The introduction of applied manners for farmer's participation in irrigation management transfer (case study: Ghale-Chay irrigation and drainage network)

Water is one of the obstacles for production throughout the world. Special strategies for water consumption must be employed for coping with water shortage. Management transfer is one of these strategies. Conducted in 2015, the aim of the present study was to introduce some applied solutions of irrigation management transfer to farmers in Ghale-Chay irrigation and drainage network in Ajabshir town of East Azerbaijan province. This study is applied and a descriptive one in terms of data collection. The population of the study consisted 5129 farmers in three irrigation zones. The sample (N=204) was selected using multistage stratified sampling method, by an appropriate assignment, and Cochran's formula. Two academic staffs and three experts of Ajabshir County Water Bureau were asked to give their opinions on measurement of the content validity of the questionnaire. The value of Cronbach's alpha coefficient for different parts of the questionnaire was between 0/75 – 0/92. The data was analyzed using SPSS 22 software. Results of path analysis showed that the most direct effect of variables on participation is related to the status of irrigation water (0/335). Three solutions were suggested for entering to management transfer process: the formation of “co-water groups”, “adjacent groups” and “co-culture groups”.