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

IntroductionAgricultural 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 MethodsThe 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 DiscussionAnalyzing 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.ConclusionsThe 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.