Stratification of Iran's Provinces in respect of Animal Husbandry Potentials to Rationalize Support Service Delivery

A technical stratification of country`s regions is a necessity for a conventional support service delivery. Using Taxonomy method, in the first place, variables on some primary data on animal husbandry were gathered to determine development indices as the most important step in regional development studies; these variables included: number of livestock units; amount of pastures, forests, and cultivated lands; amount of milk and/or meat production; and the number of specialists engaged in the project. Following an identification of the screened variables, the concerned indices were developed. Finally, a comparative ranking of the provinces was assumed upon their relative development levels. As extracted from the results, they were stratified into the four groups: a) Very highly developed provinces, ie East Azarbaijan, West Azarbaijan, Khuzestan, Ardebil, and Kurdistan; b) Highly developed provinces, ie Mazandaran, Zanjan, Chahar-Mahal va Bakhtiyari, Ilam, Markazi, Hormozgan, Kermanshah, Khorasan, Boushehr, Kerman, and Gillan; c) Low developed provinces, ie Kohgilouye va Boyer- Ahmad, Fars, and Lorestan; and d) Less developed provinces, ie Hamadan, Tehran, and Sistan va Balouchestan.