Investigation of the Psychological Empowerment of Rural Administrators in Rural Management and Development Process

Agriculture sector is one of the most important economic sectors of the country. In this section, to reach agriculture and rural development, crops suitable for different areas are emphasized. One of the crops that is prevalent in some hot and dry regions of Iran such as Kerman, Semnan and Khorasan, is the pistachio also called “the green gold”. The key issue in this study is to analyze the role of gardening in sustainable rural development with an emphasis on pistachio cultivation (Shahrabad rural district, Bardaskan City). This is an applied study that uses a descriptive-analytical method to examine the parameters being investigated. The statistical population of the study consisted of 2830 rural families living in Shahrabad rural district of Bardaskan city. 338 questionnaires were selected as sample size according to the Cochran formula and based on the appropriate allocation formula, the sample size in each village was determined. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS software and Spearman and Chi-square tests. The results of the study showed that about 53% of respondents mentioned pistachio as the main source of income. Among the indices studied in three economic, social and physical dimensions the highest means belonged to: Rising land and housing prices at an average of 3.09 (economic) ,the index of change in life patterns with an average of 3.01 (social), and the index of changing home view with the average 3.23 (physical). The results of Spearman test show a positive relationship between gardening prosperity (pistachio cultivation) and promotion of rural life with 99% confidence. In addition, the results of the study indicate that the development of gardening activities has led to an increase in employment and income in the rural district of Shahrabad.