Knowledge, Attitudes, and Perceptions of  UV-C Light Technologies for Agricultural Surface Water Decontamination by Produce Growers in Kansas and Missouri

UV-C light technology is used extensively for drinking water treatment but has yet to become popularized in fresh produce production in the central United States. Thus, it is imperative to investigate the major drivers for UV-C adoption (or lack thereof) by produce growers. A survey instrument was designed to determine factors that most impact the attitudes of fresh produce growers (n = 82) in Kansas and Missouri toward the adoption of UV-C technology for agricultural water treatment. Grower knowledge of UV-C light was measured by using five close-ended constructs evaluated on a binary scale (where 1 = correct; 0 = incorrect). An overall attitude score was calculated from eight constructs by using a 5-point Likert scale (strongly agree to strongly disagree). The data indicated a large variation in grower knowledge of UV-C (mean = 2.61; standard deviation = 1.32). Stepwise regression (n = 62) revealed that the overall attitudes were most influenced by grower knowledge of UV-C (P < 0.0001), farm size (P = 0.0199), farm income (P = 0.1047), and state (P = 0.1237). Growers perceived cost (27 of 81, 33.3%) and technical skills (25 of 81, 30.9%) as major barriers to UV-C light implementation, and 34.6% (28 of 81) felt the technology was not appropriate for their operation. These data improve the current understanding of different factors that could impact produce grower adoption of UV-C technologies for agricultural water decontamination.