Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Economics and Agricultural Development, Campus of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Karaj, Iran
2 Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Agriculture Economics and Development, Campus of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Karaj, Iran
Abstract
Keywords
Main Subjects
Extended Abstract
Introduction
One of the effective factors in reducing crop yield is dust storms. Accordingly, in the present study, an attempt has been made to economically assess the damage of dust storms on the yield of agricultural products in Khuzestan province. Determine the probability of willingness to pay. Finally, using estimation models, the approximate amount of damage was determined for different groups of agricultural products. Therefore, one of the most important consequences of climate change is the expansion of desertification and the spread of large-scale dust, which in recent years has increased the frequency of dust storms at the regional and global levels and has faced various regions of the world with serious problems. Iran is also located in a region with a dry climate and more than 30% of the country's area covers arid and semi-arid regions. The country has been facing dust storms for years. In many scientific sources, dusty days in Iran and especially the occurrence of 120-day winds have been mentioned. Also, in many scientific sources, the southeast of Iran, especially Khuzestan province, has been recognized as one of the main dust regions in the world.
Theoretical Framework
Dust with its physical and chemical effects affects the growth and yield of plants, especially agricultural products. The phenomenon of air pollution by dust, depending on the severity of the composition and persistence of pollution on the one hand and the plant species and its vegetative stage on the other hand from leaf damage to plant death will follow, so reducing yield or quality of plant production in these conditions is the inevitable consequence. will be. Also, Iran, especially Khuzestan province, is one of the centers affected by dust and the trend of change in the days associated with dust has increased to such an extent that this phenomenon is among the most important environmental, economic and social problems in the west and southwest of the country. Many effects of the dust phenomenon have been enumerated. Therefore, the present study tries to evaluate the economic effects of dust damage on the yield of selected crops in Khuzestan province so that finally the results of this study can understand the amount of dust damage and effective strategies to control it. The general results obtained from these studies are that coping methods have a significant effect on damage reduction, so by identifying and determining the value of appropriate control methods, a suitable method can be suggested. Estimation of economic losses of dust is only a part of the huge damage that this destructive phenomenon has caused to the country and the available evidence shows that such studies have not been conducted for Khuzestan province so far.
Methodology
Information about the research variables was completed through a questionnaire by referring to different cities and seasons of Khuzestan province and for 2018-2019 from farmers who had independent income. Michael and Carson (1989) formula was used to determine the statistical sample. The sample size was 372 people and sampling by cluster sampling method was used. To calculate the approximate total dust damage, first using the results of the logit model, the willingness of individuals to pay monthly to improve in reducing the damage was obtained. Then the willingness to pay annually to each farmer and the whole province was calculated.
Discussion
The method of calculating the mentioned relations for other groups of products is measured to estimate the expected amounts of willingness to pay. The results of the willingness to pay, which is an approximate loss for the groups of cereals, weeds, vegetables, legumes, fodder and horticulture. Respectively 534400, 616288, 85320, 483520 and 353240 Rials per month for each user. Therefore, these amounts are the amount of willingness to pay (approximate dust damage) for groups of agricultural products. The results of the conditional valuation method were obtained as an approximate loss of different product groups, which had the highest willingness to pay for weaving products with 616280 Rials and garden products with 330250 Rials, and other products including vegetables with 583200, cereals with 534400, grains, respectively. With 483520, fodder with 353240 Rials, they tended to pay the expected for one month. Also, the total estimated damage for the exploitation of the province of each group of cereals, weeds, vegetables, legumes, fodder and horticulture is 387, 384, 275, 127, 126 and 98 billion rials, respectively, of which the total damage was estimated at 1397 billion rials per year. . Therefore, in total, the estimated damage for Khuzestan province is grain with 387 billion Rials, followed by weaving products group with 28,8 billion Rials, the most and garden group products with 10 billion Rials, the least damage. Table (8) shows the results of damage estimation for different groups.
Conclusion & Suggestions
In total, the total annual damage of 1397 billion rials was estimated for the whole province, which is 1.2 percent compared to the production value of the agricultural sector in 1396, and it can be said that the amount of damage is a significant amount that needs to be implemented to control dust storms. Appropriate international and domestic control policies are essential. To deal with this problem, dust can be considered as an independent risk and therefore, like other risks, appropriate management methods should be considered and planned. Due to the fact that farmers' crops have been damaged by dust, to compensate farmers, Therefore, the estimated amount of dust damage can be the basis for deciding on dust control projects.
)