Attitudes of Potato Farmers toward Sustainable Agricultural Practices in Ardabil Plain

The study was carried out among potato farmers in Ardabil plain, to investigate their attitude towards sustainable agricultural practices. It was comprised of a stratified sample of 140 farmers from two townships (Ardabil and Naming) who were operating in 24000 hectares of potato farms. Descriptive survey research was employed in the study. Data were gathered using a questionnaire and through interviewing the respondents. Content validity of the instrument was established using a panel of experts consisting of faculty members of Agricultural Extension and Education as well as potato specialists from the research area. The results of reliability analysis indicated a value of 0.87 for Cronbach Alpha. The results also revealed that there was a favorable attitude towards such general principles and practices of sustainability, as the necessity of soil and water conservation, diminishing the negative effects of chemical inputs, decreasing the negative impacts of excessive agricultural practices on environment and the necessity of environmental preservation as a main priority, among respondents. However, their attitudes towards the necessity of reduced use of modern agricultural technologies, lower use of agrochemicals and practice of low tillage was negative. Regarding other sustainable practices, the respondents showed moderate attitudes. The result of correlation analysis showed that there were positive significant relationships between attitude scores and information sources/channels, participation in extension, and negative significant relationships between attitude scores, and age as well as farming experiences. The results also showed no significant relationships between attitude scores and agrochemicals application, and farm status which revealed contradiction between their attitudes and practices.