Laser land levelling as a strategy for environmental management: the case of Iran

Authors

1 Ph.D. student , Dept. of Agricultural Extension and Education, College of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Iran

2 Associate Professor, Dept. of Agricultural Extension and Education, College of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Iran

10.7508/pj.2015.02.008

Abstract

The impact assessment method seeks to bring about a more ecologically, socio-culturally and economically sustainable and equitable environment. Determining the main factors affecting the attitudes of stakeholders is crucial for understanding the impacts of development plans. This approach helps planners and decision makers to identify the values and traits of stakeholders and accelerate the diffusion of innovations through designing proper incentives and removing available obstacles. The purpose of this study is to examine factors affecting laser land levelling project impacts in Fars Province, Iran. The sample included 285 farmers who were selected using multi-stage random sampling. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire were measured and revisions were made to improve measurement scales. The results of structural equation modelling indicated that reduction in water consumption was the most important variable which affected the recognition of impacts among laser land levelling adopters. Furthermore, laser land levelling impacts as dependent variables were influenced by the direct effect of the duration of adoption, attitude towards water and soil conservation, need perception and attitude toward prior projects. Based on the results, practical recommendations have been presented.

Keywords

References

Agrawal, A. and Gibson, C.C. (1999). Enchantment and disenchantment: The role of community in natural resource conservation. World Dev., 27(4), 629-649.
Ahmadvand, M., Karami, E. and Iman, M.T. (2010). Modeling the determinants of the social impacts of agricultural development projects. Environ. Impact Asses., 31(1), 8-16.
Akkaya Aslan, S.T., Gundogdu, K. S., Yaslioglu, E., Kirmikil, M. and Arici, I. (2007). Personal, physical and socioeconomic factors affecting farmers’s adoption of land consolidation. Spanish. J. Agri. Res., 5(2), 204-213.
Asif, M., Ahmed, M., Gafoor, A. and Aslam, Z. (2003). Wheat productivity, land and water use efficiency by traditional and laser land leveling techniques. J. Biol. Sci., 3,141-156.
Barrow, C.J. (2000). Social Impact Assessment: An Introduction. (London: Arnold).
Beckford, C.L., Jacobs, C., Williams, N. and Nahdee, R. (2010). Aboriginal Environmental Wisdom, Stewardship and Sustainability: Lessons from the Walpole Island first nations, Ontario, Canada. J. Environ. Educ., 41(4), 239-248.
Burdge, R.J. and Vanclay, F. (1995). Social impact assessment. Environ. Impact Asses., 31-65.
Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning. (2013). Social impact assessment guideline. State of Queensland. Australia.
Esteves, A.M. and Vanclay, F. (2009). Social development needs analysis as a tool for SIA to guide corporate-community investment: Application in the minerals industry. Environ. Impact Asses., 29,137-145.
Ghodoosi, J. (1992). Attitude to the concept and strategies of watershed management. Jihad., 12(154), 14-27. (In Persian)
Hoseini, Y. (2003). Nonparametric statistics: Research methods and SPSS version 10 software. (Tehran: Allameh Tabatabai University Press).
Howells, O., Edwards-Jones, G., and Morgan, O. (1998). Ecozone II: A decision supprt system for aiding environmental impact assessments in agriculture and rural development projects in developing countries. Comp. Elec. Agri., 20, 145-164.
Jat, M.L., Chandna, P., Gupta, R., Sharma, S.K. and Gill, M.A. (2006). Laser land leveling: A precursor technology for resource conservation. Rice-Wheat consortium technical bulletin series 7. New Delhi, India.
Jay, S., Jones, C., Slinn, P. and Wood, C. (2007). Environmental impact assessment: Retrospect and prospect. Environ. Impact Asses., 287-300.
Kahlown, M., Gill, M. and Ashraf, M. (2002). Evaluation of resource conservation technologies in rice-wheat systems of Pakistan. Pakistan council of research in water resources (PCRWR).
Leviston, Z., Price, J., Tucker, D.I., Bishop, B.J., Bates, L.E. and Nicol, S.C. (2009). Attitudinal modeling and monitoring of factors influencing land management practice in the Central West and Lachlan Catchments. Water for Healthy Country Mational Research Flagship.
Makarenko, I. (2012). Challenges of environmental impact assessment procedure for transboundary project in Black Sea Basin. Turk. J. Fish. Aqu. Sci., 12, 445-452.
McFarlane, B.L., Stumpf-Allen, R.C.G. and Watson, D.O. (2006). Public perceptions of natural disturbance in Canada's national parks: The case of the mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins). Biol. Conserv., 130, 340–8.
Negatu, W. and Parikh, A. (1999). The impact of perception and other factors on the adoption of agricultural technology in the Moret and Jiru Woreda of Ethiopia. Agr. Econ., 205-216.
Oladele, O.I., Oladipo, O.A. and Ogunlade, I. (2008). Unintended consequences of arable crop technology within farming systems in Oyo state, Nigeria. Indian J. Tradi. Know., 7(3), 429-435.
Pisani, J.A.D. and Sandham, L.A. (2006). Assessing the performance of SIA in the EIA context: A case study of South Africa. Environ. Impact Asses., 26(8), 707–24.
Rahman, S. (2003). Environmental impacts of modern agricultural technology diffusion in Bangladesh: An analysis of farmers’ perception and their determinants. J. Environ. Manage., 68(2), 183-191.
Rezaei-Moghaddam, K., Karami, E. and Gibson, J. (2005). Conceptualizing sustainable agriculture: Iran as an illustrative case. J. Sustai. Agri., 27(3), 25-56.
Rickman, J.F. (2002). Manual for laser land leveling. Rice-Wheat Consortium Technical Bulletin. Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Dehli, India.
Scottish Natural Heritage. (2013). A handbook on environmental impact assessment, Guidance for Competent Authorities, Consultees and others involved in the Environmental Impact Assessment Process in Scotland, Scotland.
Sattar, A., Khan, F.H. and Tahir, A.R. (2003). Impact of precision land leveling on water saving and drainage requirement. J. Agr. Mech., 34, 39-41.
Tajer, M., Pezeshki Rad, Gh.M. and Rezaei-Moghaddam, K. (2010). Factors affecting on adoption of laser land leveling technology by farmers of Fars province. Iranian J. Agr. Econ. Develop. Res., 2(4), 523-530. (In Persian)
Toro, J., Requena, I. and Zamorano, M. (2010). Environmental impact assessment in Colombia: Critical analysis and proposals for improvement. Environ. Impact Asses., 30(4), 247-261.
Vanclay, F. (2003). International principles for social impact assessment. Impact Asses. Proj. Appraisal, 21(1), 5-11.
Zubair, M. and Garforth, C. (2006). Farm level tree planting in Pakistan: The role of farmers’ perceptions and attitudes. Agroforest. Syst., 66(3), 217-229.
Pollution
Volume 1, Issue 2 - Serial Number 2
April 2015
Pages 203-215

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics