Analysis of the Sustainability of Sericulture Industry in Guilan Province

Sericulture is one of the agricultural activities that causes employment and empowerment of the villagers. Guilan province is important centers of sericulture in the country. This study, investigates the sustainability of sericulture industry in Guilan province. In this regard, the indicators of social cohesion, social participation and sustainability of the social communication network of sericulture industry actors and key strategies for their improvement and promotion were analyzed. The general paradigm of the research is a mixed of concurrent- triangulation mixed methods design. In the quantitative part of the research, out of 9793 sericulture farmers in the province, 365 were selected by multi-stage sampling method. Quantitative data were collected through a researcher-made questionnaire. Also, the face and content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by the group of experts and its reliability was confirmed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient with the amount 0.81. In the qualitative section, 12 sericulture actors were selected using purposive sampling (snowball) and interviewed. The results of the network analysis of the actors using UCINET software showed that their social cohesion is weak to moderate, social participation is moderate and the stability of social relations is good. Qualitative data analysis also showed that government support, income-generating job opportunities, organization and coordination among actors are the three key strategies to improve and enhance social cohesion, social participation and the sustainability of social relations in achieving in economizing sustainable sericulture in Guilan province.