Seed Potato Management among Potato Growers in Freydunshahr County (Isfahan Province), Iran

This study investigated the mechanisms of seed potato management by potato growers of Freydunshahr County in Isfahan province. Survey research method was used in this study. A sample of 250 potato growers (N=725) was selected for data collection. Stratified random sampling method was used. The research instrument was a questionnaire that was validated for face validity by a panel of faculty members and agricultural experts of Agriculture Jihad Organization in Freydunshahr County. For determining the reliability, Cronbach's alpha was estimated which turned to be higher than 0.7. Results showed that "a part of tubers produced by farmers" was the first priority of farmers as seed tuber source. Results showed that 89.6 percent of potato growers store and keep seed tubers in inappropriate conditions. Majority of the farmers did not have sufficient information on seed potato management and there was a positive and significant relationship between the farmers’ education and potato yield per hectare, but a negative relationship was found for age. Based on logistic regression analysis, the predictive power of the model was 0.639 and the sensitivity of total model to determine the correct percentage was 86.0 percent. Among individual, professional and economic factors, variables of age, number of family labor, area of owned land, area of potato farming, potato yield per hectare, number of owned land parcels and knowledge and information level of respondents significantly impacted on the adoption and use of modern seed potato production systems.