期刊名称：International Journal of Agricultural Management and Development
印刷版ISSN：2159-5852
电子版ISSN：2159-5860
出版年度：2020
卷号：10
期号：1
页码：45-57
语种：English
出版社：Islamic Azad University
摘要：The main purpose of this survey was to assess biomassproduction and use as a source of energy by smallholdersin Tafresh County located in Markazi Province, Iran. Adescriptive survey method was used for data collection.The statistical population consisted of 2,470 smallholders.A sample size of 300 was selected by using the stratifiedrandom sampling technique. A questionnaire was used tocollect the data. A panel of experts confirmed the validityof the questionnaire. A pilot study was conducted toestablish the reliability of the instrument. The Cronbachalpha's coefficient was higher than 0.75 for the main scalesof the questionnaire. The results showed that the residuesof plants and animals are recognized as a potential sourceof renewable energy, but there exists no specific policy ortechnical instruction for their optimal use, particularly inorganizations such as Agriculture Jihad. Therefore, manyfarmers burn a considerable amount of firewood withoutbeing aware of its potential use. Findings revealed that “diversification of productive activities” had the greatestinfluence on the use of biomass energy, and the variables“annual cost of gas at home” and “animal farming experience”were ranked the 2nd and 3rd most important factors influencing the dependent variable, respectively.
