Factors Affecting Tomato Farmers' Tendency to Use Iran Good Agricultural Practices (Iran GAPs) in Ardabil Province

The implementation of Iran GAPs standards in tomato production can have a very important impact on reducing harmful contaminants to achieve a healthy and safe product. The present study investigates the factors affecting farmers' tendency to use Iran GAPs during tomato production operation in Ardabil province, Iran. So, based on Bartlett et al. (2001), 310 tomato farmers were selected from three counties of Parsabad, Kowsar, and Bilesvar using the multi-stage random sampling method. Iran GAPs standards were collected according to the list of standards of the National Standards Organization of Iran for tomatoes. The results show that the majority of farmers (61.3%) are at a low level of the tendency to apply Iran GAPs standards in the tomato production operation. In this regard, the activities of “using minimal chemical pesticides”, “using personal protective equipment”, and “not using empty cans and tanks of pesticides and fertilizers and their safe disposal” were among the last priorities for farmers. Also, the most important factors differentiating farmer groups are observability (0.271), GAPs training courses (0.269), complexity (0.219), farm size (0.198), and relative advantage (0.178), respectively. Establishing a marketing and sales unit in the agricultural centers of the studied counties, holding "farm day" programs and farmers' visits to successful farms, and creating a "Seed Bank" for tomatoes can increase the tendency of farmers to use Iran GAPs.