مجله پژوهش های ترویج و آموزش کشاورزی
سال پانزدهم شماره 1 (پیاپی 57، بهار 1401)

The present study aimed to analyze the Farmers' Behavior in Using Low-pressure Irrigation System. This qualitative study is performed in East Azarbaijan province. The statistical sample population consists of 393 farmers out of 112010 farmers of East Azarbaijan province. The research instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire that face validity and convergent validity were used to assess the validity of the questionnaire. The results of confirmatory factor analysis showed that the mean of variance extracted was acceptable for the studied structures (AVE≥0.522). Also, the combined reliability value was suitable for all structures (CR≥0.785). The SPSS version 20 and AMOS version 21 were used to analyze the data. In order to better understand the main factors influencing the behavior of low-pressure irrigation systems, the research model was based on the Decomposed Theory of Planned Behavior (DTPB) and extended. In this study, two variables of moral norm and self-identity have been added to the initial model of the decomposed theory of planned behavior, which has made it more complete and comprehensive. The results of using structural equation modeling showed that EDTPB had a suitable effectiveness and efficiency to predict farmers' behavior in using low-pressure irrigation system. In addition, variables including compatibility, advantages, facilitators, self-efficacy, attitudes, moral norms, self-identity and behavioral control were explained 72% of the variance changes.

Economic development requires investment in various sectors, including agriculture. Without investment, employment growth, production and socio-economic prosperity cannot be expected. Many developing countries and Iran are facing a shortage of capital and financial resources and need to attract foreign direct investment to compensate for their lack of capital and financial resources. The purpose of this study is to identify the effective indicators of the economic factor in attracting foreign investment. The statistical population of the research includes parliamentarians, elites active in the field of financial economics and agriculture, and a group of professors who specialize in both academic fields and are related to foreign investors, and there are a total of 100 people. The results of the research show; Of the 21 indicators studied, all economic indicators are effective in attracting foreign investment, but the "degree of market economy" or the principle of free trade is the most important. Then the indicators of "increasing the profitability of agricultural activities", "exchange rate stability" and "domestic financial market stability" and the three indicators of "agricultural sector growth rate" and "domestic private sector investment in agriculture".

Satisfaction of users in interaction with the irrigation and drainage network is one of the important concerns of executives and officials in the field of agriculture and water. The aim of this study was to identify the factors affecting water users' satisfaction in the area of Varamin irrigation and drainage network using a questionnaire by field-documentary method and random sampling. The statistical population of users and water users under the network coverage and sample size (Cochrane relationship) was determined to be 98 people. It was a questionnaire that the validity of the research tool was completed by completing 30 prototypes, and the reliability was assessed with the opinion of university professors and experts. Education, level of water ownership, positive and significant exploitation system, age, agricultural history and type of cultivation have a negative and significant effect. Receiving water, preventing frequent visits, reducing costs and optimal distribution of water in the covered lands, lack of effective inter-organizational cooperation in land consolidation and obtaining permits, insufficient irrigation and drought information, indicate the level of impact on user satisfaction.

The resilience of social-ecological systems to environmental changes such as climate change requires the guarantee of environmental systems such as water supply systems and human resources such as resource governance systems and stakeholder participation. In Iran, the International Carbon Sequestration Project, in cooperation, was initially launched in 2005 with the aim of preventing the phenomenon of desertification. Therefore, in this study, the local communities of the three target areas of this project, including Khatam, Jajarm and Oghan watershed of Galikesh and the impact of the project on the broaden of stakeholder participation were examined. For this purpose, two villages from each region were selected by simple random sampling and a questionnaire measuring the broaden participation among farmers and ranchers in the target villages was completed. The results showed that the implementation of carbon sequestration plan in the three study areas in the five dimensions studied did not increase the broaden participation to an acceptable level. Also, the comparison of the performance of the three regions showed that in Jajarm, the weakest performance and in Galikesh, the best performance has been done in order to expand the participation of stakeholders. Indicators of broaden participation were acceptable only in Ogan watershed and Khatam in 14 out of 90 possible cases. As a result, transparency of goals and expectations, presence and involvement of stakeholders, facilitation, and leadership, capacity building, power, and sourcing in all aspects of social, economic, organizational, infrastructure, and social capital have not performed well. Therefore, the resilience of ecosystem services in the three study areas will be jeopardized due to the lack of expansion of stakeholder participation.

Focusing the value chain of products is one of the most important new approaches in agricultural development. Nevertheless, very a few researches related to the rice value chain across the country have been done , especially in the Mazandaran province, where it is considered as the most important producer of rice. Therefore, the main goal of this research was to the study of challenges of rice value chain from the view point of farmers. This is an applied research which needed data collected through systematic literature review and survey method. In qualitative part of research, inductive analysis method applied as a guide for data collection and analysis.  The target population consisted of active paddy farmers which 15 out of them purposefully selected as a sample. For data collection, field observations and in-depth interviews used in the framework of the focus group. The validity of the findings was also confirmed by the triangulation process. The research finding indicated that the region's rice value chain face many challenges in the pre-production, production and post-production process.