نشریه راهبردهای توسعه روستایی
سال سوم شماره 4 (پیاپی 12، زمستان 1395)

Rural settlements have changed over time in different aspects. These changes can improve livability and quality of life in the settlements. In recent decades, one of the changes that the pre-urban villages have faced is that they were integrated into cities by the physical development of cities. This integration results in significant changes in various aspects of life and it can be useful in improving or reduction of viability of villages. The purpose of this research is the role analysis of social capital on the livability of integrated villages in the city of Miandoab. The research method used in this study was descriptive – analytical. Data collection tools were library research and field survey (observation, interviews and questionnaires). Multiple regression and geographically weighted regression were used for data analysis. The results show that in the Miandoab city, the villages that were closer to the city and had a better position relative to other cities in the region in terms of communications and potential for accepting immigrants and had a negative social capital coefficient. The low level of social capital in these villages has caused a reduction of their viability.

The main objective of this article is to investigate the impact of cooperatives on the technical and economical empowering of farmers and agricultural development in the villages of Neishabour. The method of this research is analytical – descriptive and it has been carried out in 2013. The statistical society is composed of 4685 members and non-members of cooperatives in twenty villages of Neishabour. The sample size via the Cochran formula and stratified sampling technique has been calculated to be 252. Data collection has been performed through documentation and field study. For data analysis, the SPSS software package and the T-Student Test have been employed. The results of statistical analysis based on 13 economic indicators revealed that the average economic stability of the members is 2.64 which is slightly higher than 2.47; that is the average economic stability of non-members. Independent samples T-Test results between members and non-members revealed that the probability value is 0.004 which indicates that there exists a significant difference between average economic stability of members and non-members. The T-Test results with hypothetical mean of 3 and 4 showed that the majority of indicators are less than the average. Therefore, the impact of cooperatives in economic development is evaluated to be below the average limit and cooperatives could not play an important role in increasing the economic empowerment of farmers.

Various socio-cultural and economic factors change the lifestyle of the people due to the changes of villages into cities. Lifestyle preferences of the people are demonstrated in leisure activities, clothing, nutrition, body management, architecture and interior design of houses. This study is aimed to examine social, cultural and economic factors that may have an impact on the lifestyle of the residents of the villages that have been converted into cities in the Khorasan Razavi Province, namely Khaf and Roshtkhar counties. According to available information between the years 2002 -2004, three suburbs called Nashtifan, Salami and Jangal were converted into cities. Theoretical research based on the theories of Ibn-Khaldun, Weber, Veblen, Simmel, Bourdieu, Giddens and Cheney have been developed. The research method was based on a survey, and a questionnaire was developed to collect data. The results show that more changes in the lifestyles of the people in the cities Salami and Nashtifan were caused by cultural factors and those in the Jangal have been caused by economic factors. Also the results show that there is a significant relationship between social participation, political and administrative organizations, ways and means of communications, individualism, identity and relationships, indirect and secondary classes as factors of social, cultural and educational facilities, wasteful consumption and cultural capital as cultural factors, consumerism, shopping, tendency towards speculative interests, fading support of joint economic prosperity as economic factors and lifestyle.

Nowadays, sustainability is considered by planners and researchers to be a dominant approach for development of rural tourism. In this respect, a variety of research studies have been done for studying this paradigm leading to introduction of various conceptual frameworks such as sustainability and strategic planning of tourism development. In this way, the present study attempts to provide a convenient basis for sustainable tourism development in the Qalat village located in the Shiraz sub-province through determining the sustainability based on the viewpoints of the host society about on tourism, and offering the appropriate strategic plan. This study is an applied research with the descriptive analytic method. The needed data has been gathered through library studies and field work. Descriptive statistical methods were carried out for data analysis. Statistical population of the research includes tourists and local native families. Analysis of local resident's perceptions shows undesirability of tourism development and approaching the threshold of saturation of sustainability of the tolerance of tourism. Yet, there exists a significant difference among the host society population's view based on their employment condition. Considering the results of this study, adopting a defensive strategy is necessary in the policy making and planning development of rural tourism in the village under study.

The ability of rural and nomadic communities of Iran to survive has long been dependent upon rangelands. Climatic, ethnic and tribal diversity has led to traditional rangeland-based husbandry systems that have their own calendar and animal husbandry methods in different regions of Iran. In this study surveying husbandry regime and financial balance of traditional rangeland-based husbandry systems were carried out in Baladeh-Nour (part of Central Alborz rangelands). After the initial assessment, three herders who were representative cases were identified within certain rangelands (Davilat, Chell & Baladeh). Monitoring their activities of animal husbandry and financial balance analysis was carried out in a period of one year. Field survey was done from April 2012 to  April 2013. The researcher was involved in rangeland areas at intervals of 15 days and all of the details of livestock and husbandry activities were recorded. The results showed that in this area traditional husbandry system has 5 different work seasons in each year. For financial balance of traditional husbandry systems, all of the costs and revenues were calculated during the year. The results showed that considering the financial value of the lambs, there was a daily net profit of 707460 Rials in Davilat, 696400 Rials in Chell and 814220 Rials in Baladeh had daily net profit. Eventually, it was important in this research to learn more about traditional husbandry in rural communities to increase the efficiency of livestock husbandry, to maintain active labor in rural communities and to prevent rural migration to cities.

Pistachio is a valuable export product, but its export is faced with serious challenges due to aflatoxin. Given the importance of growers’ role in the prevention of aflatoxin in pistachio, the aim of this article is investigating pistachio growers’ intention regarding prevention of aflatoxin through the health belief model. The research population consists of 330 of pistachio growers in the Sirjan city in the Kerman province. Amongst the 330 samples, 120 of them were selected through simple random sampling. A questionnaire was the research tool and its validity of the questionnaire was approved by a panel of experts. Its reliability was confirmed by Cronbach alpha reliability coefficients (0.7 to 0.9). Also, the results of regression analysis revealed that the variables showing guide to action were the main predictor of growers’ intention. In addition to self-efficacy and perceived barriers, this variable can predict nearly 36% of the variance of pistachio growers’ intention regarding the prevention of aflatoxin. The results could be used for policy making and planning in relation to strategies to prevent the production of aflatoxin in pistachios.

The main purpose of the present study is to investigate the stability of seed producing companies in the Khuzestan Province, I.R. Iran. This research is a causal-correlational survey. The statistical population consisted of all members of the board of directors of seed producing companies in the Khuzestan Province (N=72). Seventy two questionnaires were distributed using the full enumeration method. Finally, fifty questionnaires were collected and analyzed since a few of the members were not willing to respond to the questionnaires. A questionnaire was used for data collection which was satisfactory in terms of reliability and validity. After completing the questionnaire and data collection, the SPSS software package was used for data analysis. Based on the results of the present study, a significant relationship was found between information resources, social participation, social status and education level with the dependent variable set at the level of 0.001. Also, a significant relationship was observed between the land area, number of warehouses and silos, corporate income, educational courses and age with the dependent variable set at the level of 0.005. The results of stepwise regression showed that the social status, age and corporate income account for 57 percent of the variations of the dependent variable. Moreover, the results of factor analysis related to the stabilizing factors of the seed producing companies of the Khuzestan province showed that supporting and regulatory factors, education and empowering, standardization and satisfaction, application of new technologies and business skills allocate themselves a total of 70.25 percent of the variance of stability of the seed producing companies.

The purpose of this research was economic evaluation of green houses and the factors that affect their profitability in the Varamin plain. The type of this research is descriptive-correlation research that was conducted by using a survey method. The statistical population of the research consisted of the beneficiary farmers of established and cultivated green houses in the Varamin plain. The sample size was 108 farmers. The sampling method was simple random sampling method. The main tool of this research study is a questionnaire that whose validity was verified by using a panel of experts and professors in the field of agriculture. The reliability of the questionnaire was assessed through a pre-test for which the Cronbach alpha was between 0.78 and 0.85 which is considered to be acceptable. The results of this research study show that the mean of the profitability index of cost benefit was 2.286 and thus there is a significant positive correlation between agricultural experience, the level of famer education, agricultural income, the total area of the green house, technical knowledge, using of information resources with the cost benefit profitability index. The results of regression analysis also indicated that the five variables of agricultural experience, agricultural income, the total area of the green house, technical knowledge, using of information resources well explain for 51.5 % of the changes in the cost benefit profitability index of the green houses located in the Varamin plain. Finally, it is recommended to improve the cost benefit profitability index by actions such as increasing the level of technical knowledge and farmer's access to and use of information resources.