Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural Extension and Education, Faculty of Agriculture, Jiroft University, Jiroft, Iran
2
Ph.D student in Agricultural Economics, Zabol University
10.22034/jess.2024.455508.2249
Abstract
Introduction
Undoubtedly, the issue of food and food security is one of the most fundamental and important challenges of today and the future of the world. The water crisis in the country increases the importance of paying attention to the issue of sustainability and evaluation of water resources, which determines the necessity of developing an accurate index to evaluate the water situation in the agricultural sector. Considering the consequences and harmful effects of drought and the conditions and potential of the country, especially in the south of Kerman province, it is necessary to devise mechanisms and planned works to deal with and control the drought crisis. In this regard, it seems that the first step to deal with drought and adjust its chaotic effects is to recognize and understand this fact and examine the role of precision agriculture education, and the next step is to identify the components and dimensions of precision agriculture education, strategies and It is the selection of solutions based on which one can take steps towards the sustainable development of water resources. In this regard, the south of Kerman is one of the areas that are always in the crosshairs of huge losses caused by drought and drought, and the studies carried out show that the life of this region depends on the life of the agricultural economy. With a short period of drought and drought due to the low average annual rainfall, the general economy of this region has undergone severe fluctuations and in recent years with the continuous occurrence of more than ten years of drought (in addition to the increase in temperature due to the phenomenon of global warming and the occurrence of unexpected events) The economic sector of this region has been severely damaged, and if fundamental measures are not taken to deal with or co-exist with this phenomenon, in a short time, the economic life of this country will be seriously shaken at the macro-regional level. Therefore, it is hoped that with the use of promotion strategies and accurate agricultural education in relation to the sustainability of water resources, steps will be taken in the direction of agricultural water management in order to preserve and sustain production and the dynamics of economic life at the regional and extra-regional levels.
Methodology
The research method of this research is descriptive and since it deals with the collection of information related to demographic characteristics and the description of the existing situation, it is a survey type, and on the other hand, considering the objectives of the research, which deals with measuring the relationship between the variables of It is a type of correlation. In the classification of research according to the purpose of this research, it is placed in the category of applied research. This research is a cross-sectional study and was conducted in 2017-2018. This research was carried out in the southern area of Kerman (Jiroft, Kahnuj, Anbarabad, Manojan, Rudbar, Faryab and Qala-Ganj). This research in the field of agricultural extension research and education investigated the role of training in the application of precision agriculture and its components on the sustainable development of agriculture with emphasis on the sustainability of water resources in the south of Kerman. The statistical population of the present study was formed by farmers in the south of Kerman. In this research, according to the type of community under investigation and in order to ensure that all members have an equal chance of being selected, a simple random sampling method is used and information is collected through a questionnaire. In the definition of random sampling, we can say: random sampling is a probability sample in the sense that each member of the population has a probability higher than zero for selection. In simple random sampling, this probability is the same for all members of the population (statistical population). The sample size is determined by using the sample size formula presented by Karjesi and Morgan (1970) and considering the confidence level of 0.95 and the permissible error of 0.05. In this research, due to the unlimitedness of the statistical population, the table of Karjesi and Morgan (1970) was used to determine the sample size. Therefore, the sample size was 384 people. Two questionnaires were used to collect information: 1- Questionnaire on the application of precision agricultural education, taken from the study of Arash and Sabouri (2014), which includes 61 items and in the form of 5-choice Likert scale answers (in the range of very low to too much) is formed. The dimensions of the questionnaire are educational-promotional (1-9), managerial (10-26), economic (27-34), skillful (35-44), policy-making (45-52), social (53-57), cultural (58-61). To determine the form and content validity of the research tool, the questionnaire was given to a group of academic staff members of the agricultural extension and education department of Jiroft University, and the necessary modifications were made according to their suggestions. Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.87 was obtained in the research of Arash and Sabouri (2014), which indicates the reliability of the questionnaire. 2- Questionnaire developed by a researcher for sustainable development of agriculture with an emphasis on the sustainability of water resources, this questionnaire consists of 40 items that are designed as a 5-option Likert scale (completely agree to completely disagree). To determine the form and content validity of the research tool, this questionnaire was given to a group of academic staff members of the Agricultural Extension and Education Department of Jiroft University, and the necessary modifications were made according to their suggestions. In this research, by distributing 340 questionnaires and collecting 300 questionnaires, using the SPSS software, the reliability of the entire questionnaire was obtained at 0.870, which is very appropriate and an acceptable figure considering that it is more than 0.7.
Conclusion
Today, the approach of sustainable development has been proposed as the dominant paradigm in development discussions at the global level and has been welcomed by international forums as the main model since the 1970s. The sustainable development of agriculture with an emphasis on the sustainability of water resources is also in line with the ideas of sustainable development due to the inseparableness of these areas from the national body of countries and the importance of these areas both in terms of national development and because of population, production, employment, and close relationship. It was brought up with the environment and... Paying attention to the ever-increasing population growth, food security is one of the most important issues in Iran, which has shown more attention to the agricultural sector. On the other hand, in terms of limited water resources, it justifies the necessity of optimal use and increasing the efficiency of water consumption. With the current trend of water consumption in various sectors of agriculture, industry, drinking and environment, the physical shortage of water will become more evident in the coming years. In the meantime, various approaches and strategies have been proposed to realize the goals of this global model, one of which is teaching the application of precision agriculture. Precision agriculture is a technology that, within the framework of the principles of sustainable development, by collecting and storing spatial features and data processing, leads to the optimal use of production factors and inputs in order to increase productivity. The purpose of this research was to investigate the training of precision agriculture application on the sustainable development of agriculture with an emphasis on the sustainability of water resources in the south of Kerman. The results showed that there is a positive and significant relationship between the dimensions of precision agriculture training (economic, managerial, skill, cultural, social, educational-promotional, policy-making). The results of the regression analysis showed that the variable of precision agriculture training predicts about 97% of the changes in the sustainable development of agriculture with an emphasis on the sustainability of water resources in southern Kerman. And the results of the regression analysis based on the variable dimensions of precision agriculture application education indicated that the dimensions of precision agriculture application education predict about 98% of the changes in sustainable agricultural development with emphasis on the sustainability of water resources in the south of Kerman. do Also, according to the value of beta, the management component of precision agriculture training with a beta of 0.512 has the largest contribution in predicting the sustainable development of agriculture with emphasis on the sustainability of water resources in southern Kerman. The results of this research, with the research findings of Falaki et al. (2008), Arfai and Sheikhi (2008), Alavi (2009), Bardbar et al. Hulter (2009), Batte & Diekmann (2010), Omidi Najafabadi et al (2011), Pandit & Student (2012) are consistent. Raising the level of researchers' knowledge through educational programs and activities in the field of precision agriculture can provide guidance for the feasibility of using this new science in the south of Kerman province.
Keywords