asadollah zamanipour

One of the most important strategies offered for agricultural development is the empowerment and participation of farmers and greenhouse owners in various dimensions. Undoubtedly, the activities of the pillars of the agricultural knowledge and information system can play a significant role in this empowerment. Considering the importance of the topic, the present research was conducted with the aim of identifying the components of the empowerment of greenhouse workers, emphasizing the role of the pillars of the agricultural knowledge and information system, using the phenomenological approach in Razavi Khorasan province. The statistical population of the research consists of agricultural Jihad experts, academic experts, private sector experts and managers of greenhouses in Razavi Khorasan province. Informed people were collected by snowball method and data were collected by in-depth interview and direct observation. Data analysis was done based on Claysey's model. The initial coding process was done by identifying the evidence from the written interviews for 30 interviews, and the result of this step is the identification of 149 primary codes. In the second stage, 21 formulated meanings were obtained, and by categorizing them, the research theme, which is the factors affecting the empowerment of greenhouse owners, was identified. As a result of the analysis of the findings, six main themes of the achievements and consequences of the agricultural knowledge and information system with emphasis on the ability of greenhouse farmers, drivers, strategies and strategies, moderating conditions (supportive and supportive policies), background conditions, Achievements and consequences were obtained.

The current research has been done with the aim of investigating the process of outsourcing decisions and providing a model for decision-making regarding the outsourcing of agricultural extension services. This research is of a qualitative type and has been done using the grounded theory method. Data collection has been done using semi-structured in-depth interview. The statistical population of the research included academic experts, agricultural Jihad experts and non-governmental sector experts, 30 people were selected and examined using the purposeful sampling method and snowball technique. The process of collecting information continued until the level of theoretical saturation and the threshold of usefulness of available information. Based on the core classified codes (20 categories), the major issues of outsourcing include: development and expansion of IT, weakness and inefficiency of government promotion, strengthening of the non-governmental/private sector, demand-oriented production work, expansion of the pluralist promotion system, knowledge management of users and farmers, investing in agriculture, implementing incentive-support policies, decentralizing extension activities, strengthening interactions between farmers, scientific centers and research centers, identifying supply capacities, reforming the management structure, getting feedback from the types of services provided and using it in planning , risk management, commercialization of agriculture, organizational agility of promotion, coverage level of services in rural areas, productivity and food security, efficiency of the potentials and capacity of the non-governmental sector, readiness for competitiveness in the global market have been compiled.

One of the most important factors that result in rural development is preparing good conditions for rural entrepreneurship. The development requires enough attention to the motivations of those who intend to start entrepreneurship. Choosing entrepreneurship, taking risks, dealing with different problems, and tackling obstacles necessitate very strong motivations. The study was conducted to identify the pull and push motivations perceived by rural entrepreneurs of handicrafts. The statistical population of the study was rural entrepreneurs of handicrafts sector in South Khorasan Province, from among of which 22 participants were selected using snowball sampling. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews from November 2017 to June 2018. Analyzing the data using Colaizzi method let to seven major theme: Job problems, social barriers, improper resources productivity as push factors and social motivations, achieving economic progress, facilitating employments, and personal-psychological characteristics as pulling motivations. The results show that local entrepreneurs having the significant factor of interest in their own hometown and culture and preventing forgetting the handicrafts of the regions, are so motivated to do entrepreneurial works in spite of various problems. So, it is recommended that officials support productive employment and maintain art and culture in rural areas by facilitating starting new jobs and giving especial facilities to the active people of the sector.

Farming joint stock companies are currently growing and spread of this type of Farming Systems is already on the agenda of government. In this paper, the shareholders’ satisfaction from the performance of farming joint stock companies was evaluated. To this end, Correlation and Regression techniques were used. This research is an applied one with a descriptive-analytical approach. For collecting data, two techniques of documentary and surveying method have been used. The population of this study consisted of all 1899 shareholders of four old Farming Joint Stock companies, out of which 325 members determined as sample using Cochran Formula and stratified random sampling technique. The analysis of data was done by using SPSS software. Satisfaction was estimated at four levels: unsatisfied, relatively unsatisfied, satisfied and very satisfied. Research findings indicated 48/1 and 17/9 percent of shareholders were "satisfied" and "very satisfied", respectively, from the performance of farming joint stock companies. Members’ satisfaction from the performance of farming joint stock companies was evaluated at moderate to high level. There was a statistically significant relationship between "participation in decision making","Mode of the personnel behavior","appointment of competent persons","Diversity of products" and "shareholders’ satisfaction" level. Results of regression analysis revealed that education level, the amount of dividends, participation in decision-making and appointment of competent persons explains 83 percent of changes that occur at the level of shareholders satisfaction.

Despite the growing needs of rural communities to use modern technology, acceptance of technology in rural areas is very limited. Now, in many countries agricultural resource management is in the hands of people who have trained in Western countries, so being familiar with the managers of cultural and environmental origins of indigenous systems of resource management will largely prevent future mistakes. So rural peacemakers as who involved in rural development, if they observe to this indigenous knowledge which is in harmony with rural structures, with regard to its compatibility with the new conditions they can take effective steps in rural development. The results of this paper which uses qualitative methods “grounded theory” is trying to consider an aspect of indigenous knowledge of South Khorasan gardeners in growing and barberry product which is the key factor in the life of South Khorasan growers and gardeners and for this reason, the study of indigenous knowledge of barberry growers were implemented in some eras of the provinces of South Khorasan which prosper the cultivation and growing of this plant. The results of this piece of information indicate a variety of garden operations and the uses of these products among the manufacturers which by itself can be as a success factor for them in producing this plant.

Agricultural insurance is among new tools that have operated more efficiently for reducing the risks in the agriculture sector. Given that wheat is one of the strategic products among agricultural crops, to reduce its production risks through insurance of agricultural products, is highly important. However, acceptance of wheat insurance by the farmers faces some problems and bottlenecks. With regard to the fact that experience of the risk in the past years would be one of the factors influencing acceptance of insurance in the years to come, the present study was conducted in the calendar years 1384-1385 (2005-2006) to 1386-1387 (2007-2008) with an aim to making an assessment of effects of natural risks (cold and frost, floods, high temperature, heavy rains, drought, diseases, etc.) on the acceptance of wheat insurance among farmers in South Khorasan Province. The present study has used correlation-descriptive method and statistical population of the study comprises 158 wheat cultivators of South Khorasan Province who were selected through application of Cochran formula. Cities of the province were divided into three categories with regard to their wheat cultivators and one city as selected from each category. In order to increase reliability, some 200 questionnaires were distributed among farmers in Birjand, Sarayan and Sarbishe townships. The data collected from the questionnaires were analyzed with the application of SPSS software. The results showed that there is a meaningful difference between those who accept the insurance and those who reject it in terms of revenues obtained through agricultural activities, the damage sustained by factors such as hail, cold weather and drought. Also, it showed that there is a meaningful relation between variables such as record of the occurrence of damage in the farm, revenues obtained from agricultural activities, damage caused by hail and frost, the frequency of risks, farmers’ prediction of risks and assessment of fitness of premium with the variable of insurance acceptance. In this research, through application of logistic regression it as found out that the five variables including the extent of damage caused by hail, cold weather, drought, heavy rains and also history of wheat cultivation are the most effective meaningful factors on the acceptance of wheat insurance. With the application of factor analysis, seven obstacles were identified in the acceptance of wheat insurance including, educational and information bottlenecks, specialization and belief bottlenecks, bottlenecks concerning inappropriate compensation of damage, administrative bottlenecks, economical bottlenecks, bottlenecks pertaining to previous experiences and available facilities and, finally, legal bottlenecks which, in the process of acceptance of insurance, impede farmers to accept insurance.

The present study has examined personal and communicative characteristics of insured farmers and effects of each characteristic on acceptance of insurance of agricultural crops in South Khorasan Province. This research study is of applied type and has been implemented according to descriptive-correlation method. The sampling has been conducted according to Cochran formula on 150 insured farmers as selected samples. The field research study has been used through application of questionnaires and SPSS software has been used for data analysis. On the basis of major targets of the research, secondary targets such as personal characteristics of the insured and identification of communicative characteristics effective on insured farmers were taken into consideration and following results were achieved: Average age of the answering insured was 48 years, their educational status was (77%) and their professional background was 29 years. Most farmers consider contacts with insurance experts as the most proper way to collect information. Results of the Spearman correlation coefficient showed that there is a correlation between variables of the age of the insured farmers, their agricultural record, educational level, extent of contacts with insurance promoters, and their participation in educational-extensional courses. Furthermore, results of the manifold regression showed that educational status and extensionaleducational activities elucidates 34% of the dependent variables whereas findings of another experiment showed that women farmers were more inclined towards insuring their products.

The present research study has been conducted with an aim to examine logistically factors that are effective in accepting insurance of pistachio product among pistachio growers in South Khorasan Province. The target population in the study was a total of (N=8253) pistachio growers in South Khorasan Province. The research instrument was a questionnaire including 24 questions validity and reliability of which were admitted. Reliability of the questionnaire was assessed and approved by a panel consisting of senior agricultural experts. Also Cronbach's alpha was used to estimate its reliability which showed an average of 75% for different part of the questionnaire. The result of correlation analysis showed that factors such as age, membership in cooperatives, level of education, willingness for participation in training extension classes, contact with extension agents, contact with mass-media, getting supportive facilities, commitment of insurance in observing its undertakings, low-level of compensation, prudence of pistachio growers, failure to timely payment of compensation, area under pistachio cultivation, high rates of premium, low rate of selling price, contact level with insurance experts and officials, and communication with rural councils and local officials as well as pistachio growing background had significant effect on accepting pistachio insurance. But, other factors such as inaccessibility to insurance centers, non-awareness of conditions and advantage of insurance, dissatisfaction of other farmers and income of pistachio growers had no significant effect on accepting pistachio insurance. The results of logistic regression indicated that the variable of the background of pistachio cultivation with 65% had the highest rate of influence on anticipating acceptance of insurance and the variable of contact with agricultural extension agents with 20% had the lowest influence in this regard. Therefore, it is recommended that insurance agencies work with pistachio growers who have a longer record of pistachio cultivation and their under cultivation land is above 2.7 hectares.