Abstract

As water scarcity is alarmingly on the increase in national and international level especially in agriculture and due to the importance of examination of components influencing how water scarcity is dealt with by farmers, this research was carried out to analyze the situation of water scarcity by farmers of Zarindasht County and to examine influencing components on this challenge. A questionnaire was used for the collection of data which its reliability was confirmed through computing Cronbach's Alpha coefficient which was above 0.80. About 150 farmers were selected as a sample population through calculating Cochran’s formula among 4648 farmers in this County and were sampled using multi-stage sampling technique. Findings revealed that more than 70% of farmers were highly faced with water scarcity, and there was a significant relationship but negative between farmers’ perception of water scarcity (FPWS) and variables such as "the depth of water in the well", "income", and a positive significant relationship between this challenge and variables such as "length of water transmission canal" and "the volume of water decrease". In addition, the older farmers, the ones without a second job, the ones using soil canals for water transmission, and the ones with salty water irrigation were faced with water scarcity challenge more often. Also, geographical situation was recognized significant as there was a significant difference among villages and states. Finally, the results showed that, among all the examined components, the decrease of used water volume, having a second job and, the length of water transmission canal were the most important factors, explaining 40% of the variance, influencing on FPWS in Zarindasht County. It is suggested that to decrease the rate of water scarcity, farmers should be supported financially to change their irrigation method or transmission canals as the efficiency of irrigation be improved.

Key words: Water scarcity, influencing factors, water transmission canals, Zarindasht County, Iran.