Crop protection services by Plant Clinics in Iran: An evaluation through rice farmers' satisfaction

Abstract

Plant Clinics have been founded in many developing countries as a cost-effective way to provide plant protection advice to smallholders who have limited access to consulting services. However, studies concerning farmers' satisfaction with the Plant Clinics services are scarce in the literature. The objective of the present study was to examine farmers' familiarity, willingness to use, and willingness to pay for services offered by Plant Clinics in Guilan Province of northern Iran. A significant portion of the farmers (44%) had a fair level of familiarity with Plant Clinics and most farmers (54%) showed willingness to use their services. Farmers evaluated customer service (i.e., the level of services offered by the Plant Clinics personnel) and service relevance (i.e., the relevance of Plant Clinics services with farmers' needs) of Plant Clinics with the highest satisfaction rates. The most important factors explaining the variance of farmers' willingness to use the Plant Clinics services were service relevance, service usefulness, familiarity with Plant Clinics services, service quality, and education level of the farmers, which together explained 68.4% of the variance of farmers' willingness to use the Plant Clinics services. The variables service relevance (services that are relevant with farmers' needs), age (young farmers), land area (large farmers), and familiarity with Plant Clinics (knowledge about the responsibilities of these centers and contact with them) had a positive impact on farmers' willingness to pay for the Plant Clinics services. However, farming experience (experienced farmers) had a negative impact on farmers' willingness to pay. Overall, Plant Clinics have a big potential to support decision-making on technical, operational, and strategic matters in the study area, but some farmers were less familiar with them. Farmers' familiarity with the Plant Clinics services should be promoted along with further improving their services.