How do farmers plan to safeguard the environment? Empirical evidence on farmers’ intentions to adopt organic pest management practices

The development and optimization of more sustainable pest control methods, primarily focusing on preventive strategies and non-chemical tools, is a global priority for scientists and agrochemical companies. This study examines Sicilian farmers’ willingness to adopt organic pest management practices for protecting tomatoes and zucchini from two key insect pests, namely Tuta absoluta and Bemisia tabaci. We implemented the Theory of Planned Behavior as a cognitive model to explore individual motivations that influence farmers’ readiness to adopt sustainable pest control practices. Results from partial least squares structural equation modeling on a sample of 85 farmers emphasize the importance of farmers’ behavioral constructs in the decision-making process: Farmers’ attitudes are the strongest predictors of intention (ß = 0.454; p < 0.01), followed by social norms (ß = 0.201; p < 0.1) and perceived behavioral control (ß = 0.184; p < 0.01). Intention and perceived behavioral control constructs positively and significantly affect the stated behavior construct (respectively, ß = 0.23; ß = 0.24). Traditional farm/farmer socio-economic characteristics have a notable, yet smaller, influence: Farmers’ education positively predicts their willingness to adopt (ß = 0.292; p < 0.01), while farmers’ age is negatively correlated (ß = −0.130; p < 0.01). Informational campaigns on the importance of organic pest management on improving soil health and biodiversity should be promoted to strengthen farmers attitudes toward organic pest management. Similarly, policy-makers should enhance farmers perceived behavioral control by providing better information about characteristics and procedures of organic pest management protocols.