apositive The results revealed thatfarmers’ mainin- f luence ofpotato growers’ knowledge on ), extension courseswere placedinthe ). Usinginformation from asampleof ). Zhang etal.,2019;Chuchird etal., ). Therefore, theseresults indi- ), this ). Regression analysis Potato Growers' Attitudes... /Bagheri andPirmoazzen f inding impliesthat f ic information on f Afrakhteh etal., icant impactof f Nejadrezaei et icient repairs, of irrigation water so thatthesesystems in- impact ( studies. Somestudieshave found apositive decision ofPITwere reported inprevious farmers’ attitudestowards andtheadoption water management. tion to PITinprevious studies( were found to besomebarriersoftheadop- tudes ( had astrong positive impact ontheiratti- lated withfarmers’ attitudes,buteducation mentation anddispersionoffarmlands ( ( them withfacilities andlow-interest credits farmers inextension programs andproviding Shahzadi, 2013 Ghorbani, 2011;Rahmani etal.,2016; al., 2015;Bagheri &Ghorbani,2011 2013 distant fragments offarms ( and handlingequipmentofthesystems at hansal etal.,2009;Yigezu2013 modern irrigation isto increase theef in previous studies, theprimaryobjective of had suitableperceptions of PIT. Asreported tions ofthedrivers ofPIT. The respondents 63.18% ofthevariance infarmers’ percep- 2015; Bagheri &Ghorbani,2011 practices three factors of ers have shownanegative impact( saving technologies andef expanding theirtendencies to adoptwater- ( titudes, which comesfrom larger farm size the positive impactoffarming incomeonat- ative correlation inthisregard. Considering et al.,2017;Zhang2019 et al.,2019 countries (i.e., f modern irrigation systems. Thisresult con- cated farmers hadpositive attitudestowards result indicates thatyounger andmore edu- shari, 2009 irms several related studiesindeveloping He etal.,2007 Table 1 Con Similar to previous studies( Results offactor analysis revealed thatthe ). Theresult ofthisstudy showed aneg- f licting impactsofcultivated areas on Gockowski &Ndoumbe,2004;Ko- Bagheri &Ghorbani,2011;Chuchird ), thisresult may berelated to frag- , and ). Includingyoung andeducated ) andtheproblem ofreplacing f Koundouri etal.,2006;Zhang inancial bene ) canbeanessentialfactor in water ef ), agewas negatively corre- f iciency f f icient irrigation Afrakhteh etal., it accounted for ), andtheoth- , easy farming Afrakhteh et ). Bagheri & Shahzadi, ). f iciency iciency ). This Af- tion technologies reported similarresults. on barriersto theadoptionofmodernirriga- perceived by potato growers. Several studies 63.12 percent ofthevariance inthebarriers rial, cluding government for installingthesesystems. farmers canachieve cause thecountrysuffers from water scarcity, study. haghegh Ardabili The research deputyoftheUniversity ofMo- who voluntarily participated inthissurvey. velopment ofPIT. centers, are essentialfor theadoptionandde- aswell astheavailabilitysupport, ofservice programs, on-timeinformation, and viding farmers withextension andtraining velopment ofthesesystems. Therefore, pro- to systems asbarriersto theadoptionandde- nancial supportandriskmanagementrelated the system after installation,technical and and information andtraining ontheuseof nancial limitation,lackofproper knowledge (2016) Huang etal.(2017);MohammadiandAlipour Rahmani etal.(2016);Zhang etal.(2019); crease theef 2011; Nowroozi &Chizari,2006 increasing tribute to saving oncostsandlabor ers’ healthandtheenvironment, willcon- rates, which, inadditionto protecting farm- icals canbeappliedusingPITatreduced Adeoti, A.I.(2009).Factors in labor andinstallationcosts,lackofcredit, Afrakhteh, H.,Armand,M.,&Askari-Bozayeh, Factor analysis alsorevealed We would like to acknowledge farmers F. (2015).Analysis offactors affecting Tropics andSubtropics, 109 Agriculture andRural Development inthe on householdpoverty inGhana. gation technology adoptionanditsimpact and and knowledge ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS support f Mahboobietal.(2011) inancial bene f iciency ofover 80-90%( REFERENCES f barriers,accounted for inancially supported this , technica f inancial supportsofthe Potato Growers' Attitudes... /Bagheri andPirmoazzen f its. Moreover, be- l, f (1), 51-63. f skill, ive factors, in- luencing irri- ). Agrochem- Journal of

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