واکاوی دیدگاه کارشناسان حوزه آب درباره چالش‌های مدیریت بهینه آب کشاورزی (مطالعه موردی کیفی در شهرستان مرند)

Background and purpose
The unsustainable consumption and inefficient management of water resources, especially in the agricultural sector, which accounts for the largest share of water consumption, has brought extensive economic, social and environmental consequences and has revealed the necessity of reviewing the patterns of exploitation of this limited resource more than ever (1, 4, 9). Due to its climatic characteristics, uneven distribution of rainfall, warming and drying process in recent decades, and the high dependence of the agricultural sector on water resources, Iran is one of the countries facing severe water stress (10, 2). East Azarbaijan province, as one of the important agricultural regions of the country, despite its effective role in providing crops and rural livelihood, faces serious challenges in the field of water resources. Semi-arid climatic conditions, decrease in rainfall in the last half century, increase in temperature, population growth, increase in water demand and inefficient use of water resources have caused the agricultural sector of this province to face increasing limitations in the supply and sustainable use of water. The continuation of this situation not only leads to a decrease in agricultural production and a drop in productivity, but also has consequences such as a sharp drop in the level of underground water, a decrease in the quality of water resources, a decrease in environmental flows, destruction of habitats, and the emergence of social tensions and conflicts.
Materials and methods
The current research is qualitative in nature and practical in terms of purpose, which is designed with a case study approach. Data collection has been done using in-depth semi-structured interviews with 11 experts, managers and activists in the field of agriculture and water resources management in Tabriz and Marand cities. Sampling in this research was done purposefully using the snowball method. The selection criteria of the interviewees included having at least five years of activity or management experience in the field of agriculture and water resources, familiarity with the challenges of water management in the study area. The process of interviews continued until reaching theoretical saturation. Data analysis was done based on thematic analysis method. In order to increase the validity of the findings, reliability criteria were used in qualitative research, including the review of results by some participants, review and verification by two researchers, and the recording of documentation of the analysis process in order to create auditability.
The findings
The results of the research showed that the agricultural water crisis in Marand city is not only caused by natural factors, but a set of institutional, economic, social, cultural and managerial factors play a role in its formation. The most important identified challenges include indiscriminate extraction of underground water resources, weak coordination between water and agriculture institutions, fragmentation of lands, communality of land tenures, deterioration of water and soil quality, lack of accurate management data, lack of technical knowledge on the part of farmers, and cultural resistance to innovation and changing the cultivation pattern. Examining the opinions of experts shows that the intelligent transfer of a part of water-intensive crops from outdoor cultivation to controlled greenhouse environments, especially for leafy vegetables and fleshy fruits, is considered as one of the successful and sustainable models. One of the fundamental challenges is farmers' resistance to change, which is rooted in several deep factors: multi-generational traditional habits that have established the cultivation of certain crops as an occupational and cultural identity; A short-term economic attitude that only considers the current season's immediate profit as a decision criterion; and a deep mistrust of the sustainability of the market for alternative products, stemming from past bitter experiences. A weak, unstable market or lack of a complete value chain for some low-water products, such as rapeseed, which lacks local processing industries, or fodder corn, whose consumption market is limited to small livestock farms, has created serious structural obstacles to the expansion of these products. The "water price" law, which predicts that consumers above the allowed quota will bear heavy costs, has not been implemented in practice due to the lack of a precise monitoring system and political resistance to imposing costs on farmers, and has not created any economic incentive to change the product. On the other hand, the active and meaningful participation of farmers and trade unions in all stages of the policy cycle from initial design to implementation and evaluation is not only a moral or democratic requirement, but also acts as a key variable in increasing the effectiveness, sustainability and legitimacy of agricultural policies. This partnership creates three mutual and reinforcing effects: first, strengthening the sense of intellectual and material ownership of farmers towards implementation plans; Second, increasing collective responsibility in maintaining common resources; and third, ensuring sustainability of project implementation beyond short-term political or budget cycles. In the villages of Marand plain, even in cases where technical training has been provided by agricultural Jihad experts, the desire to change the methods of cultivation, irrigation or consumption of inputs has remained weak; This phenomenon, which is called "cultural resistance to innovation" in the literature of agricultural extension, shows that the transfer of knowledge only through theoretical classes, without considering the cultural context and subjective experiences of farmers, is not effective.
conclusion
The agricultural water crisis in Marand city, which is exposed to frequent droughts and the gradual reduction of surface and underground resources, does not have purely physical or hydrological roots, but is a complex combination of political, institutional, social, economic and cultural factors that can only be managed with an integrated and multidimensional approach. Six key axes, including the development of smart irrigation technologies, changing the cultivation pattern towards low-water-consuming crops, restoring soil and water quality, training based on local needs, and strengthening the role of trade unions, were identified as the determining elements for optimizing water consumption, and the implementation of each code