Rural Development Strategies

Abstract Due to the proximity to natural resources and the environment around them, the villages are most affected by the environment and are of great importance. The improper rural development poses enormous environmental challenges such as degradation of rangelands and forests, overexploitation of soil and water resources and threats to wildlife. Of course, the distribution pattern and accessibility to service-based infrastructural indicators indicates the growth and development of rural areas and the attitude towards decentralized planning in the country. This research was carried out in 2022 with the aim of identifying and rank rank service-based infrastructure indicators based on services, in the northern villages of Ardabil province, using a variety of prioritization methodologies. The research method is descriptive-analytical and applied, according to the nature and purpose of the research. 15 indicators with appropriate level of validity and consensus of executive experts and academic experts were selected to measure the infrastructure in the region. According to the results, the highest rate related to the index of access to electricity is in the villages of Meshgin Shahr with a value of 86.71% and the lowest rate related to the index of access to agricultural machinery repair shop is in Garmi city with a value of 3.86. In general, the results showed that Dasht village in Meshginshahr city was at the first level compared to other villages (Ci=0.693) and Eastern Qashlaq village in Beileswar city was at the last level (Ci=0.497). Therefore, it is suggested that while locating rural areas at different levels, especially the level of access to existing facilities, the strengthening of village facilities and expansion of infrastructure and welfare services should be prioritized.

Abstract Present-day challenges include the growing tendency of unhealthy food shortages in the market and environmental degradation. If properly managed, issuing the safety and health certificate of agricultural products can be a significant factor in resolving the issues brought up. The purpose of the current study was included all the producers in the country who had a license for certified products from the Ministry of Jihad Agriculture in 2021, which numbered 638 people.. 204 producers were chosen at random from this group to serve as samples. A researcher-made questionnaire was employed to collect the data, and in addition to descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis and coefficient of variation were also used to analyze the data. The findings of the research demonstrated that social effects are the health certification of agricultural goods' most significant effects, with a path coefficient of 0.868. The impacts relating to enhancing the production process (0.845), the environment and sustainability (0.819), market and export procedures (0.799), and lastly the effects relating to food health and safety (0.768) come after these effects. It is crucial for producers to build customer confidence in food quality (0.782) since it will have positive societal impacts. To do this, producers must improve the quality of agricultural products and create healthier items that adhere to international standards. However, the development of agriculture and rural communities can be aided by the establishment of small enterprises throughout the supply chain of healthy agricultural products.

Abstract Considering the climatic similarity of Iran's three northern provinces compared to the Netherlands, why does Iran have a low level of development in the agricultural sector? Can the Netherlands development model be used for the development of Iran's agricultural sector? The purpose of this research is to determine the level of development of the agricultural sector in the three northern provinces of Iran (Guilan, Mazandaran and Golestan) compare to the Netherlands. To achieve this goal, the MARCOS approach was used. The most important reason for using this method is more confidence and accuracy in solving multi-criteria decision problems. A method based on hierarchy and knowledge of conditions and limitations to solve business problems in the real world. The required statistics and information are obtained from agricultural statistics and databases such as the World Bank, the World Food and Agriculture Organization. The final results show the low level of development of Iran's three northern provinces compared to the Netherlands.this backwardness can be seen in: agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, mechanization, education and infrastructure sector. One of the most important reasons for the Netherlands success of is to use of advanced technologies and advanced greenhouses, including hydroponic agriculture, geothermal energy, artificial lighting technology, and hydroponics and aeronautics solutions. Therefore, Supporting the introduction of new technologies in the country can speed up the development of agricultural sector in Iran.

Abstract Housing is one of human’s basic needs and a part of village's identity, and in recent decades, for various reasons, it has become the basis for physical changes in rural settlements. The article emphasizes on the analysis of the physical consequences of rural housing facilities in Khansar County and it is trying to analyze "quality of materials", "structural quality", "native structure of housing" and "quality of standard housing" in rural housing built with the project’s funds. The research method is descriptive-analytical and survey-based. The statistical population is the heads of rural households based on the 2016 census and the number of samples calculated by the Cochran formula is 345 people who were selected by simple random sampling. Also, by using cluster-random sampling method, the number of 18 villages was determined. According to library studies, interviews with Housing Foundation officials and field observations, a questionnaire with 27 questions was designed under the supervision of university experts and distributed and completed among the samples. The reliability of the questionnaire was obtained using Cronbach's alpha method, based on 40 questionnaires, 0.83, which is at the optimal level. Based on the results obtained from the path analysis of structural equations, in general, rural housing facilities have had an effect on the physical transformations of rural settlements in Khansar with an impact factor of 0.18. Meanwhile, rural housing facilities have an impact factor of 0.31 on "quality of materials", "structural quality" with an impact factor of 0.48, "native structure" with an impact factor of 0.81, and "standard housing" with an impact factor of 0.25 has been effective. Therefore, it is suggested to continue providing facilities with a new approach based on local conditions in rural areas.

Abstract Today, the issue of health and food quality is one of the challenges facing communities and organic farming as an alternative to conventional agriculture, is growing and expanding rapidly and in the near future the most important and main feature of the presence of agricultural products in global markets. , The supply of products will be free of chemical and organic compounds. This study aims to analyze the components of organic agriculture development from the perspective of agricultural jihad experts in Tehran province. In terms of nature, it is a quantitative research, in terms of the degree of control of variables, it is non-experimental, and in terms of purpose, it is part of applied research and has been done by descriptive-correlation method. The statistical population was all experts of agricultural jihad in Tehran Province who had been employed for at least one year before the research and their number was 200 people. Morgan's table was used to estimate the sample sizes (127 people) that were selected by simple random sampling. In the current research, the main tool for data collection was a questionnaire, which was used to calculate the reliability of the questionnaires, using Cronbach's alpha method and using Spss statistical software. (α=0.94). In this research, in the descriptive analysis section, statistical methods such as frequency distribution, mean, standard deviation, profile, median, etc., and in the inferential analysis section, factor analysis method has been used. The results show that various components have an impact on the development process of organic agriculture, which during factor analysis in five categories of economic-supportive components (9.653), educational-knowledge (7.799), technical-promotional (7.766), institutional- Legal (7.152) and research-propaganda (4.258) were summarized, which explained a total of 61.048% of the variance of organic agriculture development components. Therefore, the development of organic agriculture requires factors that require a proper combination of each at the right time and place.

Abstract The agricultural products insurance is an efficient way to reduce the risk of activity in this field, which seeks to improve the economic productivity of the agricultural sector by encouraging farmers to insure their products. The success of it also depends on the farmers' willingness to produce insurance. Considering the importance of insurance in reducing risk and stabilizing the income of farmers, this research has investigated the factors affecting the decreased demand for wheat in Torbat Jam city. This research was conducted by completing questionnaire and sampling method available from 198 people from all wheat farmers of this city in the year of 2020-2021 and it was analyzed using logit model. Based on the information obtained from the Agricultural Jahad of this city, 72 of the farmers in the sample have taken out insurance for the wheat. The results of the showed that factors including the level of education, the area under cultivation of wheat, the years of history of the farmer facing the risk, the timely payment of compensation by the agricultural products insurance fund and the completeness of the level of coverage have a negative effect, and on the other hand, the variables of the amount of income from the sale of wheat, having sources of income other and the distance to the insurance office from the farmers' residence have a positive effect on not applying for insurance by the wheat farmers of this city. it is appropriate to the classification of agricultural risks according to regions.

Abstract Today, in order to provide food security and respond to the increasing demand due to population growth, most countries, including Iran, have paid special attention to wheat production. The adoption of incentive policies by governments to increase the production of this product has led to the widespread use of various production inputs, including chemical fertilizers, which have the possibility of soil and water pollution. The increase of these pollutions has caused a change of attitude in the field of food production. One of the most important of these attitudes is the sustainable production of sufficient food along with attention to social, economic and environmental dimensions. Therefore, in order to achieve this goal, it is necessary to optimize and increase the environmental efficiency and cost in the consumption of chemical fertilizer inputs. For this purpose, this study has investigated the cost and environmental efficiency of wheat farmers in Gachsaran using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method. The required data were obtained using simple random sampling method and completing the questionnaire from the farmers of Lishter Plain in Gachsaran in 2018. The results showed that the average cost efficiency under the assumption of constant return to scale and variable return to scale is 0.536 and 0.662, respectively, and the average environmental efficiency is 0.569 and 0.691, respectively. Therefore, the improvement in technical efficiency can significantly reduce production costs and environmental inefficiencies for farmers. Therefore, it is recommended that the government, in addition to training farmers in the optimal use of chemical inputs, by applying support policies, encourages wheat farmers towards organic cultivation and production so that while providing their income, a healthier product reaches the hands of consumers and improves their environmental performance.

Abstract Evaluating the ecological and economic potential is an effective step and a suitable tool to guide the current activities and uses in the land towards comprehensive management and sustainable rural development. Identifying and evaluating the potentials of each region is a guide for achieving development in sync with nature in rural areas dependent on nature. In this study, the economic value of forage production in Rangelands of ChaharBagh village of Golestan province was investigated.Typing the vegetation cover of the region by going to the desired area and field survey and also with the help of the topographical map of the region and also by using the plan to recognize the ecological regions of the country and based on the specified floristic-physionomic classification method and sampling of each plant type. It was done randomly and systematically.6 plant types were identified in the study area. The results of the study showed that the total forage production in the pastures of Chaharbagh village is equal to 6203605 kilograms of dry forage and available fodder (sustainable forage) is equal to 1763925 kilograms. The economic value of the total forage produced in the pastures of Chaharbagh village is equal to 52,284,110,52 riyals, and the total economic value of the available forage of these pastures is estimated to be 11,904,012,960 riyals. The capacity of the total number of livestock units with efficiency and economic value was 4749 heads, and the total annual profit was estimated at 12,760,821,000 rials; therefore, the added value of animal husbandry in the studied pasture is equal to 040,747,917 rials.