مهارت كشاورزان چغندركار در زمينه شيوه‌هاي مديريت پايدار خاك زراعي‌: مطالعه موردي استان خراسان رضوي‌

Sugar Beet Growers9 Skill Regarding Sustainable Practices of On-Farm Soil Management: A Case Study in Khorasan-Razavi Province

The improper practices of on-farm soil management have been demolished soil chemical, physical and biological properties of the sugar beet farms and their degradation has produced so many problems. Therefore, the soil management has focused on the sustainable farm soil practices. The aim of present investigation was to assess the sugar beet growersʹ skill regarding sustainable practices of on-farm soil management in Khorasan-e-Razavi Province as well as to analyze the factors that influence their skill. A survey was conducted using multi-stage cluster sampling technique to collect data from sugar beet growers. The research instrument was a structural questionnaire with close- ended questions, which validity and reliability confirmed. The results of descriptive findings showed that overall skill of 43.5%, 23.7% and 32.8% of studied sugar beet growers regarding on-farm soil management practices were at poor, moderate and good levels, respectively. The results revealed that there were significant differences between sugar beet growersʹ skill regarding on-farm soil management practices in relation to use of under pressure irrigation method, soil test, worker extension and membership in rural production cooperative. The result of stepwise multivariate regression analysis indicated that the most important variables which influenced the sugar beet growersʹ skill regarding sustainable practices of on-farm soil management were technical knowledge, action to extension guidance, sugar beet yield per hectare, attitude, soil test, education and sucrose content of the sugar beet roots.