Analysis correlation livelihood diversification strategies with the management of agricultural lands (rural areas in Poledokhtar County)

Implementation of rural development policies is the basis for empowerment and improvement of rural household livelihoods. Livelihood strategy is one of the important issues to be included in rural development policies. Many researchers define livelihood diversification. Subsistence Variety refers to the processes taking place at different levels of the economy. Livelihood diversity is a combination of activities and choices; a means to earn a living and includes the capabilities, assets and activities required for a better life. There are four distinct types of livelihood strategies, such as agricultural production, non-farm employment at or outside the farm, and non-farm income from trading, skilled occupations and employment, and a combined strategy. In this regard, it can be said that increasing the production of agricultural products and paying attention to the agricultural sector - due to the dependence of livelihoods of the majority of rural women in this sector - the most important strategy is the livelihoods variety. Particularly in rural areas, poverty, population growth and environmental degradation are the cause of the decline in agricultural land size, which has led to a decline in agricultural land and the spread of land to grassland. One of the most important ways to prevent the destruction of agricultural land is their desirable management. On the other hand, rural households need a variety of income to deal with poverty. In addition, the use of rural livelihood strategies may have positive or negative effects on agricultural land management systems. Therefore, it is necessary to study the relationship between livelihoods diversity strategies and agricultural land management.
Methods and Material: The present research is in the field of applied research and in terms of "method" in the framework of "descriptive-analytical" method. Data collection has been done in both "documentary" and "survey" methods. The statistical population consisted of households in villages of Poledokhtar township (N= 9431). 379 households were selected using the Cochran formula and were randomly selected as samples. To collect data from questionnaires and little questions two options were used. For this reason, this type of questionnaires were used as models range between one and zero And to analyze the model of this type of questionnaire should be used. In order to study the concentration of activities and livelihoods of rural households, the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (IHHD) and econometric model (Tobit) were used to study the relationship between livelihoods and sustainable land management practices. All models and methods of data analysis was performed using the software Eviews version 9. Validity of the questionnaire was measured and verified using content validity, which is determined by those who specialize in the subject matter. In order to measure the reliability of the model, it was confirmed by using the reliability tests of the model.

Findings on the application of land management practices show that farm households do not use a fair amount of management practices. Some have adopted all management practices, while some have used one or more methods. The findings show that the use of fertilizer (0.825), land drainage (0.707) and soil condition (0.670) were the most widely used among rural households, respectively. The methods of grass stripping (0.139), cultivating the cover plants (0.211) and planting trees around the ground (0.263) have also been the least used. The findings showed that the income diversity of the income measured by Herfindahl-Hirschman Variety Index has a positive and significant effect on sustainable land management activities. In addition, the effects of factors affecting livelihoods on farmer's decision to use or not to use agricultural land management practices from Tobit's econometric model showed that among 18 variables of research, six variables have a significant relationship with farmer's decision to use land management practices. The significance level below 0.001 indicates that the number of labor force, land ownership, property ownership, agricultural income, non-agricultural income and the combined income of households have a positive and significant effect on the adoption of land management practices.

Livelihood strategy, in addition to providing part of income needs, helps to increase working hours during seasonal unemployment and to strengthen the livelihoods of households. This in turn increases the use of land management practices. In addition, the use of management practices and increased ways of livelihoods due to complementary effects can help to increase livelihoods and increase the use of managerial practices. By increasing their livelihoods through non-farm income, farmers can improve their livelihood capacity by maintaining their quality and managing their land. This also has a direct impact on their livelihoods and their income sources. Because farm income surpluses can be invested in agricultural activities, this in turn increases household incomes and, as a result, more investment in land management. Therefore, it can be said that these two variables have a direct relationship and can complement each other. Investigating the relationship between the effects of factors affecting livelihoods and agricultural land management practices shows that labor force, land ownership, property ownership, agricultural income, and non-agricultural income (unearned) and combined income have positive and significant effects on the adoption of management practices Land has had. Therefore, integrated rural livelihoods and land management strategies can be combined to help increase livelihoods and use of land management practices.