Agricultural Specialists' Attitude toward and Intention for Application of VRT-Spraying Technologies Using Structural Equation Modeling

Variable rate technology-spraying technologies are new aspect of sustainable agriculture. In these technologies, the chemical is applied in the needed level of farm where there is a high intensity of pests and weeds. The purpose of this paper was to study the agricultural specialists' attitude toward and intention to use variable rate technology-spraying technologies in Jihad-e-Keshavarzi organization of Fars and Khuzestan provinces. A survey was conducted using a stratified random sampling to collect data from 249 agricultural specialists. The results showed that the specialists of Fars and Khuzestan provinces have intentions to use the variable rate technology-spraying technologies. The variables including attitude toward application, trialing, perceived usefulness, compatibility, and attitude of confidence all influence the intentions to use the variable rate technology-spraying technologies. Based on high positive intention of agricultural specialists, we recommend the use of these technologies in agricultural practices of the two provinces.