شاخص پایداری مصرف آفت‌کش‌ها در الگوی کشت مرسوم محصولات زراعی در استان اصفهان

Sustainability indices provide possibility for studying the sustainability of agriculture for the consumption of inputs (fertilizers and pesticides). As the index decreases over a period of time, the production system becomes more sustainable. In order to investigate the sustainability of pesticide consumption in Isfahan province, Iran, four main crops in each city were selected and statistics of pesticides consumption were recorded. Then, the sustainability index of pesticide consumption was calculated based on formula (pesticide consumption amount (liter)/ cultivation area (ha)). In the first step, in a completely randomized design, the indices were compared between different cities. Results showed that the highest and lowest sustainability indices were respectively recorded in Barkhar (10.297, with pattern of wheat, barley, melon, fodder corn) and Khansar (0.564, with pattern of wheat, barley, potato, and alfalfa). Therefore, in terms of pesticide consumption, agricultural sustainability in crops was highest in Khansar city and minimum in Barkhar city.In the second step, in an unbalanced randomized design, the indices were compared among different crops. The results showed that in terms of pesticide stability index, among 10 crops, melon, cantaloupe and onion have the maximum average (20.278, 11.925 and 6.500, respectively). In other words, the amount of pesticide consumption per cultivation area was highest for these three crops. In the third step, the comparison of cities with similar patterns showed that the amount of pesticide consumption per cultivation area is different in similar patterns, and this has caused a significant difference in sustainability indices. For example, the cultivation pattern in Khansar, Semiram and Chadegan cities were similar (pattern: wheat, barley, potato, alfalfa). Since the consumption of all kinds of pesticides is lower in Khansar city, the sustainability index of total pesticide consumption in this city is 0.564, which is lower than Semiram and Chadegan cities (1.926 and 3.508, respectively). This study showed that in some cases, the sustainability of pesticide consumption is more influenced by the type of crop. As an instance, the comparison of the pattern in the two cities of Ardestan (pattern: wheat, barley, cantaloupe and alfalfa) and Isfahan (pattern: wheat, barley, fodder corn and alfalfa) showed that choosing fodder corn as a priority for cultivation instead of cantaloupe caused a decrease in the sustainability index of total pesticide consumption in Isfahan city is (1.791) compared to Ardestan city (5.106). In other words, the sustainability of agriculture in terms of pesticide consumption in Isfahan city has increased by choosing fodder corn as a priority for cultivation. To improve the pattern of crops in different cities of the province, it is necessary for policymakers to pay attention to the ecological structure (sustainability of consumption of inputs, including pesticides), in addition to the socio-economic structure and energy structure.