Importance– performance analysis (IPA) of emitter's role in efficiency of drip irrigation systems from the users’ point of view

Performance-importance analysis examines the gap between the importance (ideal status) of the emitter's role on the efficiency of drip irrigation systems and the performance (status) of the factors affecting it. For this purpose, the stakeholder's perspective was investigated by means of a questionnaire. The validity of the questionnaires was checked using Content Validity Index (CVI) and their reliability was confirmed by Cronbach's alpha in the two dimensions with the values of 0.83 (importance) and 0.86 (performance), respectively. The weighting method based on Shannon entropy was used to determine the importance of items, and in the case of performance, the significant effect of each items (current status) on the efficiency of systems was surveyed statistically. Moreover, the difference between the importance and performance of each item is also was performed through t- test. According to the results, the most statistically significant difference between the mean of importance and performance of items was observed in items 4, 6, and 12, with negative values of 3.27, 3.19, and 2.85, respectively. This result indicates that there is a significant gap between the desirable stakeholder's perspective (importance) and current status (performance) of these items. Emitters clogging (item 12) was the most important factor in the efficiency of the drip irrigation system. Furthermore, training, advice and guidance of stakeholder before and after the implementation of drip irrigation systems (items 6 and 7) are important and affect the efficiency of the systems, whereas, there was no such thing in practice. Therefore, they need focus and attention.