Drivers of Farmers to Adopt Environmental Technologies: Development of an Integrated Model

The increasing demand for food owing to population growth, the increase in the number of starving people, the lack of resources, the lowering of the water table and environmental pollution have put great pressure on developing countries to solve this problem by introducing and accepting environmentally friendly technologies. The aim of this study is to determine the effective factors on the intention to adoption of elite farmers in Fars Province, Iran, towards smart farming technologies using an integrated model to create conditions for the adoption of these technologies. The study was conducted using a survey and multistage random sampling in the Fars Province, Iran. The sample included 172 elite farmers in Fars Province. The results show that perceived usefulness, attitude toward behavior, self-efficacy, and personal innovativeness play an important role in shaping the intention to adoption. The study emphasized that perceived ease of use, perceived advantages of smart farming, smart farming knowledge, and controllability of behavior did not directly lead to the intention to adoption. Perceived usefulness also had the greatest influence on attitudes toward behavior. Short- and long-term training, workshops and research farm visits should be conducted to improve the intention to adoption of these technologies.