Management of Date Palm Leaf Waste Consumption in Animal Feeding: The Case of Ranchers in the South of Kerman Province

The present research aimed to use the concept of willingness to use and the ordinal logit model to evaluate the factors in ‐ fluencing the adoption of date palm leaf waste (PLW) by ranchers in the south of Kerman province in 2020. Data were collected by filling in 202 questionnaires by ranchers ran ‐domly selected at the study site. Based on the results, about 51 percent of the ranchers in the study site are reluctant to use PLW so that only 46 ranchers in the studied sample expressed their willingness to use it. The results of the ordinal logit model show that the will ‐ ingness to use PLW in animal feeding increases with increasing the rancher’s ranching history, providing his/her with information for aware ‐ness enhancement, decreasing his/her concerns over the feedback of using PLW in animal feeding, and finally, mem ‐ bership in a cooperative. Also, the likelihood of PLW use in animal feeding is higher in large ‐sized animal farms than in small ‐sized ones (sheep and goats). Based on the results, to extend the use of PLW in animal feeding, it is necessary to take promoting actions among the ranchers in the study site to ensure them about the health of this feed for their animals. In addition, PLW suppliers can be provided with some facilities to supply their product in the market, and demonstration farms where this product is consumed can be used to reduce the wastage of this commercially capable prod ‐uct.