Author(s): Amanpreet Kaur, Vikas Kumar, Prabhjot Kaur and Kulwinder Kaur
The present study identifies the impact of various factors on farmers' attitude and usage behaviour towards pesticides. After a thorough examination of previous studies, the constructs namely environmental concern, attitude, government initiatives, innovativeness, pesticide knowledge, perceived usefulness, training, and usage behaviour were identified. The research comprises primary data collected from 287 farmers (pesticides users) residing in the rural areas of India using purposive sampling. Partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) by Smart PLS 3.3.5 software was used to analyze the data. The results show that all the constructs except 'environmental concern' are strong determinants of farmers' pesticide usage. The authors also demonstrated that perceived usefulness and attitude partially affect farmers' pesticides usage behaviour. Henceforth, the study has implications for the government, policymakers, environmentalists, public health advisors, and pesticide manufacturers.