Adoption and non-adoption of sprinkler irrigation technology in Ardabil Province of Iran

This survey study was carried out to identify the adoption, discontinuance and non adoption of sprinkler irrigation systems among farmers who were trained to apply those in Ardabil Province of Iran. Farmers were divided into 3 groups as: adopters, abandoners after adoption and non-adopters. A sample of 160 farmers, including 20 adopters, 80 abandoners and 60 non-adopters were randomly selected. Results show that no significant differences among three studied groups exist regarding access to agricultural research and extension service centers. Adopters had lower farming experiences however, were more educated, having larger farm sizes including irrigated and rainfed lands, with more fragments and less distances among them. They were more informed about irrigation methods specially, sprinkler systems than the other two groups. Such awareness enabled them to solve problems occurred after installation of equipments in their farms. On the other hand, weakness of awareness had affected abandoners` decisions to reject the technology. Nevertheless, all of the respondents showed positive attitude towards optimum use of irrigation water. Significant relationships exist among contact with agricultural experts and extension agents as well as training programs of radio, TV and adoption behaviors. Meanwhile, differences among groups regarding ability to read written materials on irrigation were statistically significant. Overall, farmer's reasons for adopting and non-adopting of sprinkler systems were classified.