Economic study of Ferula harvesting in Bardeskan- Darooneh of Khorasan- Razavi province

Rangelands, in addition to their very important role in the sustainability of natural ecosystems, due to having a variety of medicinal-industrial plants, play an important role in meeting the medicinal and economic needs of the country. Creating suitable investment opportunities for more production of these plants is important and it is necessary to conduct extensive research in this field. In fact, understanding the economic value of many of the services that rangeland ecosystems provide to humans will lead to transparency and accurate decision-making in rangeland use, and will make conservation measures more effective. In this study, the economic analysis of Ferula harvest as one of the important medicinal and industrial plants in three habitats of Bardaskan - Khorasan Razavi - during the years 2015-2019 is evaluated.

During the field studies and surveys and using the topographic map of the area at a scale of 1: 50,000, it was possible to identify potential habitats on the map. In these habitats, conventional exploitation was carried out in the traditional way, which included the three main stages of marking, digging and harvesting (shaving). In order to estimate the number of exploitable plants and finally to estimate the crop and according to the sample size of 100 square meters, 30 plots were randomly harvested in the whole habitat. In each habitat, the number of plants in each density class per hectare was determined according to the Cochran's formula, and of these, 75% of the permitted plant titles were considered for economic evaluation of Ferula species harvest. And 10% was deducted as plant drop. The flora of perennial shrubs and shrubs species was also studied. Then, the amount of extractable Ferula product was calculated by habitats per year. For economic evaluation of project, the criteria of economic evaluation of present and future value, net present value and benefit-to-cost ratio, after calculating the Rial value of income and expenses, were examined for economic analysis of Ferula harvest.

The average annual latex and yield of each rootstock were 6 and 25 grams, respectively. The average harvest of Ferula plants per year was 2800 individual, and the average annual harvest of workers was 70 kg in 85 working days. The labor cost of collecting the product is estimated at 10,019,022 thousand Rials, taking into account the number of workers required in a 5-year period (16698 people). In total, the cost of rehabilitation and heaping work in some parts of the habitats (506.6 hectares) was calculated to be 118997/85thousand Rials. Also, the total cost of transportation, collection and storage of the product in a five-year period was estimated at 33,371,984 thousand Rials. The total operating costs during a five-year period is estimated at 100.413.554.660 rials. Therefore, the total income (net profit) is calculated equal to 83092128 thousand Rials. Based on field profit and exploitation investment, 75% of net profit is considered as exploitation share and 25% of total revenue - equivalent to 25.103.388.675 Rials - government share, is considered as property interest. And according to the total number of households in the region (438), the annual per capita household is equal to 34.388.200 Rials. The net income of the project, taking into account the discount rate, is 47 billion Rials. The rate of return on capital is 222% and it shows that for every 100 Rials of cost, 222 Rials of profit are given to the user. The internal rate of return of the project is 322% and the benefit-to-cost ratio is 3.3 (without money discount), which shows that 3.3 units of income are obtained for each unit of cost. Scrutiny of the internal rate of return and the rate of return on investment shows that the sustainable use of pastures is completely economic and provides the benefits of the users. The benefit-cost ratio shows that if the production costs increase to less than 3.3 times the current situation, the project is economical.

It can be seen that the present value of investment is positive and from a macro perspective in agriculture and natural resources can have the necessary economic justification. The internal rate of return of this project, the discount rate of 17% for the operator and the ratio of benefit to cost indicate that the project is economically acceptable to the operator and investor, given the computational useful life. In general, in this study, the issues of principled exploitation of Ferula habitats and the durability and survival of this species for future generations were pursued, and While observing environmental issues and providing employment in the region, it prevents the migration of villagers.