Studying the Methods of Drought Coping by Farmers: (Case Study: Shirvan County of Northern Khorasan Province)

Understanding drought-tolerant agricultural practices in Iran is of great importance and farmers use different ways to deal with the drought phenomenon. This survey research was conducted to identify these ways and their relationship with the individual and occupational characteristics of farmers. The population of the study consisted of the farmers in Shirvan County in Northern Khorasan province, in which 350 participants were studied using cluster random sampling method. The required information was collected using a researcher-made questionnaire whose content validity was confirmed by experts and its reliability was approved by Kuder-Richardson method as 0.72. The findings from descriptive analysis showed that the first priority for coping strategy to drought was related to the “land reform measures”, while the last priority was related to “storage solutions”. Besides, “using pipe to transferring agricultural water”, “cooperation to create and develop a network of local irrigation and water supply" and "rain water harvesting using surface catchments" were the three important recommendations of farmers to combat drought in future. Among the nine studied ways, the use of pipe for transferring agricultural water, cooperation in the creation and development of irrigation and water supply networks, covering the surface of water reservoirs to prevent further evaporation, reducing the flood watering, faltering agricultural lands, use of local knowledge and information for drought management, removing plants along the path of the irrigation channel, creating jobs and sources of other income to reduce drought pressure and complying with local rules on water resource utilization have been the first priorities. The results from correlation test revealed that age and farming experience were not significantly correlated to use of drought coping strategies. However, the more the level of education and the amount of visits with extension agent increase, the more farmers' use of drought coping strategies increases.
Extended Abstract
1- Iran is located in a dry area of the world, and for years, the phenomenon of drought affects some parts or even the entire country. However, many areas of the country experienced severe droughts. The results of the census show that some of the villages in the country have been dwelling due to droughts. Drought coping methods of farmers are different depending usually on individual, economic, social, environmental, attitudinal, cultural and management factors. Review of studies shows a variety of drought management strategies among farmers. Hence, it is necessary to select and promote the best and most appropriate ways of coping with the drought phenomenon in each region with regard to social, economic and cultural characteristics. The purpose of this study was to identify the most important strategies used by farmers to deal with the drought phenomenon.
2- The research method used in this research is a field study and an applied research methods. The research method was descriptive and survey method was used. The study population included all farmers living in the Shirvan County (about 15 thousand people). Sampling was done by random cluster sampling. The required sample size was estimated by the Cochran formula with a 5% error rate as 335 farmers. The Shirvān County has three parts: Sarhad, Markazy and Ghoshkhaneh with 9 rural districts and 125 villages. For sampling, two rural districts of Sarhad, four rural districts of Markazy were randomlly select and then 40% of villages from each rural districts were selected (38 villages). Finally, 9 farmers were selected in each village and the total 350 farmers were interviewed. The data gathering tool was a questionnaire whose validity was verified by the experts of Agricultural Jihad Agriculture Organization of North Khorasan Province as well as the faculty members of Departments of Aagricultural Education and Extension, Water Engineering and Agronomy of Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. Reliability was confirmed by calculating the Kuder-Richardson coefficient (r=0.72). Data analysis was done by SPSS software.
3- This study showed that farmers have used different strategies to deal with drought. They also had different recommendations on how to use drought response strategies. Among the nine strategies of drought management, the solutions that have been used as a top priority by farmers are: using pipe for agricultural water transfer, cooperation in the creation and development of irrigation and water supply networks, coverage of water reservoirs to prevent further evaporation, reducing irrigation in the field, flatten agricultural land, using local people's experiences and knowledge to cope with drought, growing plants along the channel of the irrigation channel, creating a job and another source income to reduce drought pressure and, complying with local laws on the utilization of water resources. At the same time, the research showed that drought management strategies, which were among the first recommendations of farmers for future use, include: using tubes for agricultural water transfer, cooperation in the creation and development of irrigation and water supply networks, storing rain by creating rainwater damping, creating drip irrigation system in the farm, changing the shape and size of the farm in relation to the amount of water and irrigation, participating in training courses on drought, cultivating low-water demand products, using agricultural product insurance and the establishment of a local organization to monitor the correct use of agricultural water in the region. The results of this study showed that farmers' use of different ways of coping with drought is different from each other. Further analysis showed that land, educational and agrarian reform strategies are in the first to third priority, respectively, and in this regard, storage strategies are in the top priority. The results showed that the use of drought coping strategies is not dependent on age and agricultural work history, and farmers with higher education have used more drought management strategies. Moreover, the farmers with more own land have used more institutional and agronomic approaches than other farmers. In addition, farmers who have a second job have used more agricultural and supportive strategies. One of the reasons can be the effect of the second job on having access to income opportunities and resources, and more on the use of agro-protection strategies. The results showed that the use of all drought coping strategies has a direct and significant relationship with the number of farmers-extension agent contacts throughout the year. This indicates the importance of meeting extension agent and its effect on the use of drought combat strategies among farmers.
4- The present study identified 63 strategies used by farmers to deal with drought. These strategies can be categorized into 9 groups including storage, modern, increased utilization, support, protection, institutional, agricultural, educational and land reforming approaches. Identifying these strategies, it is possible to have a better study of the methods used by farmers to deal with drought. The present study showed that farmers do not use the same methods of drought coping while "land reclamation solutions” are in their priority. In this regard, "storage solutions" are in the last priority. Also, “using pipe to transferring agricultural water”, “cooperation to create and develop a network of local irrigation and water supply" and "rain water harvesting using surface catchments" were the three important recommendations of farmers to combat drought in future. The results showed that age and farming experience were not significantly correlated to use drought coping strategies. But the education level and farmer-extension agent contact had positive and significant correlations with the amount used coping strategies with drought. Providing the necessary support in order to help farmers in using the widely used methods, as well as paying attention to farmers' recommended methods for dealing with drought, are the suggestions of the present research.