An Analysis and Measurement of Rural Area's Level of Access to Agricultural Services and Determination of Central Villages for the Delivery of Agricultural Services in Iran:

The role of the rural community is undeniable in food security and socioeconomic life of the country, due to the strong relationship between village and agricultural activities; therefore, the establishment of an effective system of services for farmers has a critical role in the development of rural communities. The purpose of this study is to measure the access level of district sample villages to 29 agricultural services and to determine the central villages with respect to the number of agricultural services available in them. The required data were collected in 2007 using questionnaires, and the number of villages under study was 128. Planning techniques such as scalogram and weighted centrality index were applied. The results indicated that many villages in subdistricts under study were deprived from many required services. Finally different types of possible services were recommended and central villages were determined for agricultural service delivery.