Farmers’ adoption intentions of water-saving agriculture under the risks of frequent irrigation-induced landslides

Abstract

Water-saving agriculture (WSA) is often introduced as an effective strategy to reduce water infiltration and mitigate irrigation-induced landslide risks. The effects highly rely on smallholder farmers, who often would rather suffer from landslides than adapt. This study focused on farmers’ adoption intention of WSA in general and drip irrigation and drought-tolerant crop in specific, representing changes in technology and farming systems. An integrative theoretical model was developed based on the extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) with elements from the norm activation model and technology acceptance model. Hypotheses were tested using data from a questionnaire survey with 363 farmers in Loess Plateau, Northwest China. The results of structural equation modeling showed that the most crucial factor bolstering farmers’ adoption intention was subjective norm, regardless of different measures. Attitude was more influential than perceived behavior control in drip irrigation and vice versa in drought-tolerant crop adoption, indicating that attitude was more important in technology change and capacity played a crucial role in farming system shift. In addition, awareness of environmental consequences contributed positively to subjective norm and attitude, and perceived ease-of-use improved perceived behavior control. Most notably, the extended TPB model has more explanatory power than the classical one. By considering the moral and technical aspects, the extended model enhanced the comprehensiveness of explaining drivers of farmers’ WSA adoption intention under the irrigation-induced landslide risks. The findings shed light on future disaster risk management for China and other countries under the landslide risk.