Farmers’ attitudes towards and application of soil and water conservation practices in Talkhehrood basin of Harris County, East Azarbaijan province

Soil erosion is of the important global challenges for agricultural and food production. The indiscriminate intervention of man in the nature is of the main reasons for erosion. The success of any conservation program requires an understanding of the various aspects of human behavior. Behaviors are mainly emerge from the people’s knowledge and attitudes. Farmers' attitudes can influence their behavior to adopt conservation practices. Studying the attitude and behavior of farmers towards conservation practices can play a crucial role to help managers and decision makers in understanding the reason for farmers' conservation behavior and to modify and improve it. Several studies have been conducted worldwide on the adoption and application of soil and water conservation methods. Many of them have focused on the purely socioeconomic aspects of the adoption. While the current study examined the attitude of farmers towards conservation practices, access to facilities for and barriers to the application of these practices. The study also examined the perceptual-attitudinal and socioeconomic aspects affecting the implementation of conservation practices. Therefore, the conservation behavior of farmers in Talkhehrood basin in Harris County, East Azarbaijan province has been studied from different aspects.

The aim of this study was to investigate the attitude towards conservation practices and the application of these practices. Survey research method was used in this study. A sample of 220 farmers was selected using Cochran's sampling formula and the necessary data were collected using a face to face interviewing procedure. The random multistage sampling method was used to select the sample farmers. The instrument of the study was a questionnaire. Most sections of the questionnaire was in the form of 5-points Likert items. It was validated by a panel of university staffs and field experts of agricultural and natural resources. A pilot study was conducted using 30 farmers from out of the sample villages for reliability and correction of the questionnaire. The calculated values of Cronbach’s alpha showed that the questionnaire has sufficient reliability.

The results showed that farmers had a positive attitude towards conservation practices. Among the 12 selected conservation practices, compost application, dredging of irrigation canals, weeding and retaining crop residues were at the above-average level. The use of other methods was below the average. Creating windbreaks and flood dam was very weak. Respondents perceived that land fragmentation and lack of financial ability were the most important obstacles to the application of conservation practices. Significant correlations were found between the implementation of most conservation practices. Based on the regression analyses, attitude and access to facilities were the most important perceptual-attitudinal factors, as well as education and farming experiences were the most important socio-economic factors explaining the implementation of conservation methods.

The results showed that while farmers had a relatively positive attitude towards soil and water conservation practices, they implemented low-cost and quick-return practices using available facilities. Due to the lack of financial abilities, the use of practices that required financial investment was not very common among them. Removing barriers and restrictions, providing the necessary facilities and providing educational and extension programs can be effective in promoting the implementation of these practices.