Investigating the effects of changing the cultivation pattern from rice to kiwi in the development of rural areas, a case study of Guilan province (Rural households perspective)

Production of affordable products is always one of the concerns of farmers. Cultivation pattern is one of the influential factors in the growth and development of the agricultural sector, which can help improve the economic, social and environmental sectors in villages. The purpose of the research is to investigate and evaluate the effects of changing the cultivation pattern in the development of rural areas based on economic, social and environmental criteria. For this purpose, 390 households in the villages of these three cities that started to change the cultivation pattern from rice to kiwi were selected as samples. The reliability and research tool of the questionnaire was made by the researcher, and the validity of the form and content of the questionnaire was confirmed by the corrective opinion of the professors and experts of the university after making the necessary corrections in several stages. The total reliability of the questionnaire is equal to 0.734, which showed that there is a significant difference in the alpha level of 0.01 in the economic, social and environmental sectors in the period before and after the change of the cultivation pattern. In social indicators, except for the component of participation in sustainability components and farmer awareness about agricultural activity, the averages show the growth of the index, and in the economic indicators of the quality of employment, welfare and economic security, this growth is more noticeable. Based on this, it can be said that the pattern of citrus cultivation has played an effective role in the development of the studied villages.