Explaining the factors promoting the development of conservation agriculture, using factor analysis (Case study: Boukan County)

Sustainability of agriculture requires a change from conventional methods to efficient methods that, while meeting the growing demand for food, take into account the security of future opportunities and maintain the quality and quantity of natural resources, including soil. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors promoting the development of conservation agriculture of of Boukan County in West Azerbaijan province. This research was descriptive-survey. Statistical population of the study was included all leading farmers of Boukan county (N: 85) that out of them, 70 sample were selected by Cochran Formula. The researcher-made questionnaire was used for data gathering that’s validity and reliability was confirmed by experts and Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.82. The research questionnaire consisted of factors facilitating conservation agriculture. The results of factor analysis showed that six factors included; infrastructure, educational, planning, economic and technological could explain about 73% of the variance of the factors promoting conservation agriculture.