Regression Analysis of Factors Effective on Sustainability of Potato Cultivation in Fereidounshahr County of Iran

Potato cultivation is dominant in Fereidounshahr county and plays a significant role in its economy. Therefore it is very important to identify factors threatening sustainable production of this crop. The present survey was conducted in 2004-05 crop year. From a statistical population of 1200 potato cultivators a sample of 160 was selected by using a multi stage cluster sampling known as probability proportionate to size. Results produced in the descriptive part indicate that most of the farmers are old and illiterate, 67 percent of cultivation systems fall into a relatively sustainable group; and the sustainability of cultivation appears to have positive significant relationships with the farmers, ages, working experiences in agriculture, potato cultivation records, membership in cooperatives, type of potato farming, size of farmland, the size of area under potato cultivation, ecological features, social status, knowledge of sustainable agriculture, and attitude. A multivariate stepwise regression analysis was performed with cultivation sustainability as dependent variable and total production, attitudes toward the sustainable agriculture, extent of financial facilities, knowledge of sustainable agriculture, social participation, and communicative characteristics as the predictor variables, which explain about 81 percent of the dependent variable.