Determining the Most Important Factors Influencing the Acceptance of Saffron Cultivation in Selected Villages of Sirjan County in Dealing with Drought

Aim: Because of the water shortage crisis in the agricultural sector of Sirjan County, farmers have tended to cultivate some crops that resist water shortages and drought and also have a reasonable income for them. Saffron is one of the products that farmers have welcomed in recent years, and with its favourable conditions, it will improve the welfare of villagers. This study investigates factors such as socioeconomic farmer's characteristics, climate, marketing, communication channels, etc., affecting farmers' decisions to accept saffron cultivation. Materials & Methods: In 2020, necessary statistics and information were collected by a questionnaire from 165 active farmers in selected villages of Sirjan County that are climatically favourable for saffron cultivation. The relationship between these variables and the qualitative variable of saffron cultivation acceptance was determined using a Logit model. Finding: The results of Logit model estimation showed that the variables of marketing factor, type of l and ownership, frequency of participation in educational classes, climatic factor, input factor, and communication channels factor have a positive effect, and the number of plots has a negative effect on saffron cultivation acceptance. Conclusion: To improve the living conditions of farmers and encourage the acceptance of alternative crops, identifying areas prone to saffron cultivation along with training farmers, providing a sales market, and creating active communication channels between farmers and experts by Jihad-e-Agriculture and cooperatives should be on the agenda to risk acceptance of alternative crops by farmers is minimized. Innovation: This study's innovation is that it uses the Logit model to consider a more comprehensive and wider set of variables affecting the adoption of alternative cultivation than most past studies. Also, no study has been done in this field in Sirjan County, one of the new areas of saffron cultivation.