Evaluation of Land Consolidation and on-Farm Improvement Projects of Paddy Fields in Guilan Province from the Farmer's Perspectives

Land consolidation and on-farm improvement project, is considered as one of the infrastructural projects in the agricultural sector. According to national plans traditional paddy fields need to improved and equipped with modern technologies. In this context so far over 76,000 hectares of paddy fields in the Guilan province have benefited from the plan. Given that farmers are considered the beneficiaries of the project, their feedback and response is of prim importance. In this regard targeted questionnaire can help to improve their status furthermore. In order to analyze and evaluate the views of farmers involved in land improvement and consolidation and on-farm improvement Project, during the year 2011, total number of 455 questionnaire, each with 50 questions, were distributed amongst farmers. The results showed that farmers in terms of age are old, in terms of literacy, are mostly illiterate and lands are in the category of small. The results showed that about 50 percent of farmers have problem in the first and second years after implementation of the project, in the way of supplying water and irrigation management practices. Also construction of roads between farms led to more favorable among farmers. Further, according to results, 62 percent of farmers reported an increase in production after the implementation of the plan upto 300 kilograms per hectare. Generally, the findings showed that more than 75 percent of farmers expressed moderate satisfaction with the implementation of development plan.