AGRICULTURAL LAND CONVERSION SYSTEMS OF FARS PROVINCE

Understanding of land use changes over time would provide policy makers with necessary information on which to base their decisions. It could help them to propose intelligent policies that reflect local conditions and consistent with the economic, social and environmental objectives of sustainable rural development. Therefore, it is essential to design and implement sustainable land conversion system. The main purpose of this study was to compare different land conversion systems in Shiraz and Sarvestan counties of Fars province. Sixty villages were selected by stratified random sampling and data was collected using two questionnaires. Face validity was confirmed by a panel of specialists and the reliability was assessed through a pilot study using Cronbach`s alpha with the range of 0.73 to 0.95 for the research scales. The results indicated that the area of agricultural lands in the villages studied increased significantly in the period under study. Differences were noted between two types of land conversion systems (increasing and decreasing agricultural strategies) due to the land slope, land tenure, agricultural and non-agricultural income. Sustainability of land management, which was almost equal in these two systems, was assessed to be low. Average temperature of the village, land quality, agricultural income and population growth were entered into the logistic regression model as the main determinants of land conversion systems. Finally, implementing sustainable land management and an appropriate land conversion system based on the special situation of each region were recommended.