Analyzing Farmers’ Barriers in Using Biological Control Methods in Tarom County (Case Study: Habrobracon Hebetor to Control Tomato Heliothis spp.)

Regarding the negative effects of overuse of pesticides on human health and the environment, in recent years, sustainable and green methods for pests control especially biological control have been considered by many researchers. However, due to the existence of various barriers, the process of adoption and usage of biological control methods is very slow among farmers. Given the importance of the subject, the main purpose of this study was to analyze farmers’ barriers in using Habrobracon hebetor to control tomato Heliothis spp. in Tarom County. Methodologically, this study was a descriptive-correlational research. The statistical population of the study was 1666 tomato producers in Tarom County in Zanjan Province. Based on the Bartlett et al. (2001) formula, 330 producers were selected by the stratified sampling method for doing the study. A research-made questionnaire was used to collect the data. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a panel of experts and specialists. A pilot study was conducted to establish reliability of the instrument, which the calculated Cronbach alpha's coefficient for the main scale of questionnaire was appropriate (above 0.75). Collected data were analyzed using the SPSSWin22 software. The results of a factor analysis revealed that the farmers’ barriers in using Habrobracon hebetor to control tomato Heliothis spp. in Tarom County were categorized into five factors including, financial-economic barriers, psychological-social barriers, cognitive-informational weakness, supportive weakness and technical constraints and these factors, in total, explained 68.73% of variances of the barriers.