An empirical analysis of effective factors on farmers adaptation behavior in water scarcity conditions in rural communities

Abstract

This paper investigates the effect of factors on Farmers Adaptation Behavior in Water Scarcity Conditions in Rural Communities of Sabzevar, Iran. A survey questionnaire was used for collecting data, the study population was 120 farmers in rural Sabzevar County selected based on the Cochran formula. A questionnaire was designed for the target group for the measurement of on farm adaptation behavior in water scarcity conditions. Research models were drawn using structural equation modeling and the relationships between latent variables and indicators. The findings indicate that there is a significant relationship between awareness and adaptation behavior. Meanwhile, there is a significant relationship among network and media on farmer's perception about water scarcity and their activities toward better management of water in the critical condition. There are also significant relationships among perception and awareness with intention however, intention do not effect on adaptation behavior strongly. In other words, even the that means farmers had information about crisis, they are not able to have not operational plans to confront the water scarcity conditions. Keywords: Farmers adaptation behavior, Water scarcity, Rural communities, Iran