Land consolidation success in paddy fields of northern Iran: An assessment based on farmers' satisfaction

Land consolidation (LC) promotes the economic development of rural areas, creating a sustainable future in agricultural production, but its success relies largely upon farmers' satisfaction and adoption. However, factors affecting the success of LC are not well understood. This study analyzed farmers' satisfaction by a LC project in paddy fields of Masal County in Guilan Province of northern Iran. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire from 385 farmers. Most farmers were small-scale farmers with up to 3 lots, but a significant proportion (26.5%) had more than 5 lots. Older farmers, farmers with increased family workforce, income, and number of parcels had higher level of satisfaction and were more positive towards LC. Factor analysis summarized farmers' satisfaction by LC in four factors, namely, i) economic efficiency (related to production cost and revenue) (16.93% of the variance), ii) working conditions (related to physical conditions and working schedules) (16.73% of the variance), iii) technical efficiency (related to better use of resources and inputs) (12.34% of the variance), and iv) land productivity (related to intensification of land use) (9.04% of the variance), which all together explained 54.9% of the total variance of effective factors in farmers' satisfaction. Based on these four factors, most farmers (64.8%) were highly satisfied by LC and were named enthusiastic, while the remaining farmers (35.2%) expressed moderate satisfaction and were more cautious (named conservatives) than the first group. Findings provide insights into farmers' behavior when participating in LC projects and are expected to provide a basis for easy implementation of future LC projects. The government should create awareness of the economic benefits of LC to farmers and provide damage compensation especially for small-scale farmers in cases where the consolidated lands are not given in due time and therefore farmers miss one or two planting seasons.