Challenges and Opportunities in Development of Agricultural Mechanization in Ahvaz County using SWOT Method

ماشین های کشاورزی

Article 30, Volume 11, Issue 2 - Serial Number 22, 2021, Pages 535-548   

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.22067/jam.v11i2.83348

Authors

N. Moradi; A. Asakereh^* ; M. J. Sheikhdavoodi

Department of Biosystems Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Iran

Abstract

Introduction
Agricultural mechanization is defined as the use of energy and production resources, machinery and equipment in agriculture. Modern agriculture is heavily dependent on mechanization, and machinery, equipment, energy resources, and related management processes are heavily used in the food and non-food production. Agricultural mechanization is the major energy-consuming factor in the agricultural system and has benefits such as reducing operating costs and agricultural toil. SWOT analysis has been used in numerous studies on agricultural development and mechanization. SWOT analysis, as an effective mathematical approach, is used for strategic planning and identifying system strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. In this study, SWOT method was used to evaluate the internal and external factors of agricultural mechanization development in Ahvaz County to present appropriate strategies.
Materials and Methods
The main purpose of this study is to use SWOT analysis to determine the best strategic planning for agricultural mechanization development in Ahwaz. Therefore, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of agricultural mechanization development in Ahwaz were studied within the framework of the SWAT program. Ahvaz is considered the agricultural hub of Khuzestan province. Ahvaz, the capital of Khuzestan province, accounts for about 35 percent of the total area under cultivation in the province. Karun, Dez and Karkheh rivers, as the main source of agricultural water, pass through Ahvaz lands. SWOT analysis is a sophisticated but effective way of strategically analyzing a system that considers both the internal and external environment. Opportunities and threats are the external factors of a system, and strengths and weaknesses, the internal factors of the system. Opportunities are attractive external factors that illustrate the reasons for system development and improvement. These are essential elements in the system's external environment that the system can exploit to its advantage. In addition, threats are major external factors that can adversely affect the system. The extent to which the company's internal environment corresponds to the external environment is expressed in terms of strategic fit. SWOT analysis offers four aggressive, conservative, competitive and defensive strategies. Various methods have been used to collect data, including face-to-face interview, questionnaires and a database provided by the Ministry of Jihade-Agriculture of Iran. Data were obtained using the questionnaire from 189 farmers and experts. After classifying and monitoring the data, internal and external factors evaluation matrices were prepared. After analyzing these matrices, the importance and weight of the parameters (i.e. strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities for agricultural mechanization development) were determined. Finally, the SWOT analysis matrix was prepared to determine the agricultural mechanization development strategy in Ahvaz.
Results and Discussion
Analyzing the matrix of external factors evaluation showed that the low tendency to invest in agricultural production, less attention by officials to the agricultural sector and water scarcity for irrigation were the most important threats. On the other hand, parameters such as the possibility of providing agricultural facilities and loans to farmers, the large number of agricultural mechanization graduates, the high incentive for farmers to use agricultural machinery, and the possibility of producing agricultural equipment are the most effective opportunities for agricultural mechanization development in Ahvaz County. Also, the results show that vast and flat agricultural lands are the most important strengths of the area, while the high cost of machinery is the most important weakness. SWOT analysis showed that the region is not internally desirable despite relatively good opportunities in external factors, as weaknesses are relatively dominant. The final scores of the internal and external factors evaluation matrices were 2.437 and 2.593, respectively, indicating that competitive strategy should be considered. Therefore, taking advantage of important opportunities for mechanization development in Ahvaz, important weaknesses should be reduced or eliminated.
Conclusion
The purpose of this study was to prepare an appropriate strategic planning for the development of agricultural mechanization in Ahvaz. SWOT matrix was calculated, based on internal and external factors evaluation matrices. The matrix was then used to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of agricultural mechanization development in this region. Also, the weight of the most important factors (i.e. strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of agricultural mechanization development) was calculated. Ultimately, based on the matrix results, to develop agricultural mechanization in this region, the competitive strategy was proposed.

Keywords

Agricultural Mechanization; External factors; internal factors; Matrix of strategic analysis; Strategic crops

References

1. Abbasi, K., M. Almasi, A. M. Borghee, and S. Minaei.2014. Modeling of Yield Estimation for The Main Crops in Iran Based on Mechanization Index. Journal of Agricultural Machinery 4 (2): 344-351. (In Farsi).

2. Abdulquadri, A. F., and B. T. Mohammed. 2012. The Role of Agricultural Cooperatives in Agricultural Mechanization in Nigeria. World Journal of Agricultural Sciences 8 (5): 537-539.

3. Afsahi, K., A. Akram, R. Alimardani, and M. Azizi. 2015. Introducing a Strategy for Selection of Plowing Systems Using Hybrid SWOT-AHP Method (Khodabandeh, Zanjan). Journal of Agricultural Machinery 5 (1): 52-62. (In Farsi).

4. Akca, H. 2006. Assessment of rural tourism in Turkey using SWOT analysis. Journal of Applied Sciences 6 (13): 2837-2839.

5. Akdemir, B. 2013. Agriculture mechanization in Turkey. IERI Procedia 5: 41-44.

6. Almasi, M., S. Kiani, and N. Loveimi. 2008. Principles of Agricultural Mechanization. Jungle, Tehran (In Farsi).

7. Amjadi, A., and A. Chizari. 2006. Agricultural mechanization in Iran. Agricultural Economics and Development 14 (55): 155-182. (In Farsi).

8. Anonymous. 2018. Agricultural data of Ahvaz County. Jahad Agricultural organization of Khuzestan.

9. Aryal, J. P., D. B. Rahut, S. Maharjan, and O. Erenstein. 2019. Understanding factors associated with agricultural mechanization: A Bangladesh case. World Development Perspectives 13: 1-9.

10. Baruah, D. C., and G. C. Bora. 2008. Energy demand forecast for mechanized agriculture in rural India. Energy Policy 36: 2628-2636.

11. Bugheanu, A. 2015. Swot analysis of public transport system in Bucharest. Management Research and Practice 1: 14-31.

12. Can, C., W. Da-qing, W. Hong-yan, and D. Lin. 2015. SWOT Analysis and Countermeasures of Ecological Agricultural Development of Jianshan Farm. Journal of Northeast Agricultural University 22 (1): 12-21.

13. Chang, H., and W. Huang. 2005. Application of a quantification SWOT analytical method. Mathematical and Computer Modeling 43 (1):158-169.

14. Chapoto, A., N. Houssou., A. Mabiso, and F. Cossar. 2014. Medium and large-scale farmers and agricultural mechanization in Ghana. International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), FAO.

15. Czajkowska, A. 2013. SWOT analysis application for indications of the strategy action chosen enterprise in the construction sector. Production Engineering Archives 10 (1): 33-37.

16. Dastan, H., and H. Ghasemnejad. 2016. Evaluate and study the situation of agricultural mechanization of Ahvaz. 2nd. International Conference on engineering and Applied Science. Ahvaz, Iran. (In Farsi).

17. Diao, X., F. Cossar, N. Houssou, and S. Kolavalli. 2014. Mechanization in Ghana: Emerging demand and the search for alternative supply models. Food Policy 48: 168-181.

18. Fischer, G., S. Wittich, G. Malima, G. Sikumba, B. Lukuyu, D. Ngunga, and J. Rugalabam. 2018. Gender and mechanization: Exploring the sustainability of mechanized forage chopping in Tanzania. Journal of Rural Studies 64: 112-122.

19. Gurel, E., and M. Tat. 2017. SWOT analysis: a theoretical review. Journal of International Social Research 10 (51): 994-1006.

20. Hormozi, M. A., M. A. Asoodar, and A. Abdeshahi. 2012. Impact of Mechanization on Technical Efficiency: A Case Study of Rice Farmers in Iran. Procedia Economics and Finance 1: 176-185.

21. Leiva, F. R., and J. Morris. 2001. Mechanization and Sustainability in Arable Farming in England. Journal of Agriculture Engineering Research 79 (1): 81- 90.

22. LU, F. 2009. The Role of Agricultural Mechanization in the Modernization of Asian Agriculture: Taiwan’s Experience. Engineering in Agriculture, Environment and Food 2 (4): 124-131.

23. Martinez, C. I., and W. H. Pina. 2015. Recycling in Bogota: A SWOT analysis of three associations to evaluate the integrating the informal sector into solid waste management. International Journal of Social, Behavioral, Educational, Economic and Management Engineering 9 (6): 1668-1673.

24. Muller, R., D. Muller, F. Schierhorn, and G. Gerold. 2011. Spatiotemporal modeling of the expansion of mechanized agriculture in the Bolivian lowland forests. Applied Geography 31: 631-640.

25. Naderloo, L., R. Alimardani, M. Omid, F. Sarmadian, H. Javadikia, and M. Torabi. 2015. Determination of Social and Technical- Mechanization Indices using Fuzzy Logic and Genetic Algorithm. Journal of Agricultural Engineering 38 (1): 79-93. (In Farsi).

26. Ommani, A. R. 2011. Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis for farming system businesses management: Case of wheat farmers of Shadervan District, Shoushtar Township, Iran. African Journal of Business Management 5 (22): 9448-9454.

27. Osita, C., I. Onyebuchi, and N. Justina. 2014. Organization’s stability and productivity: the role of SWOT analysis an acronym for strength, weakness, opportunities and threat. International Journal of Innovative and Applied Research 2 (9): 23-32.

28. Papageorgiou, A. 2015. Agricultural equipment in Greece: Farm machinery management in the era of economic crisis. Agriculture and Agricultural Science Procedia 7: 198-202.

29. Phadermrod, B., R. M. Crowder, and G. B. Wills. 2019. Importance-Performance Analysis based SWOT analysis. International Journal of Information Management 44: 194-203.

30. Qiao, F. 2017. Increasing wage, mechanization, and agriculture production in China. China Economic Review 46: 249-260.

31. Scolozzi, R., U. Schirpke, E. Morri, D. Amato, and R. Santolini. 2014. Ecosystem services-based SWOT analysis of protected areas for conservation strategies. Journal of Environmental Management 146: 543-551.

32. Singh, R. L,. R. Kunwar, and S. Ram. 1972. Impact of new agricultural technology and mechanization on Labor employment. Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics 27 (4): 210-214.

33. Song, X. Z. 2016. The SWOT analysis of construction waste in China as the road material. Shanxi Archit 42 (29): 233-235.

34. Sorensen, C. G. 2003. Workability and machinery sizing for combine harvesting. CIGR Journal of Scientific Research and Development 17 (2): 23-36.

35. Tajeddin, H., M. Almasi, and H. Bakhoda. 2015. Developing a strategy to improve the role of agricultural mechanization in wheat self-sufficiency by SWOT matrix. International Conference on Sustainable Development With a focus on Agriculture, Environment and Tourism, Tabriz, Iran (In Farsi).

36. Tondro, R. 2012. Choosing the optimal number and size of agricultural machinery at Astan Quds Razavi farm. MSc thesis. Faculty of Agriculture. Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. (In Farsi).

37. Yuan, H. 2013. A SWOT analysis of successful construction waste management. Journal of Cleaner Production 39: 1-8.

38. Zarifneshat, S., M. Mazhari, and M. H. Saeidi Rad. 2016. Strategies for Improvement and Development of Agricultural Mechanization in Saffron Farms Using Strategic Factors Analysis (SWOT). Agricultural Mechanization and systems Research 16 (65): 65-78. (In Farsi).

39. Zhang, H., J. Liu., Z. Wen, and Y. Chen. 2017. College students’ municipal solid waste source separation behavior and its influential factors: A case study in Beijing, China. Journal of Cleaner Production 164: 444-454.

40. Zhang, Y., and L. Feng. 2013. Development assessment of leisure agriculture in Henan province of China based on SWOT-AHP method. Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management 2: 642-656.

41. Zheng, L., and H. Liu. 2013. Evaluating multifunctional agriculture in Dalishu, China: a combined application of SWOT analysis and the analytic network process method. Outlook on Agriculture 42 (2): 103-108.