Factors Affecting Agricultural Land Use Changes in South Basin of Urmia Lake; Analyzing the Farmers’ Behavior

Agricultural land use change is one of the main environmental challenges facing the world today. Among various types of economic sectors, agriculture is one of the most sensitive economic sectors in terms of agricultural land use changes. Therefore, agricultural land management can be very influential in agricultural development. Due to the importance of possible effects of farmers’ behavior on agricultural land use changes, the main purpose of present study was to identify the factors influencing farmers' behavior on agricultural land use change in the area of south basin of Urmia lake using discriminant analysis. For conducting this research a survey method has been used. The research statistical population were the all farmers in the south basin of Lake Urmia. Out of them 153 farmers were selected as a sample by a random sampling method. The sample size estimated using Cochran formula. The instrument for collecting data was a questionnaire which its validity was confirmed by a panel of experts. The reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed using Cronbach’s alpha coefficients (α=0.74). Results of Kruskal-Wallis test showed that according to categorizing variables age, participation in educational-extensional training courses, and the size of agricultural lands, there was significant differences in the respondents' behavior towards agricultural land use changes in the south basin of Lake Urmia. However, in terms of level of education, there was no significant difference in the behavior of the respondents. Also, the findings of discriminant analysis showed that among the variables studied, economic, supervisory, and managerial factors had the most powerful impacts, respectively; and participation in educational-extensional training courses had the lowest impact on the farmers' behavior. Based on these results, the authorities of rural and agricultural sectors recommended to pave the way for development of handicrafts and various rural products including agricultural and livestock processing by attracting funds. As a result, farmers and their families can have a supplementary income for household expenses.