Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Agricultural Extension and Education, Faculty of Agriculture, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran
2 Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural Extension and Education, Faculty of Agriculture, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran.
3 Associate Professor, Hamedan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, Hamedan, Iran.
Abstract
The main goal of this research is to investigate the factors affecting the adoption of optimal cropping patterns for sustainable agricultural development. The present study is applied in terms of purpose and paradigm, it is a mixed research (qualitative-quantitative) with an exploratory approach. In the first stage, in order to identify and extract the factors affecting the adoption of the optimal cultivation pattern in line with the sustainable development of the agricultural sector, 18 semi-structured interviews were conducted with experts in this field using a purposive sampling method and considering the theoretical saturation index. After conducting interviews using content analysis method, five factors were identified: economic, social, political and institutional, environmental, and educational and extension. In the second stage, the fuzzy Delphi technique was used to achieve group agreement among the experts. The results of the study showed that the highest level of agreement among experts at this stage regarding each of the economic, social, political and institutional, environmental, and promotional and educational factors affecting the acceptance of the optimal cultivation pattern in line with the sustainable development of the agricultural sector was related to increasing the income from changing the cultivation pattern for farmers (S=0.83), building trust among farmers to accept the proposed cultivation pattern (S=0.85), determining a guaranteed price for products resulting from the new cultivation pattern (S=0.83), saving (reducing water consumption) in water consumption in the proposed cultivation pattern (S=0.80), and using model and demonstration farms to familiarize farmers (S=0.82)
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