Investigating the Willingness of Farmers to Implement the Cultivation Pattern Proposed by the Ministry of Agriculture-Jahad to Improve the Employment Situation

Background: Sustainable agricultural development and sustainable food security require the protection of basic resources, including soil, water, etc.The cultivation pattern of agricultural products plays an important role in protecting the quality of these resources.In addition to climate change, the inappropriate cultivation pattern has caused the destruction of water and soil resources in Iran and has subsequently led to a high risk to farmers' agricultural income in recent decades.According to the emphasis of the National Policy Statement, the Ministry of Agricultural Jihad is trying to facilitate the achievement of self-sufficiency and sustainable food security through optimal management of basic resources by developing and extending the pattern of cultivation appropriate to different regions of the country based on land use planning.The current study aimed to investigate the willingness of farmers in Sari County to implement the proposed cultivation pattern of Mazandaran Province.In this regard, while explaining the willingness of farmers to implement the proposed cultivation model of the province, the affecting factors were also identified through a causal analysis.Methods: This practical study with a quantitative research type was conducted using the survey technique and a questionnaire tool.The statistical population of the study was 44173 farmers of Sari County in Mazandaran Province.The number of samples (338 people) was calculated using the Krejcie and Morgan sample size table, and the stratified random sampling method was used for sampling.The face validity of the questionnaire was emphasized by the professors at Sari University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, and its reliability was confirmed by a pilot study and Cronbach's alpha test.Results: The farmers were inclined to implement the proposed cultivation pattern on their farms.Farmers had more tendency to cultivate drought-tolerant, high-yielding, and early varieties of various crops (such as rice and wheat), use pressurized irrigation methods (rainy, drip, and strip), use modified seeds with low water consumption, and cultivate oil seeds (such as rapeseed, soy, sunflower, and safflower).The least amount of the farmers' desire was to cultivate rice using the dry farming method, low-water fodder plants (such as triticale and sorghum), and legumes in dry lands.Farmers had a favorable attitude toward the proposed cultivation pattern, and while it was emphasized to be appropriate to the climatic conditions and their indigenous knowledge, they believed that this cultivation pattern could protect water and soil resources and ensure their sustainable production and income.The results of the causal analysis indicated that environmental support, attitude, technical knowledge, the amount of communication with the agricultural experts, and favorable social norms could predict 38% of the changes in the farmers' willingness to implement the proposed cultivation pattern.Social norms, self-efficacy, and environmental support were also effective on farmers' attitudes toward the proposed cultivation pattern.Selfefficacy was also affected by farmers' technical knowledge on the one hand, and on the other hand, it was effective on farmers' attitudes toward changing the cultivation pattern.This means that the improvement of technical knowledge helped increase the feeling of empowerment in the implementation of the proposed cultivation model and led to a favorable attitude toward it. Conclusion:The program to change the cultivation pattern can be successful when it is suitable to field conditions and the farmers' wishes.The evaluation of this program from the viewpoint of