Study On The Willingness Of Fruit Farmers To Adopt Water-saving Irrigation Technology And Its Influencing Factors In Aksu,Xinjiang

Aksu region is one of the main fruit producing areas in Xinjiang,with the reputation of "hometown of melons and fruits",and the fruit industry plays a very important role in local agricultural production.The overall development of local major fruit industries such as apples,pears,walnuts,apricots and red dates is relatively rapid in recent years,and it is the third largest industry after grain and cotton.The economic benefits of fruit trees are obvious,which plays a vital role in local economic development and rural revitalization.In the process of fruit planting,production and management,water resources are an indispensable input factor.However,Aksu region is one of the regions with serious shortage of water resources in Xinjiang,and the water resources needed for agricultural irrigation are very limited.In order to ensure the high-quality and sustainable development of fruit industry,it is necessary to improve the efficiency of orchard irrigation water,change the way of extensive irrigation,reduce the ineffective utilization and loss of water,and promote the sustainable utilization of water resources.Fruit farmers are the main users of water for forestry and fruit industry,and their behavior and willingness to use water directly affect the utilization efficiency of agricultural water resources and the development of water-saving agriculture.Water-saving irrigation technology can effectively save agricultural water consumption,improve the utilization efficiency of water resources,promote the transformation of traditional agriculture,and then alleviate the crisis caused by water shortage,realize the sustainable development of agriculture,which is the fundamental guarantee and inevitable choice to ensure national food security and break the constraints of resources and environment.If fruit farmers adopt water-saving irrigation technology in agricultural production,they can effectively solve the local water shortage and the contradiction between supply and demand of agricultural water.In view of the significance of the main behavior of agricultural water users to realize agricultural water saving,based on the relevant theories and methods such as farmers’ behavior theory,technology acceptance theory,technology popularization theory and econometrics,taking Aksu area of Xinjiang as the research area,a typical survey of 363 local farmers was conducted,and the current situation and basic characteristics of fruit farmers in Aksu area were analyzed by descriptive statistical methods.This paper constructs a system of influencing factors such as perceived usefulness,perceived ease of use,perceived water scarcity,social network promotion and policy incentives,and makes an empirical analysis on the influencing factors of local fruit farmers’ adoption of water-saving irrigation technology by using structural equation(SEM)model,aiming to explore the mechanism of the internal and external factors of fruit farmers’ influence on their willingness to adopt water-saving irrigation technology,and provide research experience and theoretical reference for water resources management and formulation of relevant water-saving policies,so as to enhance the enthusiasm of fruit farmers for adopting water-saving technologies,change extensive irrigation methods,and effectively alleviate agricultural water resources.The main contents and conclusions of this paper are as follows:(1)Through the questionnaire survey,it is found that the age of fruit farmers in this research area is mainly between 36 and 55 years old,and the family labor force is mainly 1-2 people;The respondents’ education level is mainly junior high school or below,which reflects that the respondents’ fruit farmers have a low education level;The income of fruit farmers is affected by many factors,and the income level is relatively low;(2)The empirical results of structural equation(SEM)show that in fruit planting and production,perceived usefulness,perceived ease of use,policy incentives,water scarcity perception and social network promotion all have direct and positive effects on fruit farmers’ willingness to adopt water-saving irrigation technology,among which policy incentives have the greatest direct impact,with a path coefficient of 0.328.In order to promote the healthy and sustainable development of forestry and fruit industry agriculture in Aksu area of Xinjiang,according to the above conclusions,the following countermeasures and suggestions are put forward: to establish a subsidy mechanism for water-saving production and continuously strengthen the policy incentive function;Increase the construction of technical rationality and innovate irrigation methods according to local conditions;Expand information acquisition channels and improve information dissemination mechanism;Improve fruit farmers’ awareness of water saving and mobilize their enthusiasm for water saving;Create a good environment for water-saving irrigation technology and reduce the uncertainty of technology.