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Knowledge, Barriers and Agroecological Adoption Among Tomato Growers in the Romanian Horticultural Context
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DOI：10.3390/horticulturae12081000.png)
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Abstract
En 中文
The adoption of agroecological practices has recently gained increasing attention. However, significant disparities persist between farmers’ awareness and actual implementation. This study addresses this gap by developing an integrated analytical framework to identify farmer typologies and explain the heterogeneity of agroecological adoption among Romanian tomato growers, considered as a case study within the broader context of Romanian vegetable production. Based on a survey of 196 active cultivators, the analysis combines principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis to identify latent behavioral dimensions and classify farmers into distinct typologies. In addition, an Agroecological Adoption Index (AAI) is constructed to assess and compare adoption levels across groups. The results reveal four statistically distinct farmer typologies: informed farmers with low adoption, practice-oriented low-constraint farmers, high-adoption agroecological farmers, and pragmatic adopters. The findings demonstrate that adoption is not solely determined by knowledge levels but is strongly shaped by perceived barriers, particularly limited access to information, financial constraints, and uncertainty. By moving beyond single-factor explanations, this study highlights the multidimensional nature of agroecological adoption and provides empirical evidence of the interaction between cognitive, economic, and structural determinants. The results offer important policy implications, suggesting that effective interventions should combine targeted training, advisory services, and financial support tailored to specific farmer profiles within horticultural production systems.
Keywords:
agroecology
sustainable horticulture
horticultural production systems
farmer behavior
adoption barriers
sustainable farm management
rural systems
sustainability
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