The Factors Influencing Decisions of Farmers in Applying Soil and Water Resource Protection Methods in Jaidar Plain, Poldokhtar

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Assistant professor of geography and rural planning, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Iran

2 PhD student in geography and rural planning, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Iran

3 PhD student in urban climatology, Khawrazmi University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Introduction
Reduction in natural resources is today one of the main threats for human life in many regions of the world. It is recently intensified as a result of population increase and changes in human activities. This has led to some restrictions in rural areas. As the rural life is mainly dependent upon the agricultural activities, conservation of the soil and water resources can help protect the rural economy. As the soil erosion is serious for the farmers and improvement of soil fertility is essential for their life, the farmers make actions to implement the soil and water conservation programs. Therefore, it is necessary for the farmers to understand the causes and effects of degradation of natural resources and their actions in that they are the primary stakeholders exploiting the resources. In this study, we have evaluated the factors affecting the decisions of the farmers about using the conservation plans in Jaidar Plain, Poldokhtar, Iran. This research attempts to examine the most important factors of the procedure. 
 
Methodology
This is an applied research by a descriptive-analytical method. The data have been gathered by two methods of survey and library. The statistical population is including rural families in the Jaidar Plain. Using Cochran formula and systematic sampling, we have selected 120 family heads as the samples. Referring to the samples in the villages, questionnaires have been distributed among the sample respondents. In this study, two kinds of questionnaires, structured and non-structured, have been employed for data collection. After the data have been gathered, SPSS application has been used for descriptive and inferential analyses. To analyze the influences of private, social, economic, psychologic and physical factors on the decisions of the farmers in applying the conservation methods, the statistical tests of T test, Chi-square, and logit model have been employed.
Results and discussion
From all the respondents, about 58% of them are applying the soil and water conservation methods and about 42 % do not use the methods. Analyses of the influences of personal and social factors on the decisions of the farmers in using the conservation methods have indicated that there is a significant positive relationship between personal factors and the decisions of the farmers. The variables including age, gender, education level, training and technical knowledge of the farmers are effective on their decisions about using the conservation plans. The analyses of the effects of the social factors on the decisions of the respondents have revealed that almost all the social factors are effective on the decision makings of the farmers. In this case, the social participation has the highest influence on the decision makings. In other words, the higher the participation level is, the more the workforces of mutual participation are intended to apply the conservation plans to protect natural soil and water resources.  The results of economic factors have also demonstrated that the numbers of workforce in a family have higher influence on the decision makings of the farmers. In other words, the higher the number of the workforces is in a family, the more workforces there would be for conservation of the soil and water resources in that family. The results of chi-square test on the psychological factors have also indicated that the psychological factors in all aspects are relatively effective on the decision making.  It can be said that there is a significant positive relationship between the psychological factors and the agricultural decisions. The chi-square test results have also documented that there are significant positive relationships between the factors of land slope, farm area, and distance to the farm and variable of the decisions of the farmers about which conservation methods to use. Therefore, it can be stated that the physical factors play effective role in the decisions of the farmers in using different conservation methods.
 
Conclusion
The results of the research have demonstrated that among the twenty variables examined in this research, 13 variables have direct influence on the decisions of the farmers in using soil and water conservation ways. According to the results, the variables of number of workforce in the family, farm size, family size, land ownership, and slope have the highest influence on the way the farmers make decisions and that the variable of age, gender, education, ranch ownership, social relations, and understanding of the conservation method have the lowest effect on the decisions. Therefore, it can be said that social, economic, and physical factors play a major role in decisions of the farmers to use which of the conservation methods. Therefore, it is necessary for the government and NGOs to consider the variety of conservation methods in implementation of the programs. The best way to conserve the soil and water resources is to pay especial attention to local environmental requirements and social and economic conditions of the farmers to reduce land degradation and increase productivity of the agricultural activities. 

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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Human Geography Research
Volume 50, Issue 1
April 2018
Pages 73-92

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History

  • Receive Date: 28 May 2016
  • Revise Date: 19 October 2016
  • Accept Date: 22 October 2016

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