نشریه تعاون و کشاورزی
سال هشتم شماره 32 (زمستان 1398)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors influencing on rural women participation in agricultural activities in the villages of Jiroft Township. A survey method was used to conduct this research. This research was a descriptive-correlative research. Statistical population of this research was rural women of Jiroft Township (N=38794). Krejice and Morgan Table was used to determine the sample size (n=380). A stratified random sampling method was implemented to select samples. The data collection tool was a structured questionnaire that its validity confirmed by a panel of experts. Furthermore, in order to assess the reliability of the research tool, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was calculated to test the reliability of different parts of questionnaire (0.73≤α≤0.82). Descriptive statistics results showed that women's participation in agricultural activities is high. The results of correlation analysis showed that economic, social, attitude, cultural, motivation, education and extension, educational level of women, household size and women's age factors have significant relationship on women participation in agricultural activities. Multiple-regression results showed that independent variables 67 percent of dependent variable were explained.

The purpose of this study is evaluate and compare technical efficiency of water users association by the approach of the stochastic frontier production function in Maragheh county. Accordingly, for scientific and real understanding of the performance of these associations, the efficiency of productive units is considered. In order to perform this study, the required data were collected through a questionnaire from 147 farmers of Maragheh County. To achieve the aim of this research, stochastic frontier production function was used in which farmers was a function of seed variables, nitrogen fertilizer, phosphate fertilizer and water. Results showed which average efficiency of producing in wheat fields of the sample is 78.9%. So on these farms with available inputs, there is an average of 21.1% chance to increasing the production. Based on the results, it is observed that in a stochastic frontier production function, nitrogen fertilizers,hosphate fertilizers, water and wheat seeds Variables have a significant effect on wheat production. Also Variables such as age, education, participation in extension courses, marriage and cultivating have a significant effect on technical efficiency. Between studied cases, Varjoy water users association, with average efficiency about 83.07%, has the highest technical efficiency. Therefore, participation in extension courses, adopting measures on land integration and benefiting from the experiences of successful Water Users Association will be an important step towards increasing the efficiency of the Water Users Association studied.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors affecting entrepreneurship development in agricultural cooperatives of Ilam province. The methodology was descriptive-correlation. The statistical population of the study consisted of 452 managers of Ilam province's agricultural Production cooperatives. The sample size was estimated to be 133 people using Kerjcie and Morgan table. They were selected and studied using proportional stratified random sampling method. The data collection tool was a questionnaire which its validity was confirmed by 5 faculty members of agricultural extension and education department of Ilam Islamic Azad University and five managers of agricultural cooperatives and its reliability was calculated 0.92 by using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Data were analyzed by SPSS software. The results showed that the entrepreneurship development level of %94 of agricultural cooperatives was medium and lower than average. It was also found that the relationship between economic, educational- information, organizational and political factors with entrepreneurial development of agricultural cooperatives was positive and significant. The results of regression analysis showed that both economic and educational-information factors could explain %43.7 of changes in dependence variable of entrepreneurship development.

The present study was conducted in 2018 to understand farmers’ attitude towards the effectiveness of water supply cooperative in sustainable water resources management in Dalahu County. The statistical population of the study was all farmers of six villages in the Zemakan dam basin in Gahwareh as a district of Dalahu County in Kermanshah province. Based on Krejcie and Morgan's table and using a systematic random sampling, 213 farmers were selected for the study. The results of the study indicated that there are significant correlations between age, education level, agricultural experience, land size, number of land parcels, attitude towards sustainable water management, knowledge about different aspects of water supply cooperatives, social norm, social cohesion and water conflict with farmers' attitude toward the effectiveness of water supply cooperatives in sustainable management of water resources. Also, the results of regression indicated that three variables of attitude towards sustainable management of water resources, social norms and knowledge about various aspects of water supply cooperatives have influence on the farmers' attitude toward the effectiveness of water supply cooperatives in sustainable water management and explain a part of variance of this variable. Based on the findings of the study, suggestions for planning and policy development to improve farmers' attitudes towards the aquarium cooperatives, such as the use of various informational tools to inform farmers about the need for sustainable water resources management and providing a framework for increasing their participation in decision making, were presented.

This study utilized a hierarchical process to prioritize criteria and strategies for the waste reduction of dates. For this purpose, first, according to the identified criteria and options, data were collected from 18 persons Aware of waste management issues (palm cooperative experts) based on paired comparison questionnaires. Data analysis was done by Expert Choice software. The results of the pairwise comparisons showed that the most important criterion for evaluating waste reduction strategies is economic benchmark, and after that, it is environmental, social and institutional criterion, respectively. In addition, the results of comparison of options according to all criteria showed that the most important waste reduction strategies in Khuzestan province were: marketing, development of conversion and processing industries, stakeholders’ training, improved packaging quality, reduced transaction costs, utilization of guaranteed price, increased exports and abolition of cultivation.

Qeymas Khan Catchment is one of the most important catchments in East Azarbaijan province is agricultural and rangeland management which has long been used for subsistence residents of this area. The aim of this study is to evaluate ecological potential of Qeymas Khan Catchment for agricultural and rangeland management users and comparing it with the current land users to achieve sustainable development. For this purpose, the parameters used such as slope, elevation, land user, bedrock, soil texture, soil erosion, soil hydrological groups, soil depth, drainage, salinity, fertility, rainfall, temperature, vegetation density and vegetation type. Finally, it was studied to evaluate potential of area for agricultural and rangeland management users by using of AHP model (Analytic Hierarchy Process) and Expert Choice and ArcGIS softwares. Results of this research showed that the area of poor rangelands is 611 ha (14.5%), moderate rangelands 530 ha (12.5%), good rangelands 399 ha (9.5%), poor agricultural land 908.5 ha (21.5%), moderate agricultural land 569.6 (13.5%), good agricultural land 826.8 ha (19.6%) and very good agricultural land 369 ha (8.7%). Therefore this area has good potential for agricultural and rangeland management. The compare of ecological potential map and current land user showed that current land use of this studied area matches with the ecological potential of studied area.

Cooperative governance mechanisms play an important role in the organization's strategic decisions. Post-crisis studies of any cooperative have shown that the board's inadequacy is one of the most important causes of the crisis, as the board can affect the quality of risk management and risk disclosure. This study examines the impact of cooperative governance mechanisms on cooperative risk-taking. This study is a survey and library research and is an applied, descriptive and correlational research that has been done by selecting information of agricultural production cooperatives in Guilan province. The model used in this study consisted of panel regression model and the tests used were Lemar test, Fisher test and t test. Eviews software was used to fit the model. Co-operative governance mechanisms include board size, board independence, and CEO duality, and risk indices include three indicators, including special risk, survival risk, and activity risk. The results showed that the specific risk was significantly correlated with the coefficients of board size, managerial dichotomy, and board independence. Survival risk was significantly correlated with board duality variables and board independence. There is a significant relationship between activity risk and board duality and board independence.