Analysis of the social and economic effects of land integration in the formation of Nil-Abad Torbat-Jam Agricultural Joint Stock Company

Land size and dispersion are one of the most important reasons for agricultural stagnation in the villages of Iran, which is consequently a pitfall for rural development. Land consolidation programs such as agricultural joint-stock companies are the solutions for transformation in the agricultural sector. The main objective of these plans is to boost agricultural development, improve the living conditions of villagers and get them to stay in rural areas. Nil Abad Agricultural Joint Stock Company has been an important entity in increasing the income of its shareholders and producing agricultural and livestock products, creating employment and preventing the migration of villagers. This company has supported the development and promotion of mechanized agriculture at the county level. Despite the capabilities of this company, no research has been conducted to observe the different aspects of this company in Torbat-Jam and Nilshahr Counties. Therefore, the current research seeks to investigate the effects and consequences of economic livelihood and socio-cultural integration of agricultural lands with an emphasis on the performance of Nil-Abad-Torbat-Jam Agricultural Joint Stock Company.

The current research is descriptive-analytical in terms of purpose. Library and survey methods were used in this research. The population includes households with shares in three villages of Nil-Abad, Safarabad and Pozhegan. The sample size was determined from Cochran's formula with an error of 0.1. One hundred seventy-four households were selected out of 1448 shareholder households. The validity value of the mentioned indicators was obtained in social-cultural (0.685) and economic-livelihood (0.704) dimensions. Finally, in order to investigate the effects and consequences of land consolidation through agricultural joint-stock companies, appropriate tests were carried out in SPSS software.

The analysis of the components of economic-livelihood effects in the studied area showed that the average of the economic-livelihood dimension is 3.54, and in general, the average of the variable of land consolidation in the form of agricultural joint-stock companies is higher than the average. The analysis of the company's impact according to different age groups, education, occupation, number of household members, income and number of shares showed that the average effect is equal, and there is a significant difference between the groups. The findings confirmed that the most important economic and social effects of the implementation of land consolidation programs in the form of agricultural joint-stock companies are above average. Also, according to the board of directors and shareholders of the company, the lowering of the underground water level and water exploitation without a plan and inappropriate strategic plans by the officials will threaten the economic foundation of these companies and the employment and income of the members. Moreover, the initial members have been increased from 276 people to more than 2000 people, which raised the burden of accountability and their expectations from the managers, and reduced the profit shares compared to the expenditure.