Assessingtheinfluenceofsocio-economicfactorsonvegetablesdiversity:The·case of VaraminCounty

The objective of this investigation is to study the vegetable diversity in villages at Varamin plain, situated in northof Iran, using qualitative research methods, focused group discussion, key informant interview, informal discussionandusing local knowledge. The findings showed that the diversity of vegetables in th is area is severely affected bysocio­economic factors and among different factors, water accessibility and landsizewere two determin antfactorswhichshowednegativeandpositivesignificantcorrelationwith speciesri chness,respectively. As in this region most farmers cultivate diverse species for reducing the risk of production and small land size was an important problem which farmers introduced it as a main reason for diversity reduction. Then it can be said that accessibility to different inputs is a determining factor in crop diversity.