*1.2. Factors Affecting Conservation Practices*

This article analyzes data from a regional Crop Irrigation Survey that collected 148 valid observations and include data on farmer practices, perceptions and attitudes, and socio-economic status. The factors selected are irrigated area in the operation, Groundwater (GW) use in irrigation, crop choice (rice), number of years farming, years of formal education, whether the farmer perceives a

GW problem at the farm or state level, average pumping cost in the county of residence, participation in a conservation program, and annual income levels. These factors obtained a sufficient number of valid responses in the sample and were mentioned in two recent comprehensive reviews of the literature [6,22] that identified factors associated with the adoption of agricultural conservation practices or in a recent study of conservation practice adoption in Arkansas [4].

The empirical analysis consists of testing how these factors correlate with adoption of the identified practices. The hypotheses with respect to this association are drawn from the existing literature. Specifically, we draw from a study using similar data in an adjacent area by Nian et al. [4], a comprehensive review of 102 papers in the agricultural conservation practice adoption literature by Prokopy et al. [22], and a 129 page Government Accountability Office report to Congress on Irrigated Agriculture by Pearsons and Morris [6]. In terms of the signs of the regression coefficients, the hypotheses are as follows:

