Investigation of Social Factors Affecting the Use of Tillage Conservation Practices: A Case Study of Shabab county Farmers in Ilam Province

The decision to apply soil and water conservation practices by farmers is a multi-stage decision making process that has been linked to conditions and factors variety. The aim of this descriptive –analytical study is to investigate and assess farmers’ behavioral factors affecting the use of tillage conservation practices in the Shabab County. All farmers living in Shabab county who have attempted to cultivated wheat in year 2012-2011 were the population of this study, from that 187 people selected using Cochran formula and random sampling. Data collected using questionnaire that its validity and reliability was obtained through performing a pre-test using 30 questionnaires. The results show that wheat farmers can be classified into four groups based on the behavioral scores. These four groups are traditional farmers (18.39 percent), moderately traditional (26.98 percent), the mutable farmers (20.54 percent) and competent farmers (13.3 percent). The diagnostic analysis results indicate that variables such as farmer’s age, the rate of ownership of land, the percentage of household income from agriculture and a new taking morale, predict the behavioral class of farmers better than other alternatives