Abstract:
One of the dangers that constantly threatens agricultural sector is soil erosion. The
purpose
of this study was to investigate and categorize farmers’ views on the factors
inhibiting the implementation of soil conservation practices in Koohdasht Township, Iran.
The study was fulfilled by using descriptive
-
correlation method. A stratified random
sam
ple of 377 farmers was drawn from a population of 19531 farmers in the township,
based on Krejcie and Morgan Table for determining sample size from a finite population.
The research questionnaire was validated by a panel of faculty members of agricultural
extension and education at Tarbiat Modares University (TMU) and found to have
sufficient content and face validity. Using a pilot study, internal consistency reliability was
demonstrated with satisfactory alpha coefficient (0.73).
Descriptive and inferenti
al
statistics, i.e., factor analysis, were used to analyze the data. Factor analysis produced
four factors: “economic
-
extension”, “ecological
-
farming”, “social
-
structural”, and
“organizational
-
management” which accounted for 49% of the total variance. The
factors
that emerged suggest the need for some executive measures to overcome the problems
inhibiting the implementation of soil conservation practices in future programs.
Keywords:
Descriptive
-
correlation method, Ecological
-
farming, Economic
-
extension, Fa
ctor
analysis
,
Soil protection
