The Driving and Inhibiting Factors of Mechanized Tobacco Production in Iran Using the Delphi Technique

Increased cost of tobacco cultivation is a major concern for its sustainable production in Iran. Therefore, the development of tobacco mechanized cultivation is a necessity. Given this, the driving and inhibiting factors of the development of mechanized tobacco cultivation were investigated by the Delphi technique in three rounds in Guilan Province, Iran. Nineteen experts from the Jahad Agriculture Organization of Guilan Province and the Agriculture Management Services in Rasht County and Western Guilan were selected as the research panel as recommended by the academic professors of the Guilan Province. The results were analyzed by SPSS21. In the last round, 10 superior driving and inhibiting factors were ranked based on the final experts’ consistency as the final decision. The results revealed that identification of pioneer farmers and their encouragement to mechanized tobacco cultivation and the import of the latest technologies of tobacco cultivation and their modification in accordance with regional conditions were the most important driving factors as 97.37 and 94.74% of panel experts agreed, respectively. In addition, 98.68% of experts rated insufficient research on tobacco cultivation mechanization and 96.05% of experts rated the small size of tobacco farms as the most important inhibiting factors. Accordingly, the development of supportive policies to support pioneer tobacco growers in mechanized cultivation of this industrial crop, the technical assessment for modern tobacco cultivation machinery, the reduction of imported tobacco machinery prices, and the support of research on mechanization of tobacco cultivation are some important strategies that should be considered by those involved in tobacco production in Guilan Province, Iran.