بررسی اثرات تغییر کاربری زمین کشاورزی بر معیشت پایدار خانوارهای روستایی مطالعه موردی: دشت سیستان

A B S T R A C T
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of agricultural land use change on sustainable livelihoods of rural households in the Sistan plain. The research method in this research is descriptive-analytical which has been done by two methods of library and field studies. In order to investigate the effects of land use change on sustainable livelihood, in addition to the researcher's questionnaire, GIS and remote sensing have been used. The rural statistical population in this study is four selected villages, Qala-e-Naw, Sarani, Gorg and Gholam Ali. Also, 40 people from the sample community were interviewed according to access conditions. The results of the study show that land changes have been very high in recent years and have had a significant impact on the villagers and their livelihood. These effects have been studied in three sections: resource productivity, agricultural production and livestock production. In the field of resource utilization, the results showed that land use change has led to excessive use of natural and God-given resources in this area, which has led to the destruction of thousands of shrubs and pastures, surface and subsurface water resources, more than Livestock grazing, etc., has led to the destruction of land in the region, especially agricultural land, and has led to soil erosion. In the livestock production sector, land use change has left many negative effects that can be reduced to milk and dairy products, reduce the number of livestock, increase livestock costs such as the cost of buying fodder, etc.
Extended Abstract
Introduction
Changing cover land-use is one of the challenges of rural settlements, which has been the focus of rural research in recent years. Agricultural land-use change is one of the most critical dimensions of cover land-use change. Among the dry areas of the country that are involved with such a problem is the Sistan Plain in the southeast of Iran. The change in land-use in the Sistan region is an important factor in reducing the production of the province, especially in rural areas. Farmers have been forced to leave the agricultural land. Because of the lack of water, the only occupation of the residents in agriculture is planting wheat, barley, watermelon, and melon, which requires much water and faces a big challenge, so the farmers abandon their land. Adaptation to this phenomenon and optimal use of land and water will allow the residents of the region to provide adequate sources of income for their livelihood and the families in the region. This research aims to investigate the effects of agricultural land-use change on the sustainable livelihood of rural households in the Sistan Plain in the southeast of Iran.
 
Methodology
The current research is an applied type of research that has been carried out with a descriptive-analytical method. The methodology of this study consists of two separate parts; in the first part, cover land-use changes in Sistan Plain were investigated using Landsat satellite images. In the second part, by preparing a questionnaire and completing it by the villagers living in Sistan Plain, the effects of cover land-use changes on their sustainable livelihood were analyzed. The statistical population of this research included the residents of the villages of the Sistan Plain, which had a population of 165,666. The sampling method in this research was expert-oriented. In this way, at first, the map of the geographical location of all the villages located in the Sistan plain was placed on the cover land-use maps obtained from satellite images. Among the villages from three categories, 4 villages were selected randomly. After selecting the villages, 40 questionnaires were completed in the sample villages. In order to analyze the data and information, statistical methods (descriptive and inferential), using EXCEL and SPSS software, sample t-tests, and descriptive analysis tests were performed.
 
Results and discussion
The results of satellite image processing showed that between 1989 and 2018, water and vegetation areas changed, and their area decreased. These changes have occurred more in the east and center of the plain than in other parts. Also, land-use change has caused overuse of this region's natural and God-given resources, which has led to the destruction of bushes and pastures, surface and subsurface water sources, an excessive increase in livestock grazing, etc., which has led to the destruction of land. The areas of the region have been turned into agricultural lands, and soil erosion has followed. It has also caused environmental problems, especially sandstorms and increased pollution in recent years, all of which are caused by human overexploitation of natural resources, which is caused by land-use changes and recent droughts. In the livestock production sector, the change in land-use has left many negative effects, which can be attributed to the reduction of milk and milk products, the reduction of the number of livestock of the villagers, the increase in the cost of keeping livestock and the cost of buying fodder, etc., and the movement of livestock out of the village for grazing.
 
 
Conclusion
In the agricultural production sector of Sistan Plain, the effects of land use change on agricultural production have been greater than in all other sectors. As the Sistan region, known as the grain storehouse of Iran, today, agriculture in this region has decreased so much that most farmers have turned to subsistence farming only to meet their daily needs, and few villages have mass and commercial cultivation. The amount of agricultural products harvested in this region has also decreased drastically compared to previous years. This decrease in production has caused a decrease in the income of the villagers in this region, which has caused the villagers to immigrate to the cities, or those who have not migrated, turn to daily wage labor or fuel smuggling, which are detrimental to the villagers who are the main producers of food products of the country. Among the other negative effects of land-use change on agricultural production, it can be mentioned that the villagers, in recent years, often put their lands under cultivation every year due to the very high volume of cultivation and the abundance of water. Moreover, sometimes, after a few years, they leave their land to fallow to strengthen the soil. Today, due to these changes, most of their land is abandoned, and to a small extent, it is dedicated to subsistence farming. Nowadays, if shipping is done in the villages of Sistan, it is on a very small scale, which is not economical.
 
Funding
There is no funding support.
 
Authors’ Contribution
Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved thecontent of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work declaration of competing interest none.
 
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
 
Acknowledgments
 We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.