Study of Social Impacts of Saffron Cultivation in Regional Development (Case study: Beneficiaries of Siahrood District of Tehran City)

Rural development is a multidimensional process, aimed at improving the quality of life of poor and vulnerable rural communities. An important policy for rural development is the emphasis on strategic products tailored to different regions. The numerous applications of saffron and its diversified food consumption and, most importantly, the important role played by farmers in the city of Tehran, highlights the special attention to the issues of saffron production and its role in rural development. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of saffron cultivation on the social status of saffron exploiters in the villages of Siahrood district. The present research is a descriptive-analytical method in terms of its purpose and its application. The tool is a collection of information and data in the form of library and field. The statistical population of the study consisted of saffron exploiters in Siahrood district of Tehran (N=145). Using Cochran's formula, 100 people were selected by simple random sampling as sample size. One-sample t-test was used to analyze the data using Spss23 software. The results of the research indicate that the effect of saffron cultivation on social components (satisfaction, range of social relationships and interactions, support and support by organizations and related organizations, participation, sense of belonging) has been among the beneficiaries. The research findings show that the cultivation and production of saffron products, along with the creation and increase of the satisfaction of exploiters' satisfaction with saffron cultivation with a mean (4.34), has been able to increase social participation (4.19), increased support and support by the relevant organizations and organization (3.75), increase the range of social relationships and interactions (3.70). Users and rural households prefer to stay in the village of their place of residence, and as a result, the sense of belonging to the place has increased with an average of (3.92).