International Journal of Agricultural Management and Development
Volume:4 Issue: 2, Jun 2014

Rice comes second after wheat in Iran`s food consumption economy. However Iran is one of the greatest rice importer countries all over the world because of it`s rising population and recent growth in GDP. This paper presents an analysis of cointegration test between rice import and it`s economic factors over the period 1990-2011, employing Engle-Granger model. At first, Dickey-Fuller test shows that all variables are non-stationary atdata level, so their first difference (that are stationary series) are used. Secondly, Engle-Granger testing presents existence of a long-run relationship between rice import and it`s economic factors including per capita GDP, foreign exchange rate and domesticprice. At last, rice import model was estimated using OLS method which proves that all independent variables are significant at high level and the sign of coefficients are consistent with theoretical expectations So that import of rice positively correlates with Per capita GDP, domestic price and negatively correlates with foreigh exchange rate. With respect to increasing demand for rice, government should keep domestic policies forthe rise of rice production so that the need for import falls in the long-run.

The main goal of this study was to investigate the way of affecting of water in production of cucumber. From aspect of econometrics, mutual relationships of production function and expenses have been analysed in which Translog cost function has been used. This function has been estimated using the conditional input demand functions, the shefard theorem, chemical fertilizer, animal fertilizer, labour force, seed, and pesticide in the framework of a system of equations by taking advantage of the irrelevant regression method. Applied inputs is for 151 cucumber Beneficiaries in Khash in farming year of 2011-12 that insider and crossing tendency of input demand for this product has been investigated through collecting questionnaires and using obtained coefficients. The results show that the translog cost model is a good fit compared to the data of research.According to the reviews, demand for water has a minor Insidersuccession tendency more than one which shows possible stretch of demand function rather than the price of the inputs. Hence, appropriate pricing policies can be used to take a positive step in preventing the extreme usage of this input and directing beneficiaries for optimum use of these inputs.

Rural tourism, a dynamic industry with a promising future, can play a key role in economic improvement of talented countries such as Iran. Abyaneh village is one of the best-knownvillages in both Iran and the world. The number of annual visitors of this ancient village is approximately 550,000 that is a considerable number. Within a short radius of Abyaneh there are five villages (Barz, Tare, Komjan, Yarand, Hanjan) with a lot of potentials to develop rural tourism. But only 20% of tourists of Abyaneh population consider the surrounding villages as a separate destination. The large number of tourists visiting Abyaneh village provides opportunity for managing rural tourism in this area is to attract tourists to the surrounding villages around Abyaneh. In the present study, the hindering and promoting factors of fostering tourism in these villages have been compared by both the surrounded villager's and local's of Abyaneh village. To this end, 222 questionnaires were distributed among the individuals and the means were compared using Mann-Whitney test. The most important unfavorable factor, from the surrounded villagerspoint of view, is lack of enough advertising and marketing and from the locals of Abyaneh village points of view, is the shortage of attractions, compared with attractions of Abyaneh.

The study carried out an assessment of agricultural land management practices in food crops production among small scale farmers in Kwara Sate, Nigeria. Specifically, the studydetermined the socio economic characteristics of crop farmers in Kwara State; ascertained the cropping patterns common among them; highlighted the soil conservation methods adopted by the farmers; examined the relationship between selected socio-economic characteristics of the farmers and their adoption of major agricultural land management practices; and investigated the constraints to adoption of sustainable agricultural practices among crop farmers in Kwara State, Nigeria A three stage random sampling technique was used in selecting a total of one hundred and forty four small scale food crops farmers. Descriptive statistics, binary logistic regressionmodel and four point Likert-type scale were used to analyse the data for the study. The study revealed that food crops production in Kwara State is dominated by middle aged men who are poorly educated and have poor access to agricultural extension services. Half of the respondents (48.60%) adopted cereal-based cropping systems. 48.6% of the farmers adopted a minimum of three management practices. Crop rotation was mostly adopted by all the farmers while irrigation was the least adopted by only 29.3% of the respondents. Furthermore, the study revealed that farm size, age, education status, number of contacts with extension agents, household size and number of farm plots of the respondents were the significant factors affecting their adoption of land managementpractices. The study also revealed that the major constraints to the use of sustainable crop management practices among the farmers included inadequate supply of fertilizer, inadequacy of labour and credit, poor knowledge of improved agricultural practices, poor transportation, low produce prices and high cost of production. The study recommended the need for training programme on the use of appropriate sustainable practices that will take into account the cropping systems adopted by the farmers.

The main purpose of this study was to identify and analyze factors affecting development of entrepreneurship in complementary and processing industries of citrus productsat Khouzestan province, Iran. The Statistical population of this study consisted of all managers in processing and complementary industries of citrus products in Khouzestanprovince (N=89). By census method all managers were selected for participation in the study. Return rate was 84% (N=75). The main instrument in this study was questionnairewhich its validity was confirmed by a panel of experts and its reliability was established by calculating Cronbach Alpha Coefficient (α=0.87). Findings reveal that there were positiveand significant relationship between willingness to creativity, risk oriented, responsibility, competitiveness, participation on education programs, attitude to entrepreneurship, income level, educational level and level of entrepreneurship. According to factor analysis, factors affecting development of entrepreneurship in complementary and processing industries were categorized into four groups consisting: development of cognitiveand psychomotor domains, development of infrastructure equipments, improving economic policies and development of psychological characteristics that those factors explained 68.82% of the total variance of the research variables.

Nonfarm activities play an important role in the determination of rural household income, consumption expenditure, and household food security. However, much less studies have been devoted to the factors that influence nonfarm income diversification by farm household in developing countries. Using cross-sectional data and a probit model, thisstudy attempts to determine the factors influencing nonfarm income diversification decisions by farm households in Central Nepal. The result reveals that household characteristics such as age, gender and education of the household head, andfamily size play a significant role in nonfarm work decisions. The households with larger farm size are less likely to participate in nonfarm work than their counterpart. Additionally,for those remains in the rural households, distance to road and market hinders the opportunities for nonfarm work. Finally, regional differences also exist in participating nonfarm activities among farm households. This study suggests that government policy should pay more attention on education, gender and infrastructures such as road and markets, to reduce the entry barriers and facilitate easier access to nonfarm activities. Also, nonfarm activities need to be promoted and incorporated in governmental plans and policies for balanced development between hills and terai areas.

Agricultural Training Centres (ATCs) promote crop and livestock development by providing extension information to farmers and serving as models of improved crop andlivestock husbandry practices. Although potato farmers in Nyandarua County were trained on potato production technologies, their average yield was ≤ 16 tonnes per hectare compared to the national potential of 30 tonnes. This study therefore sought to determine the effectiveness of ATCs’ curriculum in promoting farmers’ adoption of selected potato production technologies in Nyandarua County in Kenya. A survey design was used. Primary data was collected from 136 farmers trained at ATCs on potato production using interview schedules. The respondents were sampled through a five-stage technique. The data was analysed using T-test and ANOVA, then summarized into percentages. Study results showed that adoption of recommended potato productiontechnologies produced high yields compared to traditional technologies. It was therefore concluded that ATCs’ curriculum was effective in promoting farmers’ adoption of potato seed selection, planting, crop protection and harvesting technologies. It is recommended that ATCs’ curriculum prioritise demonstrations that show the influence of clean seed, fertilizer application, timely harvesting and spacing on potato yields. Further, campaigns should be held to educate farmers on the importance of potato dehaulming to promote its adoption. In addition, farmer-based seed production programs should be started in the County aimed at ensuring ready availability of seed.

The main aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of student's social capital components and entrepreneurship intention. The statistical population of this study consisted of all students of University College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran (N= 2600) among which 155 students where accessed based on Cochran formula and through convenient sampling. Data were collected through aquestionnaire face and content validity of which was approved by faculty members of Agricultural Management and Development Department of University of Tehran. Social capital was measured by four components (i.e. social participation, social coherence, social confidence and social communication). Reliability of the research instrument was measured by computing Cronbach’s alpha coefficient which ranged from 0.72 to 0.88. Path analysis technique employed to investigate the relationship of social capital components and entrepreneurial intention. Results revealed that social participation and social coherence had a direct effect on entrepreneurial intention while social confidence and social communication had an indirect effect on it.

In view of the importance of the meat imports and the exports of meat in Iran, this study focuses on the status of the global market of meat imports the unit price test in these markets between the years 1961 and 2011 using the market cointegration approach. The results of this study are indicative of prices co-integration in the international market of meat as well as among such major importers as the US, Germany,Italy, Japan, France and Russia. However, the important point is that no price co-integration has been observed between the global prices of meat and the import price in Iran’s import market. Moreover, no law of one price has been established in Iran’s import market in the long term; and in this respect, these markets lack the appropriate efficiency.

Given the specific geographic and spatial location of rural areas in developing countries, to bring agrochemical to the rural farming households, it is argued, may have to come at a cost over and above the normal price it is sold in market. To this end, this work focuses on the willingness of rural farming households to pay more than the mean averageregional retail price for agrochemicals in Kwara state, North Central Nigeria. Questionnaire was administered to 100 randomly sampled in the two agricultural development zones(ADP) in the study area. Descriptive statistics and the Logistic Binary Regression model were fitted to examine factors that influence respondents’ decision to pay more than the prevailing average prices for access to agrochemicals in the study area.Findings indicated a high level of awareness of agrochemical use and modal responses to quantities used include: fertilizers (41-50Kg/ha), herbicides (<10liters/ha), and pesticides(<10liters/ha) on the cultivation of yam, cassava and maize, which were the dominant arable crops in the study area. About 90% of the respondents purchase agrochemicals from their personal savings and less than 10% of the respondents got their agrochemicals from other sources (governmental, developmental agencies, ADP and farmers’ cooperative). Furthermore, 88% (p<0.01) of the respondents indicate willingnessto pay more than the current average price to have access to agrochemicals and the logistic regression reveals that level of education (P<0.01), had a positive relationship with respondents’ to willingness to pay more for agrochemicals in the study area. Recommendations were made towards encouraging expanded use of agrochemicals throughenhanced marketing strategies that will facilitate contact of marketing agents toprospective customers located in the rural communities.