Agricultural Land Consolidation in Iran: Advantages and Limitations (The Case of Villages in Dehgolan Township, Iran)

The purpose of this descriptive-analytical research was to analyze the advantages and limitations of agricultural land consolidation in the villages of Dehgolan Township, Iran. The statistical population of this study included ۱۹۰ farmers in the villages of Dehrashid (where the adaptive consolidation plan was implemented between beneficiaries) and Telvar (in which the plan has not yet been implemented among farmers). The samples were selected from ۱۴۰ people by using the Krejcie and Morgan sample size table and stratified random sampling method. The data gathering instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire, which was presented to the faculty members of the Department of Rural Geography at Kharazmi University to confirm the face and content validity. Further, the reliability of the tested items was confirmed by using the Cronbach's alpha (α= ۰.۸۱). To analyze the data obtained from the farmers' opinions, multi-criteria decision making FTOPSIS (Fuzzy TOPSIS) analysis methods and linear regression in SPSS۲۴ were used. The results of regression analysis indicated that the main obstacles of implementing consolidation in the studied area were "economic" (β= ۰.۴۱۶) and "technical" (β= ۰.۳۰۴). Also, there was a significant difference between the two periods before and after consolidation of agricultural lands in terms of crop production and reduction of operating costs. In general, the effects of consolidation indicated a higher level of crops production per unit area, yield per unit area, income from agriculture and its sustainability, job diversification, and a decrease in immigration in the studied villages.