Strategic Analysis of the Development of Agricultural Businesses (Study of Karaj County)

Agriculture, as the main pillar of economic development, significantly contributes to the country's gross domestic product (GDP) and job creation. The sustainability process of the agricultural sector in economic indicators depends on the strategic planning of agricultural businesses based on existing capacities and limitations. In order to organize this process in line with the goals of the 6th Development Plan and implement the provisions of the law on improving the business environment and the law on increasing the productivity of the agricultural sector and natural resources, business engineering and investment opportunities in the agricultural sector are necessary. So, the purpose of this research was the strategic analysis of the development of agricultural businesses in Karaj County and identifying business development priorities.

The current research is applied in terms of purpose and survey in terms of data collection, and interview tools and semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect information. The necessary data were collected from 10 academicians and public sector experts and 10 entrepreneurs and activists of the private agricultural sector of the province as a panel of experts. In this study to introduce business development strategies, the SWOT model was used. Also, according to the characteristics, capacities and natural, economic and social limitations, business priorities and investment opportunities in the agricultural sector of Karaj County were introduced.

In this research, the most important strength was "suitability of the region's climate, its diversity and fertility of the soil for agriculture", the strongest weakness was "change of land use and land fragmentation", the most valuable opportunity was "potential for commercialization of a diverse range of agricultural products" and finally, "inclination to construction due to the high added value of land" was introduced as the most important threat to the development of agricultural businesses from the point of view of experts. The comparison of the internal space (the average sum of strengths and weaknesses) and the external space (the average sum of opportunities and threats) of the development of agricultural businesses of Karaj County, showed that the space of the internal and external environment, respectively, has a final coefficient of (2.603 and 1.792) respectively which leads to the suggestion of competitive strategies (ST). Therefore, "amendment and implementation of land use change laws and prevention of construction in agricultural areas", "focusing on the development of agricultural businesses such as small and medium-scale conversion and complementary industries" and "adopting the approach of producing special and valuable products especially the extension and development of the production of healthy and organic products" were the most important strategies for the development of agricultural businesses of Karaj county.

Based on the findings of this research, it was found that the selection of development strategies as well as business priorities should be appropriate to the conditions and situation of the region. On this basis, creating or developing businesses in the fields of small and medium-scale transformation and complementary industries, agricultural settlements, animal husbandry and modern greenhouses, laboratory knowledge-based service units, standardization, quality certification, branding, production of vegetable and summer seeds and products, eco-tourism and agricultural tourism were suggested.