An Analysis on Commercialization of Strawberry Cultivation and its Determinants in Marivan County

Agricultural development is an important factor in any comprehensive rural development plan and because of its role and stance in the rural economy as the main activity, has a substantial contribution and obligation in rural development, especially in developing countries. It can provide formal and informal employment for those with both adequate and limited education and skill, and has proved to be a sustainable channel for poverty-stricken households in generating income. This potential role of agriculture in reducing poverty is particularly important according to the fact that the incidence of poverty is more evident in rural areas. The size of agriculture within the local economy is sometimes used to define rurality; therefore, any successful rural development strategy will be associated with agricultural development component while they are not a same thing.
The present study aims to identify and introduce the commercialization components of strawberry cultivation as the main agricultural product of Marivan Township and evaluate its determinants causally. A stratified random sample including 191 strawberry cultivators have been interviewed to gather the needed data, based on a self-designed and validated questionnaire. The dependent variable of strawberry cropping commercialization has been operationalized considering the area under cultivation, cropping specialization, cropping intensification, under cultivation area addition, crop yield, sale proportion and packing, as its sub criteria. A set of economic, social, technical, and institutional factors, as the independent variables, were operationalized and measured differently using appropriate questions. These variables are the economical and livelihood situation of the family, informal vocational trainings, satisfaction and hopes with the job and its future, facilities and infrastructural possibilities, institutional and governmental supports, awareness and application of updated knowledge, technical factors (machinery, modern irrigation, and waged labor utilization), land quality and management, losses control and product’s security.
The measurement and evaluation of commercialized strawberry cultivation, as a dependent scale, was done using statistical data processing procedures. By eliminating biased observed variables, the final validated scale measuring crop intensity and crop specialty followed by other components like crop yield, marketed production, and cultivation expansion by the crop’s income. Following the measurement scale of commercialization, statistical regression analysis approach was used to interpret its causal relationships with independent variables. Economical and livelihood situation of the family, technical factors (machinery, modern irrigation, and waged labor utilization), land quality and management, product’s security, informal vocational trainings, satisfaction and hopes with the job and its future, and finally institutional and governmental supports, have been the final sets of significant effective factors in commercialization of strawberry cultivation in the studied area, respectively.
The social and economic viability of many rural communities in developing countries depends ever highly on farming activities and entails its development. Provision and promotion of food security, creation and durability of job and income opportunities, and development of farming as well as non-farming activities are some aspects of mentioned peripheral rural communities’ redemption from their involving integrated poverty. In terms of the process of agricultural development, there is a worldwide trend for agricultural industry to replace the traditional pattern with a commercialized one. Commercialization is essential for agricultural development, which, amongst other things, entails mechanization of agriculture to reduce the cost of production and to increase the yield of crops. In some instances, agricultural commercialization may take place even without mechanization. Agricultural commercialization refers to the shift from subsistence production to an increasingly complex production and consumption system based on the market. Apart from marketing of agricultural outputs, it includes product choice and input use decisions based on the principles of profit maximization. A low degree of commercialization involves production essentially for subsistence purposes, with very little surplus to be sold in the market. In considering commercialization, production is specialized and based on modern technology, and income stabilization and profit making are among the major concerns of farmers rather than such issues as food security. Specialized cropping regards to the different regional and geographical properties is one of the major approaches to optimize the productive potencies of disperse smallholders. Some of the non-compromising requisites are as strengthening of production systems by input (seeds, fertilizers, machines, equipment etc.) and output (products) flows, development of conductive social structures, development of research, education and advisory institutions, development and enhancement of infrastructures such as all-weather roads, power, communication and irrigations systems, transportation, warehousing and marketing facilities, and processing industries.