A Survey of Farmers' Attitudes toward Sustainable Soil Management A Case Study of Divandarreh Township

The present study aims to investigate the factors affecting farmer attitudes toward sustainable soil management. The statistical population (N=7931) included all the farmers in Divandarreh Township, Kurdistan Province, Iran. Using Cochran's sampling formula, the sample size was estimated at 126 and the respondents were selected using the stratified random sampling method. To enhance the reliability of research findings, 165 questionnaires were administered among the farmers, out of which 150 were ultimately completed for analysis by SPSS software. The questionnaire was used as the main research instrument whose validity was confirmed by a panel of experts and its reliability was established by calculating Chronbach's Alpha Coefficient (α>0.7). Results of means comparisons showed significant differences in farmers' attitudes based on the two variables of participation in extension and training courses and holding non-farm occupations. Results of correlation analysis showed that farmer attitude was positively and significantly correlated with the respondents’ income level, previous farm work experience, farm size, level of education, access to mass media, concern for environmental issues, level of motivation for participating in environmental protection projects, and exposure to education-extension journals in the fields of agriculture and soil management but negatively and significantly correlated with number of land parcels owned. Also, the results of regression analysis showed that the three variables of income level, education level, and access to mass media explained 67.7% of the variance in the dependent variable (i.e., farmer attitude to sustainable soil management).