Iranian Journal of Agricultural Economics and Development Research
Year:2009 | Volume:40 | Issue:1|Papers Count:16

In the present study, the productivity of capital input in different agricultural subsectors is assessed for the period 1976-2007 and the performances compared accordingly. In addition, the performances are compared in the context of various five year economic, social and cultural development plans based on the rate of growth of capital input during the implementation of the different plans. Results indicate that fisheries, and forestry sub-sectors have undergone a declining trend in the productivity of capital input, while field cropping, horticulture, and animal husbandry sub-sectors have experienced increasing trend in the productivity of capital input during the study period. Among the four agricultural sub-sectors, animal husbandry has exhibited a conspicuous performance in utilization of capital input, as it has had the highest productivity growth rate of capital input during the study period. On the other side, capital input has been utilized least effectively, in the fisheries sub-sector for which the growth rate of capital productivity has been negative over the period of the study. Additionally, the results indicate that animal husbandry sub-sector has had the most profitable performance in creating value added per unit of utilized capital input, while fisheries showing the worst performance as viewed: from this perspective.

The Real business cycle theory was applied to investigate the hypothesis of cyclical agreeable treatment of real wages, for men and women work force, in the Iranian agricultural sector for the period of 1971-2006. On the basis of this theory, the impacts of supply side shocks (productivity and oil income shocks), are anticipated on the fluctuations of the real wages. The dominant effect of supply side shocks in determination of cyclical fluctuations of real wages is confirmed by the single equation estimation and the use of Kydland and Prescott pattern (1990) in interpretation of correlation coefficients. Impulse response functions show that the supply shocks increase real wage and employment in the short run while decreasing them in the long run. In the short run, this is because of marginal product increase (productivity shock) and external income increment (oil shock), but for the long run, this is because of substitution capital for labor (productivity shock) and price increase of imported inputs (oil shock). Results indicate that, for simultaneous attainment of employment increment and poverty reduction in the agriculture sector, one should use policies that augment foreign exchange instead of productivity increasing ones.

This research is basically intended to focus on identifying the effective organizational factors on intrapreneurship development in Iranian Agricultural Extension Organization (IAEO). A descriptive-correlational research was implemented to conduct the study. Statistical population was comprised of all IAEO agricultural extension experts. To draw samples, one province out of each regional category of the country was randomly selected and 250 out of 1145 extension specialists were (also randomly) selected from the six selected provinces as based on Cochran's methodology. A well constructed questionnaire comprised of two parts, first: 40 questions to assess the intrapreneurship development (Morris & Kuratko, 2002), and second: 69 questions dealing with organizational factors of direct role in intrapreneurship development was established. Validity of the questionnaire was analyzed, and the reliability coefficient calculated for the questionnaire, using Cronbach's alpha of a=0.93 for the first and a=0.906 for the second part). SPSSW in 15 was utilized to process the data. Applying Sign Rank Test indicated that the status of the organizational factors was lower than the standard one and below the expected line. In other words, these factors were not intrapreneurial. Applying correlational analyses revealed that intrapreneurship development had a positively significant relationship with organizational factors (P=0.01). Also multivariable regression revealed that 56% of variance in intrapreneurship development was determined by: leadership style, organizational strategy, organizational control system and organizational culture. The remaining variance comes from other variables and organizational factors that have not been investigated in this research. Results finally showed that an organization with the appropriate demanding factors would be more successful in human resource management and as well can better stimulate intrapreneurship development.

The present research work was carried out to assess the relationship between outreach services of a faculty member, and his academic tasks of teaching performance and research productivity. A number of 95 faculty members from the colleges of Agriculture and Natural Resources constituted the statistical population of the study. A questionnaire was employed for collection of data on outreach services while for gathering data on research productivity and teaching performances, the needed information was obtained from archival data. The independent variables of gender, record of service, type of employment and age did not significantly affect the relationship between outreach services of a faculty member and his academic services of teaching performance and research activities. The variables of academic rank, university and! or college of graduation, and level of education did significantly affect research productivity of an academic member, but as regards his outreach services and 'teaching performance, no significant difference were observed within these traits.

The purpose of this descriptive correlational study was to investigate the tendency level of youth in rural areas of Kermanshah Township to migration, and to determine the influencing factors. The statistical population for the study was constituted of the rural boys (15-28 years) of Kermanshah Township (N= 17544). A multistage sample of rural youth was selected (n=291). The findings indicated that 37% of rural youth had a high tendency to migrate to urban areas. Using factor analysis, the reasons for the migration were reduced to four main factors, namely: economic, infrastructural, cultural, and social. Based on factor analysis, the main methods to reduce the migration rate (of rural youth) are economic, infrastructural, cultural and social course of actions. Regression analysis revealed that attitude toward agriculture as an occupation, age, educational level, travel to urban areas, inter-personal relations, and family structure is predictors of the tendency toward migration. It is recommended that any rural development intervention program should be based upon rural youth's tendency towards migration, and its subsequent influencing factors.

The texture for most soils in Iran is of a heavy nature. Therefore the necessity arises as to the extent (depth) of preplanting tillage operations to be proportional to the type of soil (texture). Variable depth tillage application techniques are among the suggested approaches to maintenance of the sustainability of soil resources. The present research was carried out to find out about the attitude and as well about the tendency of Jehade Keshavarzi (Agricultural Jihad) Organization experts of Fars and Khuzestan Provinces, Iran towards the idea (an application of the abovementioned technologies). The study was a survey one carried out through random stratified sampling. It became evident that the experts are in agreement as to the adoption of the (variable depth tillage) technology (c¯ =16.85 and 16.75 for Fars and Khuzestan, respectively). The variables of "attitude of confidence", "triability"," observability", the "perceived ease of application" as well as the "perceived usefulness" on the part of the experts affects their tendency in applying and putting into practice the proposed technology. It was also found out that the variables of "attitude to use (perception towards application)" (b=0.24, p<0.01) and "observability (g=0.25, p<0.01) "determine the experts' tendency towards an adoption of the proctive. Based upon the results obtained, suggestions have been made as to adoption and application (by the experts throughout the whole country) of the proposed technology.

In this study, in addition to estimating meat demand, live animal supply and marketing services supply for beef and lamb, economic behavior of marketing margin with respect to determinants of meat demand, live animal supply and marketing services supply have been evaluated for years 1998-2004. Results indicate that, as examples, beef and lamb marketing margin elasticity with respect to feed prices are 0.037 and 0.032, respectively. Also, existing of market power in beef and lamb marketing process has increased in their marketing margins. Thereby, by making competition in related market to beef and lamb markets, beef and lamb marketing margin behavior reflect their marginal cost in their marketing process.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of Farmer Field School (FFS) approach on adoption of biological control by rice farmers. The research population consisted of 72 farmers who had participated in FFS and 346 who had not participated in FFS, selected through randomized sampling method. The methodological approach of the study was twofold: descriptive-correlative and causal-comparative. Validity of the instrument was established by a panel of expert’s comprised of senior faculty members in agricultural extension and education department, and of research committee advisors. Reliability analysis was conducted by using Cronbach's Alpha formula the result being 82%. The results indicated that 63.9 percent of the farmers who had participated in FFS adopted the techniques to a large and a very large extent, while only 13.3 percent of those who had no participation in FFS adopted the techniques (to a large, but not very large extent). The results of the multiple regression analysis (stepwise method) revealed that the variables of knowledge of biological control, relative advantage, level of mechanization, rice farming experience, social participation, the number of contacts with extension agent, the extent to which farmers used mass media and information sources described a variation of 75.9% of the adoption of biological control by rice farmers, (farmers who had participated in FFS). Also the results of the multiple regression analysis (stepwise method) revealed that the variable of knowledge of biological control described a variation of 83.1% of the adoption of biological control by rice farmers who had not participated in FFS.

The main purpose of this study was to assess the points of agreement between the faculty members and students concerning the quality of agricultural. higher education. The statistical population consisted of 157 faculty members and 2202 agriculture major students involved in the University College of Agriculture and Natural Resources of the University of Tehran, out of whom 67 and 118 were respectively selected as sample units. A questionnaire was developed to gather data. The content validity of the questionnaire was established by a panel of experts and faculty members in the field of agricultural extension and education, University of Tehran. A pilot study was conducted to establish the reliability of the instrument via the agricultural faculty members as well as students. Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the main scales of the questionnaire exceeded 0.7 showing that the instrument was reliable enough. Out of 86 investigated variables, the respondents in either one of the groups were in agreement with 57 ones some of which could be named as: "practicability of the subjects and their relevance to the major discipline objectives", "taking into account the recommendations of the governmental organizations in curriculum design and development", "previous agricultural experiences of students", "specialty in proper teaching of the subjects, on the part of the faculty members", "emphasis on the critical and analytical thinking by the faculty members", "experience of faculty members in guiding discussions and applying dialectic method" as well as "a provision of good and pleasant class environment for teaching.

Greenhouse cultivations are of special importance in agricultural development because of their utilization of artificially controlled production factors and artificially created environmental conditions. Proper planning towards a desirable development of this system of agricultural production demands a thorough knowledge and understanding of the factors hindering its soud development Towards this end, the present study was carried out as a case study in Isfahan to determine and pinpoint the limiting and inhibiting factors in the way of "in greenhouse production" development The research is a kind of an applied one, conducted through a survey method. Questionnaire and interviews constituted the means for data gathering. The statistical population was comprised of all the greenhouse entrepreneurs (361) of Isfahan Province who had succeeded in attaining operation licenses by the end of 2002. One hundred and twenty greenhouse units were selected from 10 counties (in each of which 10 greenhouses were already in operation) of the province as the statistical sample units. Validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a team of horticultural experts, selected faculty members, experts in agricultural extension and development as well as experienced greenhouse owners. Reliability was confirmed through Cronbach's Alpha (estimated as 0.73, 0.91, 0.86, 0.77 and 0.81 for 5 different sections of the questionnaire) SPSS and Excell software were employed to analyze the gathered data. The limiting factors hindering the development of greenhouse cultivation units were respectively found out as economic, support (governmental), administrative laws, infrastructural, and finally environmental and technical as based upon their corresponding coefficients. The four factors of: support, infrastructure, administrative laws, and economic factors were pointed out as determinants of 66.67% of the variance among the hindering factors.

Potato is one of the most essential nutritious food products for many people in the world. It is very important in the food basket of the Iranian families as well. Ardabil, Isfahan and Hamedan are the main potato growing provinces in Iran. Hamedan province ranks first with respect to yield. Regarding the existing high potential in this province, an economic evaluation of this product would be indispensable. The aim of this study is to investigate the economics of scale in Bahar (Hamedan) area. The farmers are thus devided into three groups as according to usage of machinery during different farming stages. For each group, the cost fnuction was estimated and while using the function coefficients, the economics of scale was applied. The cross sectional data for the present study were collected through a two stage cluster sampling method. The sample included 155 potato farmers. The results indicate that the optimum size for a profitable potato farm, is more than the size presently cultivated by farmers in all the three groups. Accordingly, an increase in the area under cultivation by farmers is recommended to achieve an effective measure in improving the total factor productivity as well as cost minimization.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors influencing the attitudes of the rural cattle breeders towards their participation in the establishment and administration of the farmers' organization in the Ramadan county of Iran. All the member cattle breeders of the cattle-breeding cooperative in Ramadan county (N= 550) were included in the study. Through use of simple random sampling method, 75 respondents were selected. The study was a descriptive-correlational, survey research. A questionnaire was designed and employed to gather the required data. Cronbach's alpha was computed to assess the reliability of the questionnaire, its rates being determined as: 0.92, 0.81 and 0.79. Face validity of the instrument was determined by faculty members of the department of agricultural extension and education, University of Tehran. The results of the t-Test for a comparison of the farmers with positive vs negative attitudes towards their participation in the activities of the "farmers' organization" showed that there were significant differences observed as related to the variables of: economic situation (cattle number, extent of irrigated and rainfed lands), precedence of membership, level of social participation, and an existence of a positive participation in the farmers' organization. Also the results of the multivariate regression revealed that 77.0% of variance in the level of participation (membership and getting involved in the activities of the farmers' organizations) was determined by the following four variables of: "leadership style", "economic situation", "farmers' motivation" and an awareness of the advantages of their participation.

Linear programming has been employed in many areas of constrained optimization including in agricultural planning for a long time. One of the most important disadvantages of such a method is that there is only one optimum solution for a given objective function and constraints set. Another method named nearly optimal linear programming has been developed for solving the problem. This method can simultaneously create more than one nearly optimum solution. Therefore, the probability of accepting a plan by farmers will increase because of diversification of the plans. In this study, the method has been explained and applied for a farm located in province of Fars. As indicated by the results (by I to 10% deviation from maximum affordable profit) it is possible to find very diverse and different nearly optimum combinations of the crop products.

Importance of farmers' participation in system design and management has been emphasized in various fields. Motivation is thought as the most important factor affecting farmers' participation in agricultural development programs. Many theories have been postulated in motivation field and abundant research projects accomplished in this area. McMillion's theory was recognized as appropriate for an analysis of farmers' participation in irrigation management and thus it was used in this study. The research was conducted to determine the factors affecting farmers' motivation for participation in irrigation management and as well to look for the existing obstacles. The research was of a survey type, carried out at Doroodzan dam irrigation network in Fars province. Multi-stage stratified random sampling was employed to select 270 farmers as the research sample size. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data. A panel of experts confirmed the face validity of the instrument, and a pilot study conducted to assess its reliability. Results indicated that among five modes of motivation, ''trading motive" bears the greatest effect on farmers' participation in irrigation management. Attitude towards Water Authority personnel, attitude toward personnel of Extension and Agricultural Service Center, varied contacts with Extension and Agricultural Service Center, sociability, prevailing attitude towards the performance of the Village Islamic Council, and as well family size had significant correlations with farmers' motivation. The results also indicate, from farmers' perspective, that improportionate water distribution among farms, dissatisfaction with Water Authority operator(s) as well as high water fees and charges were the main problems and obstacles in the way of farmers' participation in irrigation management. Finally, based on the research findings, applicable and appropriate recommendations towards increasing farmers' participation in irrigation management are presented.

The goal in this study was to determine the cmponents influencing the professional development of trainers in the Ministry of Agricultural-jihad Training Centers, to plan for their further continous professional advancement. The research method was a descriptive-correlational one and data gathering instrument a researcher made questionnaire. The validity (based on expert opinion) and reliability (Cronboch's Alfa coefficient=90/97%) as based on research findings were assessed. The population survey consisted of all trainers of Agricultural Jihad Training Centers (N= 490). Sample quantity was constituted of members for selection of whom 107 classified random sampling was applied. (regard to with the qualification of trainers' training levels the Agricultural-jihad Training Centers have been classified into three levels of, A, B, and C, by the Institute of Technical & Vocational Higher Education). Based upon the mean results the view of trainers, all the aspects of context components stand at a satisfactory level. In addition, factor analysis revealed 6 factors, which in total explained nearly 57% of variance. Means comparison test (Kruskal-Wallis) as based upon the level of the training centers showed that participatory management, utilization of capabilities of staff, and the educational opportunities were statistically significant.

Agricultural extension is a client-oriented service the effectiveness and efficiency of which depends on the clientele's satisfaction. Extension agents' performance is one of the indices of extension services' performance. Extension agents' performance has been assessed in different such ways as: study of their supervisors' view points, study of agents' themselves reports and as well studying farmers view points. It is believed that the appraisal method used in this survey-studying farmers' viewpoints -is the most reliable and best coincides with the philosophy and principles of extension. This survey is aimed at assessing farmers' satisfaction with extension agents' performance and the factors that affect it. This survey is attended to through a descriptive one. The dependent variable, namely: farmers' satisfaction with extension agents' performance-is assessed by means of several questions which attend to the different dimensions of agents' activities. The survey was implemented in Pishva District in Varamin (Tehran Province). Sixty farmers were selected through categorical sampling method, with a final 56 questionnaires being analyzed through Spss/Win software. Results indicated that the extent of farmers' dry lands as well as their experience in farming had significant relationships with their degree of satisfaction. Regression equation revealed that the education level is a related factor, too. In short, the effective factors affecting farmers' satisfaction were: scientific-operational skills of the extension agents, their communicational skills and finally their individual skills, respectively.