International Journal of Agricultural Management and Development
Volume:7 Issue: 1, Mar 2017

Aimed at identifying and prioritizing promoters and deterrent affecting seed production of medicinal plants, the present study was conducted in 2014. The Delphi method was conducted using a panel of 13 experts in Guilan Natural Resources and Agriculture Organization. In the first round of the study, multiple-response techniques were used for content analysis. Based on the results of the first round, the second round questionnaire was featuring a Likert type scale that was then filled out by the first round respondents. Next, by comparing the conventional techniques, data were analyzed for investigation. The use of ranking techniques led largely to the same results or results with slight differences. The study recommends devoting due attention to the technical and environmental conditions such as proper storage, to avoid the wasteful harvesting of seeds at risk, and to provide favorable conditions for the domestication of medicinal plants. In addition,, the role of research, training, and information dissemination of the economic benefits would receive high importance. Furthermore, designing and implementing a legal monitoring mechanism and an active and comprehensive policy making process, as well as providing facilities and equipment necessary for the preparation, cultivation, and harvest of seeds by decision-making, executive institutions, and organizations would  notably be effective to tackle the present challenges.

In order to make strategic decisions, the new leadership team at the College of Agriculture at the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona conducted a series of focus group interviews with its students, faculty, and staff members. The purpose of this qualitative study was to poll the opinions of these important stakeholders to improve the teaching-learning process in the college, to promote job satisfaction among the employees, to better fulfill the college’s mission of advancing learning and knowledge, and to prepare students for lifelong learning and leadership in agricultural careers. Six themes emerged from student groups and four from faculty/staff groups, with lack of resources emerging as a common theme from both groups.  The leadership team deliberated on the findings, and the results of this study provided the leadership team with specific items to solve needs.

This study identifies and analyzes factors influencing canola plantation development in Tabriz and Marand Counties. The Censored Model was used to analyze cross-sectional data collected from 372 farmers using a questionnaire. Due to the weakness of the Tobit Model in separating factors affecting the adoption decision of farmers and factors affecting the rate of adoption, the Heckman Model was employed to separate the contributions made by these factors. The results of Estimated Probit Model in the first stage of the Heckman Approach showed that machinery ownership had an important effect on canola adoption, as a 1% increase in machinery ownership had led to 0.158% increase in canola adoption probability. Contact with extension agents, farm income proportion, education, and farmers’ experience influenced canola plantation probability positively, and the age and number of fragmentations had a negative impact on it. The significance of inverse Mill’s ratio indicates that the factors affecting the decision to start planting and the amount of canola plantation are not the same. The Heckman’s second step estimation results indicated that the loan amount, canola relative benefit, and family labor had a positive effect, and that machinery cost and farm distance from the road had a negative effect on canola acreage. Relative benefit was the most effective element, as 1% increase in relative benefit results in a 0.342% increase in canola plantation.

This study aimed to explain thebehavior and attitudes of farmersin the adoption ofIntegrated Pest Management (IPM) technologiesinrice fields. The main instrument ofresearch was a questionnaire whose validitywas confirmed bya panel of professorsandexecutive experts, and its reliabilitywas confirmed by apreliminarytest.The sample employed inthe research study comprisedfarmers who were participating in extensionprograms of integrated pest managementheld in Lahijanand Amlash during2012-2014.The findings showed that the predominant activity of farmers wasthe use of combinedmethods (chemical and non-chemical), leaving crop residue on the field, and using biological control, with the rank average of 9.27, 9.25, and 9.12from the total average of 6.5, respectively.In addition to,private extension cooperatives, rice supervisors, agricultural extension staff,educators, and TV programswith the average of 11.14, 10.87, 10.80, and 10.71 of the total average of 7.49 had the highest share in informing the farmers. Based on such findings, some suggestions were also given,such as concentration on special aspects of integrated pest management, attention to the education of rural women, and employingyoung and educated members of farmers’ familiesas arms of agriculture extension in transferring innovation of integrated pest management to families.

The present study attempts to investigate the potential relationship between input energies, performance production of greenhouse basil, and greenhouse gases emitted from this product. The data were collected from 24 greenhouses using a questionnaire and verbal interaction with farmers. Results of the study showed that the total input energy and total output energy for basil production were 119,852.9 MJ/ha and 61,040 MJ/ha, respectively. The highest rate of energy consumption was related to electricity (52,200 MJ/ha), followed by plastic (23,220 MJ/ha) and chemical fertilizers (13,894 MJ/ha). The energy and productivity indices were estimated at 0.45 and 0.21, respectively, which indicated that the efficiency of energy in the agricultural sector was low. In addition, it was found that the pure energy index and total greenhouse gases emitted from basil production were equal to -722,706.9 and 9,595.6 kg (CO2), respectively. The highest emission of greenhouse gases was attributed to electricity (2,216 kg/CO2). Results of modeling proved that artificial neural networks can predict basil performance and CO2 emissions with a high degree of accuracy (R2=0.99 and MSE= 0.00023).

The study was designed to assess the environmental and health risks arising from intensive poultry production in Kwara State, Nigeria. A total of 120 poultry farmers in Kwara State under the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) were selected randomly for the study, and structured questionnaires were administered. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square test, and the linear regression. The study revealed that about 79.5% of the poultry farmers were literate, having completed at least a tertiary educational level. In addition, the results showed that the environmental and health issues were significant during production and processing. It was further revealed that the type of battery cage used and educational level of the farmers were positively significant, while the year of establishment was negatively significant when it comes to the adoption practices. This implies that the higher the level of education, the more likely farmers adopt improved practices. Moreover, it was observed that the majority of the poultry farmers do not abide by the environmental and public health laws and regulations; therefore, it is recommended that government should enforce strict supervisory agencies of the sanitation/health policies aiming at environmental preservation and protection.

In this paper the researchers tried to study the status of tourism and rural tourism economy in Iran the condition of entry and exit of tourists in Iran, as well as the inhibiting factors affecting their positive impacts on Iran economic status. To achieve this objective, the researchers used documentary research methods. In addition, the researchers used a field research method based on the data obtained from a questionnaire in an attempt to find the inhibiting factors affecting positive impacts of tourism and rural tourism on Iran economics. The population of this study involve in tourism and rural tourism authorities. The sample of the population consist of 119. The statistical methods used in the study include the non-parametric statistics (Kolmogrove Smirnove). Findings revealed that Iran’s percent share of tourism contribution to GDP in the years 2003-2014 was very low and its changes in these years have been disproportionate. No special information and detailed statistics were presented that have helped clarified the status of rural tourism and rural tourists in Iran. The first five priorities in the field of inhibiting factors affecting positive impacts of tourism on Iran economics were lack of major plans and policies for tourism and rural tourism development, weak cooperation between the government, private sector and local people in planning, managing the tourism and rural tourism projects,  frequent change in the authorities of cultural heritage, handicraft and tourism organization, lack of correct criteria for choosing managers and executive directors, and the effects of the sanctions on tourism programs. Furthermore, political factors were found to be important in regard to their effect on the situation of tourism economics in Iran.

The forty-year history of agricultural production co-operatives in Iran shows that this type of exploitation system has faced with many challenges during this period. First, despite the help and support by the government, the co-operative sector has not been able to play a major role in the development of the country, and its share has not exceeded 3% of the development program. The Purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between extension educational, psychological factors and the participation of members of agricultural co-operative in the Ilam Province. A researcher made a questionnaire that was used as the main tool for gathering data. The face and content validity of the questionnaire were confirmed by a group of university professors as well as several experts of the co-operatives. In addition, the reliability of the questionnaire was ensured through calculating a Cronbach's alpha coefficient (α = 0.80).  The statistical population of the study comprised 751 active members of Shirvan-Chardavol township’s agricultural cooperatives, from among whom 260 particionats were selected for the study using the stratified proportional random sampling method and with the aid of Morgan table. Data analysis was performed using the SPSS software. The correlation coefficient showed that there was a significant relationship between the extension educational, psychological features and level of participation of members of agricultural co-operative.

Agriculture has a key role in greenhouse gas emissions.  As such, the present study aimed to evaluate the greenhouse gas emissions from wheat production in irrigated and rain-fed systems. The primary data were collected from 116 wheat farmers. The results showed that the total greenhouse gas emissions from wheat production in irrigated and rain-fed systems were 637.8 and 65.12 kgCO2eq, respectively. The diesel fuel was the largest contributor to the total greenhouse gas emissions in irrigated systems with the share of 33%. Moreover, these inputs accounted for the highest share of greenhouse gas emissions in rain-fed system. The results of Cobb-Douglas model highlighted that the effects of inputs, including machinery, diesel fuel, electricity, and farmyard manure were positive on the yield in irrigated systems. However, the effect of chemical fertilizer and biocide inputs was negative on wheat yield. On the other hand, the effects of all inputs were positive on wheat yield in rain-fed system. The results of the sensitivity analysis showed that one kg increase in greenhouse gas emissions from chemical fertilizer and biocide would result in 0.28 and 0.15 kg loss of yield, respectively.

Agricultural waste management is one of the important issues that agricultural producers should consider to increase their income and environmental protection. Therefore, the investigation of factors that reduce the rate of agricultural production wastage as well as citrus production wastage is of utmost consequence in order to manage wastes, reduce environmental degradation and ecosystem destruction, and increase food security and economic growth. Inspired by this assumption, the aim of this study was to investigate factors affecting citrus waste production in Mazandaran Province, Northern Iran (N= 7867). A stratified random sampling method was employed to collect data from 165 farmers. The main tool to collect data was a self-designed questionnaire whose content validity was approved by a panel of experts and an exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and its reliability was confirmed by calculating a Cronbach's alpha coefficient (α ≥ 0.7).The results of the exploratory factor analysis showed that socioeconomic and technical factors altogether accounted for 60.257% of variances  in citrus production wastage.

Rural women play a significant role in domestic and socio-economic life of the society so that national development is not possible without developing this important and substantial segment of our society. Given the importance of women in agriculture, this study was conducted to examine the role of Iranian women in the farm management decision-making processed concerning animal husbandry. The sample of the study comprised 200 farm women, who were recruited by the help of the proportionate stratified sampling technique. Data were collected in East Azerbaijan in the Northwest of Iran. Women’s contribution to agriculture is thus fundamental for the socio-economic development of rural areas. They are extensively involved in agriculture as female farm heads, co-owners, family farm workers, and also employees. In order to find out the relationship between different characteristics of rural women and participation in animal husbandry, the GLM multivariate method was employed as a robust statistical method. As the final results showed, women age, family size, level of aspiration, extension contact, perceived role overloads, and inter-spouse communication correlated highly with work participation in animal husbandry.

Increased cost of tobacco cultivation is a major concern for its sustainable production in Iran. Therefore, the development of tobacco mechanized cultivation is a necessity. Given this, the driving and inhibiting factors of the development of mechanized tobacco cultivation were investigated by the Delphi technique in three rounds in Guilan Province, Iran. Nineteen experts from the Jahad Agriculture Organization of Guilan Province and the Agriculture Management Services in Rasht County and Western Guilan were selected as the research panel as recommended by the academic professors of the Guilan Province. The results were analyzed by SPSS21. In the last round, 10 superior driving and inhibiting factors were ranked based on the final experts’ consistency as the final decision. The results revealed that identification of pioneer farmers and their encouragement to mechanized tobacco cultivation and the import of the latest technologies of tobacco cultivation and their modification in accordance with regional conditions were the most important driving factors as 97.37 and 94.74% of panel experts agreed, respectively. In addition, 98.68% of experts rated insufficient research on tobacco cultivation mechanization and 96.05% of experts rated the small size of tobacco farms as the most important inhibiting factors. Accordingly, the development of supportive policies to support pioneer tobacco growers in mechanized cultivation of this industrial crop, the technical assessment for modern tobacco cultivation machinery, the reduction of imported tobacco machinery prices, and the support of research on mechanization of tobacco cultivation are some important strategies that should be considered by those involved in tobacco production in Guilan Province, Iran.

Science and technology parks have been a major driver of both the commercialization of agricultural innovation and the financial success of many farm and agribusiness firms. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to explain the factors affecting commercialization of agricultural innovation in Kermanshah Science and Technology Park. The experts of this center were sampled by the census method (N=110). Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. Research findings indicated that factors affecting commercialization of agricultural innovation in Kermanshah Science and Technology Park included support of small and medium enterprise firms, relationship of parks with universities and research centers, and consequence of commercialization for agricultural sectors and research centers.

In this study, the recreational value of ShirinSou Wetland of the Kabodarahang County in Hamadan Province, Iran was estimated and the visitors' willingness to Pay (WTP) was measured by using Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) and One and One Half Bound model (OOHB) dichotomous choice (DC) questionnaire. The results show that 81 percent of investigating individuals will pay for recreational usage of the studied wetland. Estimated WTP is 44671 IRR (US$ 1.68) for each visitor. The total annual recreational value of this wetland is estimated at about 809 (million IRR) (or US$ 30348). Furthermore, the variables of proposed bids and visitors' monthly income are statistically significant at 1%; so, these two variables are considered as the most important factors affecting visitors' WTP. Also, these tow variables have negative and positive effect on WTP, respectively. Age and level of education were the next effective factors with significant impact at the 10% level. Policy makers can take these values into consideration in the decision-making process of the development of the wetlands.