Promoters and Deterrents of Developing Mechanization of Peanut Cultivation in North of Iran

The increasing cost of peanut production is a major concern iniran. therefore, developing the mechanization of peanut productionis a necessity. in this regard, a three-phase delphi studywas conducted to identify the promoting and deterring factorsaffecting peanut cultivation mechanization in guilan province, themain peanut-producing region in iran. after preliminary studies,26 experts were selected as respondents for the study. based on thefinal results, ‘allocating provincial and national funds to developmechanization’ (with the agreement of 98.07% of respondents),‘organizing training programs to increase farmers’ technical knowledge’(97.12%), and ‘conducting the pilot and model projects’(95.19%)were found to be the most important promoting factors in developingpeanut cultivation mechanization in north of iran. moreover, ‘thesmall size and fragmentation of peanut farms’ (with 96.15% of respondentsagreeing), ‘problems with the national and provincialprograms of peanut mechanization’ (95.19%), and ‘low technicalknowledge of farmers and craftsmen about peanut farming mechanization’(94.23%) were identified as the most important deterringfactors in developing peanut cultivation mechanization in north ofiran. given the small area dedicated to peanut cultivation and thelow income levels of peanut farmers in north of iran, it seems thatprovincial and national funding allocation and peer-planned programmingto import appropriate farm machinery are the mosturgent plans to improve the status of mechanization of peanut cultivationin north of iran.