AbstractIntegrated pest management adoption is quite low around the globe, particularly in developing countries, due to different factors. Here, we examine the factors affecting the intention of Pakistani farmers to adopt integrated pest management practices in vegetable production using a structured questionnaire. We interviewed 301 vegetable growers in Multan, Pakistan. The reliability and validity of the data, along with the underlying relationship between the observed variables, were identified through exploratory factor analysis. The majority of the farmers (79.4%) relied on pesticides for pest control. More than four out of 10 of the respondents (43.8%) reported that okra received the highest application of pesticides followed by potato (24.5%) and cauliflower (17.9%). Integrated pest management was currently non‐existent among the vegetable growers of the study area. The latent factors—“knowledge of the adverse effects of pesticide,” “belief in the efficacy of non‐chemical pest control measures,” “perceived barriers to the adoption of integrated pest management,” “progressive farming approach,” and “intention to adopt integrated pest management”—were subsequently confirmed using confirmatory factor analysis. The structural equation model suggested that the intention to adopt integrated pest management is significantly affected by farmers’ knowledge of the adverse effects of pesticides (β = 0.274, z‐value = 3.082, P = 0.002). An increase in farmers’ awareness of the harmful effects of pesticides could lead to integrated pest management adoption for pest control. The scale for intention to adopt integrated pest management developed in this study can be used in future studies and provide valuable insights to the policymakers for devising integrated pest management adoption campaigns in the study area.
Economic growth is an important factor in the economic development of a country. There are some factors that can increase economic growth namely human development. The level of human development in a country array in the value of the Human Development Index (HDI). The growth rate of a country appears in the value of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per Capita. The influence of human power resources is shown in the value of HDI which is able to influence the level of economic growth in the value of its GDP. This study will examine the effect of HDI on economic growth in Pakistan during the period 1980-2018 against its economic growth in its GDP per capita. The result of this research indicates that each country has a strong and significant correlation between HDI and GDP. It is concluded that the level of HDI can affect the GDP per capita. Economic growth makes it possible to reach a high level of human development, on the one hand, increasing levels of human development leading to increase opportunities for economic growth. The causal relationship between economic growth and human development becomes a mutually influential relationship. So it is clear that the human development in the country relates to an influence of economic growth which is seen in per capita income (GDP per capita) which can be an indicator of welfare in the country.
Purpose: The reason of this study is to recognize the impact of key determinants of overseas direct asset in case of Pakistan, based on annual information covering the period of 1981-2018. Design/Methodology/Approach: After checking for still of the sequence, the technique of ARDL is used for estimation of long run parameters estimates and error alteration instrument for short run dynamics. Findings: The results of the study indicate that politically stable environment and long term policies are necessary to attract foreign investors. furthermore, investment profile of any government also matter for direct asset in the country as the study conclusions reveal that marketplace size as well as domestic investment are positively related to foreign direct investment while taxes have negative association with overseas straight investment in the case of Pakistan. Implications/Originality/Value: The most important factor for FDI inflow to Pakistan is interest rate or ease of doing business which has negative sign means inverse relation exists between the two variables.
We explore the intentions of farmers' pesticide use by using expanded versions of the theory of planned behavior (TPB). We added variables such as farmers' knowledge about pesticides, moral norms, progressive farming approach, farm size, farming experience, and formal education of the farmers as additional predictors in the original TPB model. We interviewed 390 cotton farmers in Multan and used a hierarchical multiple regression modeling framework to run a series of multiple regression models (based on original and expanded versions of TPB) and found that the expanded TPB models with the addition of, (a) farmers' knowledge of pesticides (R-2 change = 0.089, F change((2, 384)) = 24.8, p < 0.01), (b) farmers' progressiveness (R-2 change = 0.037, F change((1, 383)) = 21.5, p < 0.01), and (c) socio-economic variables (R-2 change = 0.032, F change((3, 380)) = 6.4, p < 0.05) statistically significantly improved the explanatory power of the original TPB model. Farmers' knowledge of pesticides (beta = 0.316, t = 6.320, p < 0.01), and progressive farming approach (beta = 2.80, t = 5.834, p < 0.01) were the most influential variables determining pesticide use intention. Pesticide use can be optimized through improved extension services, by improving pesticide knowledge and training farmers in new farming practices.