Identification of Affecting Factors on Agricultural Land Use Change in Belgor Village, SowmehSara County

One of the major problems in agriculture in Guilan province is land use change. The change of use of agricultural lands in this province annually removes part of the fertile lands from the production cycle. The main purpose of this study is to identify the factors which affects the change of use of agricultural lands in the village of Belgor. The present study is applied in terms of purpose and has a descriptive -analytical nature. Survey was used to collect information. The statistical sample of the study include local experts of the village and n=50 people were selected. The research instrument is a research-made questionnaire whose formal validity was confirmed by experts and its reliability was confirmed by pre-test and Alpha Cronbach (0.86) coefficient. The factor analysis technique was used for analyzing data through SPSS software. The results of factor analysis determined four elements as the most important factors affecting land use change including ; the governing Factor , the cause of life problems in the village, economic Factor and environmental Factor. These four factors identified 66.57% of the agricultural land use change factor. According to the results, the most important driving force in changing the use of agricultural lands in the village of Belgor is the governing Factor. By focusing on this issue, amending and enacting new laws can prevent the upward trend of lands use change in this village.