The Role of Agritourism on the Development of Agricultural Activities in Golestan Province

Agricultural tourism refers to the aspects of agriculture and tourism. This method of tourism encourages tourists to visit fields and gardens and rural areas for recreation, education or active participation in agricultural production activities and living in the field. One of the first effects that agricultural tourism will have on the region's economy is its impact on the agricultural sector. In other words, the fundamental question for the development of agricultural tourism is whether it can develop the agricultural sector or become an alternative to agricultural activities. And eventually it will cause a recession in the agricultural production of the region. According to theoretical foundations, the relationship between agricultural tourism and the activities of the agricultural sector is very complex. Because this relationship on the one hand can lead to the development of the agricultural sector and on the other hand, if not properly managed, can lead to a recession in the agricultural sector. In other words, in this case, agricultural tourism becomes the main activity of farmers. It should be noted that one of the effective factors in the conflict between the relationship between the agricultural sector and tourism is due to the low capacity of the agricultural sector in terms of employment and income generation for the local community compared to tourism.

in this section, to identify how the impact of agricultural tourism development on agricultural sector development, a conceptual research model was designed and a questionnaire was developed based on this conceptual model. At the beginning, the most important components and existing capacities for the development of agricultural tourism in Golestan were evaluated. The first category of characteristics is related to the institutional, legal and natural components, which include three general categories of institutional conditions and laws, natural conditions and capacities in the region, as well as support and facilitation provided by the government and related organizations. The second category of components is related to individual characteristics. This section will include two sets of indicators related to the tendency and acceptance of agricultural tourism by farmers and the level of knowledge and awareness of people about agricultural tourism. In the next step, the consequences of the impact of agricultural tourism on the agricultural sector will be examined. In this section, components such as income and employment of farmers, environmental damage to tourists entering agricultural lands, etc. will be evaluated; But the relationship between agricultural tourism and agricultural sector development will be closely related to the functional components of the agricultural sector, so these components will be evaluated in the form of two categories of capacity and experience of farmers in agricultural work and a sense of satisfaction with agricultural activities.

A comparative study of farmers' beliefs about the impact of agricultural tourism development on agricultural sub-sectors in the three villages of Nouchman, Yelmeh Khandan and Alazman shows that: in horticulture, agriculture, animal husbandry, horse and camel breeding, fish farming, handicrafts and activities Homeowners The residents of Yalmeh Khandan expected a higher increase in their income compared to the other two villages. In beekeeping, greenhouses and ornamental plants and direct sales of agricultural products, the highest expected positive effect will occur in AlAzman. According to the comparative results in these three villages, it can be seen that the highest optimism about the positive impact of agricultural tourism on farmers' incomes is in Yalmeh Khandan village and the lowest optimism in this field is in Nouchman. The study of the impact of agricultural tourism development on agricultural sub-sectors in all surveyed villages shows that farmers believe that agricultural tourism can increase farmers' incomes. The highest level of increase is related to the agricultural sector and livestock and livestock activists. The least increase in farmers' incomes for fish farming will also occur.It can be seen that the variables of knowledge and awareness and capacities of agricultural tourism in rural areas have a positive effect on the tendency and acceptance of villagers for the development of agricultural tourism. On the other hand, government laws and protections on agricultural tourism have had a negative effect on tendency and acceptance. In a way that people's dissatisfaction with the conditions governing the laws of starting an agricultural business and the lack of government support has caused the tendency of people to start a business and work in this field. In the section on evaluating the attitudes of villagers and experts, we also came to the conclusion that the rules of this section are not very favorable. The results obtained from the study of variables affecting the welfare of farmers due to the development of agricultural tourism show that increasing the tendency and acceptance of people for the development of agricultural tourism, higher agricultural capacity and agricultural tourism capacity in the region can have a positive effect on farmers' welfare.