Unveiling sustainable agriculture dynamics: a socio-psychological exploration among smallholder farmers in Sikkim, India

Figures & data

Figure 1. Theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1991).

Figure 2. Conceptual framework.

Figure 3. Showing study location.

Table 1. Showing demographic profile of participant farmers.

Demographic category	Frequency	Percent
Gender
Male	282	69.3
Female	125	30.7
Age
18–33	33	8.1
34–49	186	45.7
50 and above	188	46.2
Household size
Less than 8	386	94.8
8 and above	21	5.2
Education
Primary school	93	22.9
Secondary school	242	59.5
High school and above	72	17.7
Farming size
Under 3 acres	332	81.6
3 Acres and above	75	18.4
Farming experience
Under 10 years	48	11.8
10–15 years	165	40.5
Over 15 years	194	47.7
Annual income
Under 200,000 (2 lakhs) Rupees	381	93.6
200,000 (2 lakhs) Rupees and above	26	6.4

Table 2. Showing descriptive statistics of key variables.

Variable	Range	Minimum	Maximum	Mean	Std. deviation	Variance	Skewness	Kurtosis
SN	3.60	1.20	4.80	2.967	0.767	0.589	−0.060	−0.500
PBC	3.80	1.00	4.80	2.722	0.954	0.910	0.147	−0.893
AT	3.75	1.00	4.75	3.346	0.759	0.577	−0.427	−0.067
IN	4.00	1.00	5.00	3.316	0.753	0.567	−0.677	−0.001

Figure 4. Showing path model (with R² in circles).

Table 3. Summary of direct hypothesis testing results.

Hypothesis	Path	Path coefficient	T-Statistic	p Value	Result
H1	AT -> IN	0.400	9.954	0.000	Accepted
H2	AT -> SN	0.133	3.588	0.000	Accepted
H3	PBC -> IN	−0.041	0.640	0.522	Rejected
H4	PBC -> SN	0.708	24.900	0.000	Accepted
H5	SN -> IN	0.383	5.883	0.000	Accepted

Table 4. Summary of mediation hypothesis testing results.

Hypothesis	Indirect path	Specific indirect effect	T-Statistic	p Value	Result
H6	AT -> SN -> IN	0.051	2.949	0.003	Accepted
H7	PBC -> SN -> IN	0.271	5.718	0.000	Accepted

Table 5. Summary of moderation testing results.

Interaction term	Interaction effect	T-Statistic	p Value	Result
FAI x AT -> IN	0.353	1.372	0.170	Not significant
GND x AT -> IN	0.011	0.124	0.901	Not significant
EDU x AT -> IN	−0.099	1.989	0.047	Significant
FE x AT -> IN	0.034	0.753	0.452	Not significant
FAI x SN -> IN	−0.255	0.864	0.387	Not significant
GND x SN -> IN	0.002	0.016	0.987	Not significant
AGE x SN -> IN	−0.342	2.379	0.017	Significant
EDU x SN -> IN	−0.034	0.473	0.636	Not significant
FE x SN -> IN	0.410	2.863	0.004	Significant

Table 6. Showing multi-group analysis in SEM.

Path–>	AT–>IN	SN–>IN	PBC–>IN
Gender
Male	Significant	Significant	Insignificant
	p < 0.05	p < 0.05	p > 0.05
Female	Significant	Significant	Insignificant
	p < 0.05	p > 0.05	p > 0.05
Age group
18–33	Significant	Insignificant	Insignificant
	p > 0.05	p > 0.05	p > 0.05
34–49	Significant	Significant	Insignificant
	p < 0.05	p > 0.05	p > 0.05
50 and more	Significant	Significant	Insignificant
	p < 0.05	p > 0.05	p > 0.05
Household size
Less than 8	Significant	Significant	Insignificant
	p < 0.05	p < 0.05	p > 0.05
Above 8	Insignificant	Insignificant	Insignificant
	p < 0.05	p > 0.05	p > 0.05
Education
Primary	Significant	Significant	Insignificant
	p < 0.05	p > 0.05	p > 0.05
Secondary	Significant	Significant	Insignificant
	p < 0.05	p > 0.05	p > 0.05
High school and above	Insignificant	Significant	Insignificant
	p > 0.05	p < 0.05	p > 0.05
Farm size
Under 3 Acres	Significant	Significant	Insignificant
	p < 0.05	p < 0.05	p > 0.05
3 acres and above	Significant	Significant	Insignificant
	p > 0.05	p > 0.05	p > 0.05
Farming experience
Under 10 Years	Insignificant	Insignificant	Insignificant
	p > 0.05	p > 0.05	p > 0.05
From 10 to 15 years	Significant	Significant	Insignificant
	p < 0.05	p > 0.05	p > 0.05
Above 15 years	Significant	Significant	Insignificant
	p < 0.05	p > 0.05	p > 0.05
Farming annual income
Under 200,000 Rupees	Significant	Significant	Insignificant
	p < 0.05	p < 0.05	p > 0.05
Equal and above 200,000 Rupees	Significant	Insignificant	Insignificant
	p < 0.05	p > 0.05	p > 0.05

Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 179–211. https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-T

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Data availability statement

The dataset associated with this study is available at the following DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.24003591.