Evaluation of Sustainable Agriculture and Adoption of Modern Technologies in the Central Area of Mazar-i-Sharif

Abstract

Agricultural systems in developing regions are increasingly affected by climate variability, natural resource constraints, and weak institutional frameworks, all of which threaten the sustainability of crop–livestock systems. Despite growing theoretical and empirical attention to agricultural resilience, a key gap remains in the integrated analysis of socio-economic factors, climate change perceptions, technology adoption, and institutional conditions within a unified framework. Moreover, limited studies have combined farm-level evidence with institutional perspectives in a single empirical investigation. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to examine key factors related to sustainable agricultural development by analyzing farmers’ perceptions together with institutional insights from the Directorate of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation of Balkh Province. This study employed a quantitative cross-sectional survey design. Data were collected from 400 farmers and one structured institutional questionnaire from the Directorate of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation of Balkh Province. A structured questionnaire based on a five-point Likert scale was used, and data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations in SPSS software. The findings indicate that awareness of sustainable agriculture is moderate, while technology adoption remains relatively low among farmers. Dependence on groundwater resources is high, and both financial and institutional constraints are significant barriers to agricultural development. At the same time, farmers show relatively high awareness of climate change impacts and maintain an optimistic outlook toward the future of sustainable agriculture. Since the analysis is descriptive in nature, the findings should be interpreted as patterns and associations rather than causal relationships. In conclusion, strengthening extension services, improving access to financial resources, and promoting modern irrigation systems and agricultural technologies are essential for enhancing agricultural sustainability in the study area.