Agricultural Economics and Development

Agricultural Economics and Development

Modeling the Behavior of Rural Farmers Toward Agricultural Land Use Change (Case Study: West Azerbaijan Province, Iran)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
1 ِDept. of Agricultural Management,, Roudehen Branch,, Islamic Azad University. Roudehen, Iran.
2 Department of Agriculture and Basic Sciences, Tehran Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
3 Department of Agriculture and Basic Sciences, Tehran Research Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
10.30490/aead.2026.367702.1752
Abstract
West Azerbaijan Province is a strategic agricultural and horticultural region in Iran; however, in recent decades, a portion of its agricultural land has been removed from the production cycle, and its usage has shifted. As this trend is expected to intensify in the future, the present study analyzes land-use change behavior among farmers in the rural areas of West Azerbaijan Province. The statistical population comprised all farmers and agricultural operators in rural areas (2,224,896 individuals), from which a sample of 749 was selected using Cochran's formula. Data were collected via a questionnaire, with validity and reliability confirmed through Cronbach’s alpha, Average Variance Extracted (AVE), and Composite Reliability (CR) indices. To formulate the study's theoretical framework, a combination of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), the Integrated Behavioral Model (IBM), and the Norm Activation Model (NAM) was employed. Data analysis was conducted using AMOS (version 24) software. The results indicate that the land-use change behavior of the surveyed farmers falls within the moderate range. Furthermore, structural equation modeling revealed that behavioral intention regarding land-use change—along with environmental conditions, perceived behavioral control, attitude toward the behavior, moral norms, and subjective norms—significantly influences land-use change behavior in the rural areas of West Azerbaijan Province. The model explains 79% (R² = 0.79) of the variance in this land-use change behavior. The findings are based on an analysis integrating the TPB, IBM, NAM, and UTAUT theories.
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Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 05 November 2026