The study of farmers’ knowledge of irrigation and water issues in Golestan province

Document Type : review paper

Authors

• Ali Reza Kiani ¹
• Fariborz Abbasi ²

¹ agricultural engineering department, Golestan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and education Center

² Agricultural Engineering Research Institute

10.22067/jwsd.v2i2.49684

Abstract

The three practical steps that are need to be taken by government agencies in order to increase irrigation efficiency include economic motivation for optimization of water use, modification of existing irrigation systems in the short term and modernization of traditional methods in the long-term plan. The present research aims at identifying farmers' knowledge regarding irrigation and water issues over two years (2008-2009) in the Golestan province. The study was a field survey and the data was collected through interviews with the farmers as well as completion of questionnaires. Results showed that source of water supply for approximately 76% of the farmers was from wells, approximately 18% from rivers, and the rest of them from springs, irrigation networks and small reservoirs. More than 89% of the convenience channels were earth channels, 8 % lining and 3 % pipes. Knowledge among farmers about irrigation scheduling was very limited. Nearly 95% of the farmers do not have any information about the water consumption in their field. Most farmers (93%) produced in a traditional way, transferred water by earth canals and irrigated without land leveling. Only 7% used pressurized irrigation systems. The results also showed that the main causes of water losses in the fields were related to earth channels (26%), topography (29%) and inadequate irrigation (20%). Unreasonable cost of water, the small size of farms, and private possession of water resources were key factors for improving irrigation efficiency.

Keywords

• Water Resources
• Irrigation
• Farmers knowledge
• Golestan

---

References

داوودی، ه. و مقصودی، ت. 1391. بررسی دانش کشاورزی پایدار در بین سیب‏زمینی کاران شهرستان شوشتر. مجله اقتصاد کشاورزی و توسعه، 42(2): 265-274.

عباسی، ف.، سلطانی، ع.، کیانی، ع.ر.، زارعی، ق.، شاهین‌رخسار، پ. و خرمیان، م. 1391. ارزیابی میزان آگاهی کشاورزان و تحلیل وضعیت و نحوه بهر‌ه‌برداری از منابع آب و خاک (مطالعه موردی در استان‏های تهران، خوزستان، مازندران و گلستان). مجله تحقیقات اقتصاد و توسعه کشاورزی ایران، 3(2-43): 387-397.

علی‏پور، ح. 1386. بررسی میزان مشارکت محققان، مروّجان و کشاورزان در فرآیند تولید و انتقال تکنولوژی (مطالعه موردی در استان فارس و کرمانشاه). پژوهش و سازندگی در زراعت و باغبانی، 76: 54-63.

فلکی، م. 1384. تحلیل زمینه ‏ها و عوامل پیش‏برنده و بازدارنده بکارگیری فناوری اطلاعات در نظام ترویج کشاورزی. پایان ‏نامه کارشناسی ارشد رشته ترویج، دانشکده کشاورزی، دانشگاه تهران. پردیس کشاورزی و منابع طبیعی کرج، ص 235.

قدیمی، ع. ر.، شعبانی، ح. و اسدی، ع. 1393. سنجش نگرش و میزان بکارگیری فناوری‌های کشاورزی ارگانیک توسط سیب‌زمینی کاران شهرستان فریدن. مجله دانش کشاورزی وتولید پایدار، 24(2): 55-71.

کیانی، ع. ر. 1380. ارزیابی سیستم آبیاری بارانی کلاسیک در منطقه گرگان. مجلة علوم کشاورزی و منابع طبیعی دانشگاه گرگان، 8(4): 29- 39.

Buthelezi N., Hughes J. and Modi A. 2010. The use of scientific and local knowledge in Agricultural land evaluation and soil fertility studies in two villages in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. 19th World congress of soil science and soil solutions for a changing world, 1-6 August 2010, Brisbane Australia proceedings published on DVD.

Cerf M., Compagnon C. and Falzon P. 1999. Providing advice to farmers: a cooperative problem solving activity? In distributed cognition at work “Third European Conference on Cognitive Sciences”. Sienne (Italie), Octobre 1999, PP: 47-53.

Leeuwis C. 2000. Learning to be sustainable. Does the Dutch agrarian knowledge market fail? The Journal of Agricultural education and extension, 7(2): 79-92.

Millar J. and Curtis A. 1999. Challenging the boundaries of local and scientific knowledge in Australia: Opportunities for social learning in managing temperate upland pastures. Agriculture and Human Values, 16(4): 389-397.

Kega V.M., Kasina M., Olubayo F., Kamau G.M., and Nderitu J.H. 2015. A Logit Analysis of Farmer Knowledge on Rice Blast Disease Pyricularia grisea [Cook, Sacc] at Mwea Irrigation Scheme, Kirinyaga County, Central Province, Kenya Universal Journal of Agricultural Research 3(3): 114-117.

Zhou Y. H., Yang H.J., Mosler K. and Abbaspour C. 2010. Factors affecting farmers’ decisions on fertilizer use: A case study for the Chaobai watershed in Northern China. J. Sustainable Development, 4(1): 80-102.