Investigating the effect of IPM/FFS on Economical and Environmental Dimensions at the RuralCommunities (Case Study: Fereeydoonkenar District, Mazandaran Province)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of achievements of fish farmers following the implementation of IPM/FFS in rice cultivars on the economic and environmental dimensions of rural communities covered by the plan for the empowerment of farmers in Fereydunkenar city, Mazandaran province and to evaluate the importance of developing a farmer to farmer approach in managing healthy crop production.
In this study, 80 farmers were selected from four sub-villages: Souteh, Form, Haydar-Kola and Roodbest villages of Fereydounkanar. They were divided into three groups: FFS/IPM implementing (first group), affected by factor (second group) and non-informed farmers (third group).
This study was designed to examine the relationship between IPM / FFS implementation in rural areas and environmental and economic indicators. In this regard, descriptive, comparative and correlational methods were selected. The hypotheses were tested using central indices and Pearson correlation coefficient, Chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis tests.
Findings: The results indicated that there was a significant correlation between the implementation of the plan and the reduction of the use of pesticides in all three groups, so that the rate of spraying by the farmers in all the three groups decreased by 45% as compared to the previous years. Statistics show that in 2008, 11 farmers from the first and second groups did not completely spray. Certainly, this action was completely normal in the first group and in the second group, which can be distinguished in the statistical Tables. The majority of farmers in the third and second groups sprayed twice, so that 50% of the subjects who participated fully (7- 6 years) have only sprayed once and reduced consumption by 80%. This is because the same farmers in the three groups mentioned in their interviews that they had sprayed more than three times within the two to three years ago, and this rate had sometimes increased to seven times, and only one farmer from the third group had sprayed more than three times. This showed a saving of upto 70% (100 thousand tomans per hectare) in all the three groups in terms of the cost of pesticide purchasing and the salaries of the sprayer workers. As in Argentina and Brazil, a similar study shows that the plan has resulted in savings of $ 1.2 million in soybean and cotton cultivation costs (9).
The results of this study indicate that there is a significant correlation among the implementation of the IPM/FFS plan and improving scientific and technical knowledge of the farmers, reducing the major problems of the past, observing individual and environmental health, reducing the consumption of chemical pesticides, reducing costs, increasing the income and production of farmers, and reduction of blast disease. However, there is no significant correlation among the implementation of the plan and job creation, reduction of chemical fertilizer consumption, and production and use of natural fertilizers.