S. Saraei; H. Afrakhteh; V. Riahi; H. Jalalian
Abstract
The dependence of the agricultural sector to water input is undeniable. In the era of information and communication, due to population growth and limited water resources, it is essential to employee information and communication technologies in order to provide food for people. This interdisciplinary ...
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The dependence of the agricultural sector to water input is undeniable. In the era of information and communication, due to population growth and limited water resources, it is essential to employee information and communication technologies in order to provide food for people. This interdisciplinary article, considering Agricultural, Information Technology, Management and Geography sciences; has tried to analyze the role of ICT in agricultural water use optimization using soft system approach that is the methodology of systematic thinking approach in management science. The issue of water use in agriculture has structural complexity, and the different stakeholders, have different views on it. Therefore, it is considered a soft issue. In this study, the basic question is answered that ICT through what mechanism could help to refine the pattern of water use in agriculture. The population of the study was all the farmers located in the Gavkhooni zone (N =145381) and a number of statistical sample was estimated at 383 using Cochran's formula. Using questionnaire required information was collected. Also, using semi-structured interviews with experts and officials of relevant agencies, stakeholders' views on the issue were identified. In the end, some suggestions for how to use ICT to solve this problem are presented. The results showed that from the viewpoints of stakeholders, an irrigation system through notification to farmers can help them in decision-making related to irrigation and can be effective in the amount of water use by farmers. Of course, setting up such a system demands of coordination between the concerned authorities and training the primary consumers.
