Abstract
The investigation of the rising use of pesticides in the Yazd City is a remarkable issue, the respective witnesses on the factors affecting the issue are lacking. For this reason, this contribution was intended to investigate the determinants of the pesticide use behavior (PUB) using the design of sequential-exploratory mixed method in central Iran. In the qualitative phase, verbal data (i.e., pesticide narratives) were collected. The heuristic units of the case study were thematically analyzed using the Atlas.ti software. The obtained results served as the data that were applied to develop the conceptual framework, including grounded concepts. By surveying 306 cucumber farmers, the proposed model was tested using the path analysis in the interface of SPSS and AMOS, indicating the model fits with the data well. The study finds that attitude towards the indigenous knowledge of the pest and disease management forecasts the PUB indirectly by the mediation of attitude, behavioral intention, and PBC. Moreover, large-scale farmers have a better understanding of the usefulness of the IPM. Furthermore, the scientific pesticide knowledge and imitation influence the PUB. Habitual behavior and avarice also have a negative impact on the PUB. In addition, trust has an indirect impact on the PUB via behavioral intention. It is necessary to take policy initiatives to enhance the efficient PUB by (1) establishing a network of indigenous knowledge relevant to the pest and disease management together with the scientific pesticide knowledge, (2) disseminating the innovations that mitigate the impact of pesticides (e.g., Biochar), (3) giving information to farmers so that they are persuaded to make money as much as they fulfill their fundamental needs, change their detrimental habits of pesticide use, and (4) raising the trust in cucumber farmers by establishing a close communication between agricultural experts and cucumber farmers and updating the technical knowledge of agricultural experts in the ground of pest and vector management as well as the use of pesticides.
