Measuring Adoption of Integrated Pest Management Practices by Citrus Farmers in Tartous Governorate, Syria

Abstract

Faskha, S.M. 2021. Measuring Adoption of Integrated Pest Management Practices by Citrus Farmers in Tartous Governorate, Syria. Arab Journal of Plant Protection, 39(4): 257-267. https://doi.org/10.22268/AJPP-039.4.257267 A questionnaire study was conducted to analyze the IPM adoption by citrus farmers in Tartous Governorate during two seasons (2018 and 2019). The questionnaire was designed to collect the required information from a representative sample of farmers (370 farmers). Responses were tabulated, and the extracted data were statistically analyzed by using Chi–Square (X 2 ) at P=0.05. The results obtained indicated that the mean rate of farmer adoption was 5.55 points based on a 10-point scale. Accordingly, practices of the surveyed farmers came in the third level: “IPM level” (based on a proposed scale for adoption consisting of four levels, namely, conventional control, entry level IPM, normal IPM level, and bio-intensive IPM level). The implemented cultural practices, the handling of pesticides, and farmers' knowledge were at the forefront of good practices with mean index of attribute values of 0.66, 0.72 and 0.85, respectively. On the other hand, the Adoptability Index values showed that the non-use of attractant traps, planting mixed varieties, and voluntary lack of commitment to stop spraying (conservation biological control) were -0.46, -0.44 and -0.75, respectively, and those were among the most negative indicators in IPM practices adoption, although 31.35% of farmers did not use chemical control. Keywords: Integrated pest management, IPM, adoption, citrus, Syria.