Survey of Income Distribution Among Farmers in Savojbolagh and the Factors Affecting it

The purpose of this study is to investigate the income distribution among the farmers of two districts of lowland and upland of Savojbolagh township of Tehran Province, Iran. The data of this study were collected by filling out questionnaires through interviews with 350 farmers who were selected by stratified random sampling. For analysis, such techniques as Gini Ratio, comparing the quintiles, and comparing means of different variables were used. The results showed that the income inequalities in the upland district were larger than in lowland. Income mean in the fifth quintile relative to other quintiles was considerably large and this fact was more serious in upland. As in income distribution, similar inequalities were observed in land distribution. The source of income of the farmers included income from agricultural activities (crops, livestock and fruit production) and from nonagricultural activities (second jobs and other incomes). Inequalities in total income in lowland and upland were mainly generated from agricultural sources of income while non-agricultural sources were less important. Inequalities in income from agricultural sources in lowland were related to livestock, fruits, and crops, and in upland to livestock, crops and fruits, respectively.