Journal of Agricultural Economics and Development
Year:2007 | Volume:14 | Issue:4 (56)|Papers Count:8

The impact of technological advancements in wheat production is reflected in a rightward shift of wheat supply function. In closed-economy and in free market situations, the distribution of economic gains between consumers and producers depends on the proportional shift of the supply function, rate of technology adoption, proportion of the crop marketed, and elasticity of demand and supply for the crop. This study determines consumer and producer welfare gains from advances in extension and research in wheat production of Iran to determine how a national taxing schedule should be formed. It was found out that, by increasing off-farm marketable products, total gains increase from advances in extension and research in the wheat breading programs.

There are implicitly some questions about the role of economic policies in growth and stabilization. Two important macroeconomic instruments are fiscal and monetary policies. Output growth and structural changes are not independent from price stability and foreign equilibrium, so that if inflation push-that appears in development process-is forgiven, the resources will be allocated inefficiently and this will prevent development.In this research, data of years 1972 to 2001 and VAR method for dynamic analysis of effective factors on growth and inflation in agricultural sector are used. Results show that in agricultural sector, causality direction is from growth to inflation so that growth of agricultural sector has a negative effect on inflation in this sector.Variable of capital stock, labor, government and individual investment have positive effects on the output of agricultural sector in long run and variables of liquidity growth and exchange rate growth have positive effects on inflation in agricultural sector in long run.

In the rural and agricultural development literature one way to resolve agricultural financial problems, is presenting micro credit. The importance of this subject was revealed when decision makers in agricultural planning found out the negative results of a direct payment in credit programs. In this process, therefore the method of credit payment changed from macro to micro in which local institutes and NGOs are considered.In this context, due to a family connection among the members and a trust among them, the local gross root corporative can be a good means of organizing dispersed savings, receiving credit and devoting it to develop agricultural activities through a group activity and mutual benefits. In this paper the effects of using the agricultural Band's micro credit, paid in group payment form during the years 1995-2005 in the rural areas of Khodabandeh, Zanjan Province, is studied. The main question of this study is "whether the micro credits of this band that is paid through local gross root corporative have led into developing agricultural activities of the rural areas in this city or not'?

In this article we aim at reviewing the institutional developments and paradigms of agricultural research systems in different historical eras. After delineating the basic features of agricultural researches, this article is to point out that these institutional developments demonstrate a move towards the use of system approach in the process of designing agricultural research systems as well as facilitating the more participation of stakeholders in designing, implementation and evaluation of agricultural research goals, policies and plans.Then we aim at studying the developments of agricultural system in Iran and pointing out that many of Iranian public research institutes have been established during the past eight decades. We claim that Iranian agricultural research system is in the primary phase of institutionalization and this is contrary to considerable institutional capacities existing in the country. Iranian agricultural research system has not been developed with the aim of integrating different capacities and actors around a common focal point and has not changed itself to create a synergic virtue among them. It has been recommended to consider such issues in overall policy making process, to establish a National Agricultural Research System (NARS) in Iran being able to institutionalize Agricultural Knowledge & Information System (AKIS) and, ultimately, to achieve National Agricultural Innovation System (NAIS).

Recognizing and understanding the differences among rural regions of provinces with regard to their degree of enjoyment from various facilities and services in order to recognize the level of development and deprivation of rural regions, the distance from the determined goals, and to decrease the regional inequalities, to adjust the programs corresponding to conditions and the facilities of rural regions with the goal of balancing the regional developmental level, is an inevitable necessity.In this article the amount of rural regions enjoyment from 67 developmental indexes such as population indexes, educational, hygienic- medicinal, installation- infrastructural, political- official ones, in addition to the share of each index and its effect on development have been considered with the use of Scalogram Method.In this way, the situation of rural regions in provinces in the country's level has been determined from various development indexes. This can help authorities and planners of country's provinces to determine the superiority of various development plans.The results show that there are large differences and separation among different provinces. Mazandaran's rural regions have the best rank with 120 score from the various indexes and Semnan's rural regions have the least rank with 8 score. So it should be noticed that indexes developmentally have no suitable situation in development plans.

Job creation and decreasing unemployment rate is of a great importance in the country. Generating employment opportunities occupies an important position due to its undoubted role regarding poverty alleviation and inequality mitigation. The aim of the study is discussing the unequal job opportunities between rural and urban areas during 1335-1385 decades. The results of this study indicate that during the mentioned period, there were more tendencies. Toward generating job opportunities in the urban areas than in rural areas; so that, the amount of the jobs created in the urban areas is 2.5 times more than that of in the rural areas. In the course of the period, the unemployment rate proportion in rural area has been 36.6 percent, however only 16 percent of the generated job opportunities belong to the rural areas. The inequality and unemployment rate has not been decreased during the years after the victory of Islamic Revolution, while it increased from 4 times before revolution to 5.62 times after it.The least difference regarding job creation increase happened during 1345-55. In the course of this decade, against every job opportunity in the rural areas, 3.42 job opportunities were created in the urban areas.The most difference regarding to job opportunity increase happened during 1375-85; and more than 7.23 jobs were generated in the urban areas, against one job opportunity in the rural areas. Giving the role of the employment in lessening economic, social and political inequality in the rural and urban areas and in mitigating rural-urban migrations, a balanced distribution of job opportunities between rural and urban areas is necessary.

This paper is part of a research project study in district of Khorasan entitled: "determination of suitable deficit irrigation strategies by maximizing social profit". A chance constraint linear programming model was developed in which technical coefficients were determined differently from conventional linear programming approach. Model was run with three levels of water use efficiencies (65, 45 and 35 percent), with and without water supply risk and sugar beet. Forty different water stresses were imposed in different growth stages of sample crops. Results showed that, water use efficiency was more than 35 percent in sample farms. Reducing water use in an activity does not necessarily result in reducing farm water use. In addition, results showed that optimal allocation of irrigation water at the farm level happens when marginal return of water is the same not only in all growth stages of a crop but also in different growth stages of competing crops grown in the farm. Moreover, the findings indicated that net social profit could be increased when sugar beet (with negative social profit) is included in the model with considerable stress in all its growth stages. Social profits were increased by decreasing uncertainty of available water supply along with raising water use efficiency. The finding also indicated that in determining irrigation water price it is necessary to consider social profit as well as water use efficiency at the farm level. Finally, there is limited scope for increasing water price from social point of view.