مطالب

Purpose- One of the most important strategies facing drought and agriculture water shortage in North-West Iran is developing pressurized irrigation systems (PISs). In this regard, the present study aims to investigate the factors determining the adoption of the PISs by farmers in Ardabil Province. Design/methodology/approach- First, by drought zoning of Ardabil Province (by SPI method and GIS software), three regions including regions with mild, moderate and severe drought levels were determined. In the second step, using multi-stage cluster sampling, adopter and non-adopter farmers of the PISs were selected from three regions of study (n= 415). Also, the logistic regression was used to determine the affective and distinctive factors of farmers' groups. Findings- According to the results of logistic regression analysis, the predictive power of model was 0.622 and the sensitivity of the regression model to determine the model validation was obtained as 85.8%. Also, from among 17 factors of study, 7 factors of education level, farm income, knowledge about the PISs, the infrastructure for PISs, the effect of local weather conditions, the trust towards the optimality of PISs and the improvement in farm water management, positively impacted on the adoption and use of PISs. Among effective factors, knowledge about the PISs (Wald: 32.676), the trust towards the optimality of PISs (Wald: 27.855) and the infrastructure for PISs (Wald: 21.648) were the most important factors predicting to the decision to adopt and use PISs among farmers. Research limitations/implications- Since the study was carried out in a large area of the province, accessing the farmers and experts in the Ardabil Province was difficult and time consuming. Practical implications- The agricultural extension and education programs and PRA method, can provide the basis for the adoption of PISs among most of the farmers. Also, the infrastructure programs for the implementation and setting up of PISs are the priority of governmental projects to develop the PISs in the regions of the study. Originality/value- It seems that identifying and providing the necessary infrastructure for implementing pressurized irrigation programs should be based on the scientific needs assessment of the agricultural fields’ conditions in different regions. Also, proper the appropriate government funding and financial support for the appropriate infrastructure of PISs will increase the willingness of farmers to adopt and use of the PISs.

Purpose- Considering that a diversified economy can lay the proper groundwork for improving quality of life, the present study investigates and analyzes the efficacy of diversification on rural households’ quality of life. Design/methodology/approach - The study is descriptive-analytical and its population consists of rural settlements in Golmakan Dehestan, Chenaran County. “Economic activities diversification” is the independent variable of the study which is quantified in two agricultural and non-agricultural aspects, using 14 indicators. “Rural households’ quality of life” is the dependent variable which is quantified in three social, economic and physical-environmental aspects, using 48 indicators. Questionnaires were handed to 258 rural families in 15 villages and the average score of each indicator was considered as the score of each of the villages studied. The validity of the questionnaire was established through confirmatory factor analysis (65.72%) and its reliability was established by Cronbach's alpha (0.83). Findings - The results of the step-wise regression show that diversity of non-agricultural activities has a meaningful influence on the variation of the dependent variable (rural households’ quality of life), such that a change of one standard deviation in non-agricultural activities leads to a change of 0.6 of standard deviation in rural households’ quality of life. Therefore, non-agricultural activities are influential in improving the economic conditions of families, and consequently raising quality of life among rural families. Research limitations/implications - Among the limitations of the study, the dispersed area that the villages are located in, the long distance between some villages, and the unwillingness of rural households for filling out the questionnaire can be mentioned. According to the role of non-farm activities on improving quality of life, suggestion of the study is to improve non-farming economy in rural areas. This, naturally, requires more attention to national macro-policies along with localization and necessitates implementation of successful global models regarding diversification of non-farming economy in rural areas. Originality/Value- A review of the studies regarding economic activities diversification in Iran and the world shows that, at the time of this writing, none has dealt with the influence of economic activities diversification on rural families’ quality of life.

Purpose- The present study aimed to investigate the most important obstacles to the promotion of agricultural land consolidation in the rural areas of Kangavar County. This study seeks to answer a key question: What are the main obstacles to the implementation of agricultural land consolidation policy in the villages of the study area? Design/methodology/approach - The present research is an applied one conducted in a descriptive-analytical method; field work was used for data collection and factor analysis was used for data analysis. The population of the study included 1216 land users. Using Cochran's formula, 211 questionnaires were developed and randomly distributed among the users. The stratified sampling method was used to determine the number of samples in the villages. Cronbach's alpha was used to determine the coefficient of validity of the questionnaire in the village; the validity of the questionnaire was 0.816, which indicated the data were suitable for the research. Findings- The findings show that ‘the factor of investment and fund’ accounts for 14.445% of the variance, which is the most important obstacle to the development of land consolidation in the rural areas. However, the lack of support of government agencies and organizations, infrastructural weaknesses, individual factors, lack of creativity, lack of intellectual participation and trust, lack of management and production practices, lack of knowledge and awareness, and lack of access to communication facilities in rural areas are important constraints on land consolidation in the rural areas of the study.