Measuring Farmers’ Satisfaction with Irrigation Water Supply Services: An Extended SERVQUAL Approach

Ensuring the quality of irrigation services plays a decisive role in sustaining agricultural productivity, particularly in coastal rural areas facing climate change and saline intrusion. This study aims to measure farmers’ satisfaction with irrigation services in Hai Hau district, Nam Dinh province, Vietnam, by applying an adjusted SERVQUAL model. The research combines descriptive statistics, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), and multiple regression, based on survey data from 120 farming households supplemented with in-depth interviews. Results reveal that five key dimensions—Reliability, Responsiveness, Empathy, Infrastructure Assurance, and Service Fees—significantly influence household satisfaction, with “Service Fees” emerging as a novel and context-specific factor. The findings highlight that improving transparency in irrigation fees, strengthening water delivery reliability, and investing in canal modernization are essential to enhance service quality and farmer satisfaction. This study contributes both theoretically, by expanding the SERVQUAL model with a new variable, and practically, by providing evidence-based recommendations for sustainable irrigation management in Vietnam’s coastal agricultural regions.