Identifying and explaining the obstacles to agricultural development from the perspective of farmers in the deprived area of Hamadan province
Subject Areas : Regional PlanningHajar Vahdat Moadab 1 , موسی اعظمی 2
1 - PhD Student of Agricultural development, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran
2 - عضو هیات علمی دانشگاه بوعلی سینا
Keywords: Agricultural Development, Barriers to Agricultural Development, Kaboudrahang County,
Abstract :
Knowing the bottlenecks of agriculture is the first step in other fundamental planning in order to solve the problems of deprived areas and balanced development. The purpose of this study is to identify barriers to agricultural development from the perspective of farmers in Kaboudrahang city in Hamadan province. The statistical population of the study was active farmers in 10 villages of Kaboudrahang. Using the Cochran's formula, the sample size was estimated and selected 288 people. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire, to ensure the validity of the questionnaire from the experts' point of view and to calculate its level and level of reliability, Cronbach's alpha method has been used. The value of 0.89 is obtained, which indicates the validity of the questionnaire. Based on the results obtained in relation to barriers to agricultural development in the study area, 43 variables were summarized in 7 factors (economic, natural, infrastructure, socio-cultural, educational-promotional, institutional and technical) using factor analysis technique. The results showed from the farmers' point of view, the economic factor was the first obstacle to the development of agriculture in the region. The sum of these factors explained 61.6% of the variance of agricultural development barriers in Kaboudrahang city. The results show that the agricultural sector of the deprived region of Hamadan province is facing economic problems and lack of investment resources to fulfill the goals of the development plans. To compensate for this problem, it is necessary to improve investment security. Based on the results, it is recommended to prepare a land use plan specific to the region in the agricultural sector and then modify the support policies in accordance with these plans so that the government based on the advantages of the city to support producers.
Extended Abstract
Introduction
Agriculture has been the source of livelihood for the majority of people in rural areas of developing countries (Berman, 2013). Hence, it has a significant impact on the economic, social and environmental development of most rural areas (John and Xiang, 2011). The agricultural sector has been multidimensional for this reason, it has played a major role in various aspects of human life from the beginning until now, therefore, the extent of the activity of the agricultural sector in rural areas of a country and job and income dependence of villagers on this sector, makes the attention of planners to this issue necessary (Mir Lotfi et al., 2012). Insufficient attention to barriers or obstacles to agricultural development, evaluating their impact will reduce the agricultural potential of rural areas and the continuation of this process will lead to the destruction of the agricultural sector and consequently the instability of the social and economic sector of rural areas (Karimzadeh, 2021). iran is not very rich in some sources of agricultural production, especially water and with the passage of time and the indiscriminate use of farmers, these problems have doubled. this problem is very significant and evident in some parts of Hamedan province, especially Kaboudarahang city. considering that the activities related to the major part of agriculture and the different capabilities of the regions in this field can be considered as aspects of regional inequalities in the country first, inter-regional and intra-regional differences must be made clear to us, as different problems require different solutions due to this nature, zoning of agricultural development is necessary in order to acquire knowledge, study the sequence and spatio-temporal distribution of agricultural phenomena. Kaboudrahang city which is located in Hamedan province according to the 2016 census, and the economy of this city is mainly based on agriculture and animal husbandry. based on the results obtained in a recent study conducted by researchers, Kaboudrahang city is very weak in terms of agricultural development indicators and is classified as a deprived area of the province in this regard (Azami and Vahdat Modab, 1400).the issue that is being considered is why, due to the economic, geographical and climatic situation of the region, the status and level of agriculture has been lower among the cities of the province. therefore, the present study seeks to study the factors and barriers to agricultural development in this city.
Methodology
The purpose of this study was to investigate the obstacles to agricultural development in Kabudrahang city and it is considered as one of the applied researches. the information required in this study was collected by conducting a structured interview and using a questionnaire. the statistical population of the study consists of all farmers in 10 rural areas of kabudrahang city. the sample size was estimated to be 288 using the cochran's formula. the collected data were analyzed using spss software /obstacles to agricultural development were categorized by factor analysis.
Results and Discussion
TheThe subjects in this study are 288 farmers with a mean age of 42.26, the majority of respondents are literate and elementary and only 3.12% of them had a university education. based on these results, the region is facing a shortage of young, literate and specialized manpower. The value of Cronbach's alpha coefficient is at a high level and for the whole questionnaire, the coefficient value is 0.89. The results of factor analysis also led to the creation of 7 factors factors (economic, natural, infrastructure, socio-cultural, educational-promotional, institutional and technical) that explained 61% of the total variance of the questionnaire.
Conclusion
The agricultural sector plays a key role in the economies of countries in transition. Since the agricultural sector is important in terms of meeting the food needs of the people, the supply of industrial raw materials, employment and income generation, the development of the agricultural sector is a major factor contributing to social stability and economic growth, so the pathology of the development process In the agricultural sector is one of the necessities of community development, therefore, the overall purpose of this study was to identify barriers to agricultural development from the perspective of farmers in Kabudarahang as a city deprived of agricultural development indicators. by identifying and analyzing the obstacles to agricultural development in the city, a step can be taken to make more use of production capacities and improve the situation of the agricultural sector. The required information was collected through a questionnaire from 288 farmers in the study area. the results showed that the economic factor is the most important obstacle to agricultural development in the study area. farmers' financial weakness makes them unable to buy the inputs they need on time, especially fertilizers, pesticides and agricultural machinery. on the other hand, the lack of agricultural facilities can exacerbate this problem, which as a major obstacle can lead to underdevelopment of agriculture. in general, one of the most important obstacles to the lack of development of the agricultural sector is financial and economic problems. considering the research findings, it can be said that the agricultural sector of Kaboudrahang city is facing economic problems and lack of investment resources to achieve the goals of development programs. Compensating for this problem requires improving investment security.therefore, it is necessary to pay more attention to the improvement of investment security indicators in this sector in city development plans.
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