Designing a DPSIR-based sustainable agricultural management model for water-stressed semi-arid systems: a mixed-methods PLS-SEM study in Western Iran

ABSTRACT DPSIR model linking drivers, environmental pressures, state changes, impacts, and management responses in water-stressed agriculture. Sustainable agricultural management in semi-arid regions is increasingly threatened by environmental degradation, water scarcity, climatic instability, and institutional limitations. This study developed and empirically evaluated a sustainable agricultural management model using the Drivers–Pressures–State–Impacts–Responses (DPSIR) framework in Ilam Province, western Iran. A sequential exploratory mixed-methods design was applied. In the qualitative phase, semi-structured interviews with 16 agricultural and natural-resource experts were analyzed through qualitative content analysis to identify context-specific DPSIR indicators. In the quantitative phase, data from 86 agricultural managers and specialists were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The qualitative phase identified 59 indicators across the five DPSIR dimensions. Quantitative results showed significant relationships between Pressures and State, States and Impacts, and Drivers and Responses. Environmental pressures – including groundwater depletion, irrigation inefficiency, water stress, land degradation, and agrochemical pollution – emerged as the dominant determinants of sustainability outcomes. Mediation analysis indicated that Responses did not exert significant indirect effects on sustainability, reflecting limited institutional effectiveness and fragmented governance. Overall, existing management responses remain insufficient to offset persistent environmental and hydrological pressures. The integrated DPSIR–PLS-SEM framework provides a policy-relevant tool for supporting evidence-based agricultural and water-resource management in semi-arid regions.