Abstract
In rural communities in Japan, aging population and increases in mixed inhabitation have reduced the workforce available to maintain irrigation/drainage canals, so non-farmers' cooperation is required. To promote the participation of non-farmers in maintenance activities, the level of factors that influence their participation need to be effectively improved. From this viewpoint, a previous study proposed a method using “path coefficient” for selecting these factors. However, the application conditions for this method limit users. Therefore, we focused on a different method - a method using the indicator “maximum effective number of target persons” - that is likely used by more users. To clarify the application conditions of the latter method as an alternative to the former method, this study analyzed differences in the selected factors and characteristics of the two methods with a questionnaire given to 300 non-farmers living in Niigata City. The following results were observed: (1) there was no difference between the two methods for the first to third ranks of selected factors, (2) the latter method could be applied only to data from a complete survey, and (3) the application conditions for the method using “maximum effective number of target persons” should use data from a complete survey and select factors that are from the first to third ranks.
