Identification of Environmental Sustainability Indicators of Small-scale Family Farming Using the Fuzzy Delphi Method

Sustainable agriculture approach focuses on creating and strengthening sustainability characteristics in agricultural farming systems. The first step in trying to sustainable farming systems is to consider their environmental issues. There are the large number of small-scale family farming systems in Iran's agricultural sector. Identifying and solving the sustainability problems of these systems is considered a necessity for the sustainability of agricultural sector in the country. Identification and application of indicators that can be used to measure the sustainability of small-scale family farming systems is the objective of research. In this analytical - exploratory research, Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM) was used. The statistical population consisted of experts from universities, research institutes and executive agencies, of which 15 were selected by purposeful sampling. The research tool was a semi-structured questionnaire in the first qualitative round and a structured questionnaire in the second and third rounds of Fuzzy Delphi Method (quantitative sector). Based on the results, 76 indicators were selected from documentary studies and proposed panel of specialists, 28 indicators in the form of 10 categories including : climate, land resources, water resources, water use, culture system, application of crop inputs, application of new technology, management of product remnants, loss and destruction of resources, and the occurrence of natural disasters were introduced to measure the environmental sustainability of Iran's small-scale family agriculture.