Study of Psychological Coping Strategies of Fars Province Farmers in Drought

BackgroundUnderstanding the farmer's reactions and their psychological and intellectual reflections in drought could provide a basis for effective strategies and decisions making in order to minimize losses in agricultural productions and income. The present paper aims to determine the psychological coping strategies of farmers against drought in Fars province.MethodsBy using of multistage cluster sampling and theoretical and field methods, about 360 farmers of 6 townships were surveyed in 3 different regions considering the severity of drought such as average, high and very high. FindingsAccording to the results, the eight priorities of psychological coping strategies are respectively as follows: 'positive evaluation', 'self management', 'drawing social supports', 'staying away from others', 'problem solving', 'responsibility', 'direct contact' and 'denial'. (3.30, 2.67, 2.53, 2.06, 1.83, 1.59, 1.59, 0.99)ConclusionThe research achievements show that some resources, including physical, peripheral, personal and energizing are at risk during drought regarding the farmer's viewpoint. Farmers in sever drought regions feel that their resources are at high risk than others while farmers in other regions feel low risk.