Perceived Barriers and Drivers for Adoption of Sustainable Irrigation Practices and Technologies: Insights from Farmers and Agricultural Advisors

Sustainable Irrigation Practices and Technologies (SIPTs) can increase water use efficiency and enhance agricultural resilience to water scarcity and climate change. However, their adoption remains uneven and is affected by many economic, regulatory, technical, practical, societal and environmental factors. While there is an extensive body of literature investigating the importance of such factors, to the best of our knowledge, limited attention has been paid to whether farmers and agricultural advisors perceive these factors differently. This study aims to fill this gap by comparing farmers’ and agricultural advisors’ perceptions regarding the importance of barriers and drivers influencing SIPT adoption. For this purpose, a questionnaire-based survey was conducted, with 106 farmers and 58 agricultural advisors from six European countries. The analysis of the collected data was based on a combination of descriptive techniques, as well as both parametric and non-parametric approaches. Although some differences were observed between farmers’ and agricultural advisors’ perceptions, the results indicated an overall similarity in the rankings of the two groups. Regarding barriers, “High initial investment cost”, “limited access to capital”, and “bureaucratic hurdles” were ranked highly by both farmers and advisors, while both stakeholder groups agreed that “adaptation to climate change/drought conditions” was the most important driver of SIPT adoption. The findings of this study provided valuable insights for the design of strategies aimed at promoting the adoption of SIPTs.