درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Purpose- One of the most important strategies facing drought and agriculture water shortage in North-West Iran is developing pressurized irrigation systems (PISs). In this regard, the present study aims to investigate the factors determining the adoption of the PISs by farmers in Ardabil Province. Design/methodology/approach- First, by drought zoning of Ardabil Province (by SPI method and GIS software), three regions including regions with mild, moderate and severe drought levels were determined. In the second step, using multi-stage cluster sampling, adopter and non-adopter farmers of the PISs were selected from three regions of study (n= 415). Also, the logistic regression was used to determine the affective and distinctive factors of farmers' groups. Findings- According to the results of logistic regression analysis, the predictive power of model was 0.622 and the sensitivity of the regression model to determine the model validation was obtained as 85.8%. Also, from among 17 factors of study, 7 factors of education level, farm income, knowledge about the PISs, the infrastructure for PISs, the effect of local weather conditions, the trust towards the optimality of PISs and the improvement in farm water management, positively impacted on the adoption and use of PISs. Among effective factors, knowledge about the PISs (Wald: 32.676), the trust towards the optimality of PISs (Wald: 27.855) and the infrastructure for PISs (Wald: 21.648) were the most important factors predicting to the decision to adopt and use PISs among farmers. Research limitations/implications- Since the study was carried out in a large area of the province, accessing the farmers and experts in the Ardabil Province was difficult and time consuming. Practical implications- The agricultural extension and education programs and PRA method, can provide the basis for the adoption of PISs among most of the farmers. Also, the infrastructure programs for the implementation and setting up of PISs are the priority of governmental projects to develop the PISs in the regions of the study. Originality/value- It seems that identifying and providing the necessary infrastructure for implementing pressurized irrigation programs should be based on the scientific needs assessment of the agricultural fields’ conditions in different regions. Also, proper the appropriate government funding and financial support for the appropriate infrastructure of PISs will increase the willingness of farmers to adopt and use of the PISs.

Purpose- The present study aimed to investigate the most important obstacles to the promotion of agricultural land consolidation in the rural areas of Kangavar County. This study seeks to answer a key question: What are the main obstacles to the implementation of agricultural land consolidation policy in the villages of the study area? Design/methodology/approach - The present research is an applied one conducted in a descriptive-analytical method; field work was used for data collection and factor analysis was used for data analysis. The population of the study included 1216 land users. Using Cochran's formula, 211 questionnaires were developed and randomly distributed among the users. The stratified sampling method was used to determine the number of samples in the villages. Cronbach's alpha was used to determine the coefficient of validity of the questionnaire in the village; the validity of the questionnaire was 0.816, which indicated the data were suitable for the research. Findings- The findings show that ‘the factor of investment and fund’ accounts for 14.445% of the variance, which is the most important obstacle to the development of land consolidation in the rural areas. However, the lack of support of government agencies and organizations, infrastructural weaknesses, individual factors, lack of creativity, lack of intellectual participation and trust, lack of management and production practices, lack of knowledge and awareness, and lack of access to communication facilities in rural areas are important constraints on land consolidation in the rural areas of the study.

Purpose- Considering that a diversified economy can lay the proper groundwork for improving quality of life, the present study investigates and analyzes the efficacy of diversification on rural households’ quality of life. Design/methodology/approach - The study is descriptive-analytical and its population consists of rural settlements in Golmakan Dehestan, Chenaran County. “Economic activities diversification” is the independent variable of the study which is quantified in two agricultural and non-agricultural aspects, using 14 indicators. “Rural households’ quality of life” is the dependent variable which is quantified in three social, economic and physical-environmental aspects, using 48 indicators. Questionnaires were handed to 258 rural families in 15 villages and the average score of each indicator was considered as the score of each of the villages studied. The validity of the questionnaire was established through confirmatory factor analysis (65.72%) and its reliability was established by Cronbach's alpha (0.83). Findings - The results of the step-wise regression show that diversity of non-agricultural activities has a meaningful influence on the variation of the dependent variable (rural households’ quality of life), such that a change of one standard deviation in non-agricultural activities leads to a change of 0.6 of standard deviation in rural households’ quality of life. Therefore, non-agricultural activities are influential in improving the economic conditions of families, and consequently raising quality of life among rural families. Research limitations/implications - Among the limitations of the study, the dispersed area that the villages are located in, the long distance between some villages, and the unwillingness of rural households for filling out the questionnaire can be mentioned. According to the role of non-farm activities on improving quality of life, suggestion of the study is to improve non-farming economy in rural areas. This, naturally, requires more attention to national macro-policies along with localization and necessitates implementation of successful global models regarding diversification of non-farming economy in rural areas. Originality/Value- A review of the studies regarding economic activities diversification in Iran and the world shows that, at the time of this writing, none has dealt with the influence of economic activities diversification on rural families’ quality of life.

Purpose: The environment is a divine favor whose protection can have a positive effect on lives of humans and other creatures. A look at the verses of the Quran and the life style of the Prophet’s family (PBUT) make it clear that no school like Islam has attached such a great importance to nature and the environment. Accordingly, using Quranic indices, in this study we have aimed to analyze the level of environmental development in rural areas of Sistan. Design/methodology/approach- The population of the study is the people in the rural areas of Sistan. To determine the sample population using Sharpe formula, 40 villages (with 51663 households) out of 796 villages in Sistan region were selected, and 381 heads of households were randomly selected according to Cochran formula. For data analysis, Kruskal-Wallis statistical method in SPSS was used, and then Topsis was employed to weigh and determine the degree of development of the villages. Findings: The evaluation showed that level of environmental development in rural areas is less than .01% percent significant. Out of 9 environmental indices, the index of optimal utilization of water, with a mean of 4.29 ranked first. Practical implications- According to the research results, coherent planning for the revival of the genuine Islamic culture and development of religious teachings about the role and significance of nature, the realization of God's real ownership of all national resources, optimal utilization of natural resources, prevention of corruption in the environment, and appropriate utilization of forests and rangelands, especially national resources, is a strategy that can lead our society to sensible utilization of natural resources.

Purpose - Gender analysis is a sort of methodology offering a comprehensive image of the contribution and role of women and men in the economy of a community. In this exploration, it has been endeavored to investigate the role and contribution of women in producing and profiting from the financial benefits of saffron as an essential and exportable economic product. Design/methodology/approach- For this purpose, 253 saffron producers in 9 villages of the cities of Torbat-e-Jam and Bakherz were studied as a statistical sample using descriptive-analytic research method, including a questionnaire and a semi-organized interview. Data were analyzed by T-test, MANOVA, Duncan and Fisher test using SPSS software and Rural Participatory Appraisal (PRA) research. Finding - The outcomes of the study exhibited that there is a significant difference between the participation of family members in the studied area during different phases of production (planting, harvesting, cropping, marketing, and sales). Moreover, the inferential findings revealed that although the men's participation ratio of only 24% is significantly higher than women's participation in the production of saffron, the benefit rate of the gained saffron production profit for the men (i.e. 74/16%,) is significantly higher than the benefit rate for women (i.e. 25/84%). The Rural Participatory Appraisal method also revealed that there is a significant difference between the physical participation and saffron income between males and females. In other words, men possess almost all the financial benefits of saffron production; in fact, women are deprived of the sources that can help them be empowered in economic and social areas. Of course, rural women in the study area did not express dissatisfaction with this issue, and they believed that this income would be well spent for the whole family.