The Reality of Sustainable Agricultural Development in the Agricultural Sector and Ways to Develop It

• Dalia Talal Ahmed, Abdulaziz Hameed Madhass Hameed

  Author

The objectives of the study were to identify the personal and economic characteristics of agricultural researchers in Nineveh Governorate, investigate their opinions regarding the reality and future of sustainable development in the agricultural sector, arrange the four studied dimensions (economic, environmental, extension, and social) according to importance, and identify their proposals for developing the sector. The research targeted the population of agricultural researchers holding Master's and Doctoral degrees across several academic and research institutions in Nineveh Governorate, totaling 440 researchers. A proportional simple random sample of 50% was selected, comprising 205 respondents. The researcher adopted a questionnaire as the data collection tool, which was distributed personally. The questionnaire included a 5-point Likert scale to measure opinions across the four dimensions of reality and the future. Face validity of the tool was verified by experts, and reliability was calculated using Cronbach's Alpha coefficient. The study reached several key findings, most notably: The predominant age group was middle-aged (38–49 years), accounting for 41.5%. Males represented 64% of the sample.  Regarding qualifications, 67% of the respondents hold a Master’s degree, and 43% hold the scientific title of "Agricultural Researcher".  The largest percentage of respondents worked at the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry / University of Mosul, at 52.5%.  The majority of respondents (60%) view the current status of sustainable development in Nineveh as "medium," indicating acceptable efforts that have not yet reached the optimal level.  Regarding the current reality, the "Economic Dimension" ranked first in importance, followed by the environmental, extension, and finally social dimensions. This was attributed to farmers' immediate focus on material benefits.  Regarding the future, the "Environmental Dimension" took the lead, followed by the extension, economic, and lastly social dimensions, reflecting an awareness of the necessity to preserve natural resources in the future. The proposal to "use artificial intelligence in agriculture, such as drones for spraying pesticides and monitoring vast agricultural fields" ranked first at 10.196%, followed by the proposal for "managing and rationalizing irrigation water and protecting the soil".

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