علی اکبر باغستانی

Rural development as a multi-sectoral concept has different economic, social and cultural dimensions. Rural development strategies are closely related to macroeconomic policies. "The Supreme Leader first mentioned the term" Resistance Economy in September 2010 in a meeting with entrepreneurs. Resistance economy is a concept that is proposed after strengthening, de-crisis and repairing existing worn out and inefficient economic structures and institutions. While the share of the rural population has reached less than 25% of the country's population, more than 80% of the added value of the rurales has come from production. In other words, villages are still a productive part of Iran's economy. The presence of mines and some industrial units has caused the share of agriculture in rural added value to reach 30%. Meanwhile, 88% of the added value of the agricultural sector is the added value of the rural agricultural sector. In other words, villages continue to play an important role as centers of agricultural production. Therefore, any disturbance in the role of rurales as a center of production seriously harms the economic growth of the agricultural sector and affects the rural economy as well.

The supply chain starts at the production of primary products and ends with the consumption of final product. This chain includes all the economic activities taken place within the various stages of input, production, processing, distribution, wholesale and retail. Regarding the supply chain of agricultural products, timely and sufficient supply of scarce, high-quality inputs at reasonable prices, facilitating the farmer's access to production inputs, reducing the risk of production, increasing the capacity of warehousing and storing products, improving the transportation system and appropriate distribution, internal and external marketing and export of agricultural products can lead to timely meeting the needs of consumers, reducing exchange costs and waste, increasing the income and profitability of producers, creating employment and improving food security.

This study aimed at investigating the links of the egg value chain components in descriptive methods.

The study results indicated that the major challenges from production to egg supply included exhaustion of buildings and equipment of laying hens, import dependency on inputs, increased exchange rate, lack of liquidity, price fluctuation and government interventions (especially the export ban).

Conclusion and Suggestions: 

Based on the study findings, in order to solve the existing challenges, it is suggested that production planning be based on the discovery and stabilization of export markets. In addition, facilitating exports and preventing inappropriate interventions by the government, granting bank facilities to support the development of poultry feed factories, especially mechanized factories for the production of feed for laying hens, and increasing public awareness about egg consumption through educational, promotional and cultural programs as well as supporting consumers in the first five income deciles are other important issues that can lead to the prosperity of the chicken and egg industry in Iran.

Following the exchange rate fluctuations, with the aim of preventing the jump in the prices of imported livestock and poultry feed inputs such as soybean meal and maize, Iranian government has chosen the policy of allocation preferential currency to the import of these inputs from May 2017. So, it is important to examine the effects of this policy and the amount of exchange rate pass-through to the price of soybean meal and maize.

In this study, using monthly data in the period 2009:3-2019:11, the impact of the exchange rate pass-through to the price of two imported inputs was investigated. For empirical analysis, the required data were collected from various sources such as Central Bank of Iran, State Livestock Affairs Logistic Company and International Grains Council. The estimation strategy was based on Markov Switching models. This framework allows the study to estimate the exchange rate pass-through to soybean meal and maize prices in various regimes.  

The results revealed that due to the non-linear relationship between the variables, it was appropriate to use the non-linear Markov Switching model. Also, three stable regimes were identified for maize and two stable regimes for soybean meal. Passing of the exchange rate for the price of maize in zero and one regimes was significant and in the short term, the exchange rate pass-through in the zero and one regimes was 12 and 20 percent, respectively. In the long-term, rate of passing in the mentioned regimes were estimated at 20 and 16 percent, respectively. For soybean meal., the passing rate of the exchange rate in the regime one was significant and the passing rate in the short and long term was 19 and 22, respectively. These findings indicated that exchange rate pass-through had occurred incomplete for both inputs.

Although the adoption of the preferential exchange policy started at the beginning of 2017, but since the beginning of 2019, it has been able to prevent the exchange rate fluctuations from passing completely to the price of soybean meal and maize. After the changes in the preferential currency policy, although the compensation payment to households is being implemented but it is necessary to implement the facilities for the financing of producers as demanders of imported inputs.

The import of Barley, as one of the main inputs of animal feed, has done by a preferential exchange rate during 2018 to 2019. The main question is whether this allocation was able to be transferred to its price or not. To answer this question, time series data with monthly frequency of the price of barley, its world price and the official exchange rate during the period of Farvardin 2009 to Azar 2019 and the nonlinear model of Markov switching regime change (MSIAH) have been used. The results indicated that for the barley, the exchange rate has passed in three (3) different regimes and asymmetrically. Also, in none of the regimes, complete transition did not occur and the regimes identified were stable. In the short term, exchange rate to barley price in the first regime was significant and equal to two percent (2%). In the long term, the rate of passing in this regime was equal to four percent (4%). Due to the fact that the price of Barley, the amount and the period of passing of the preferred exchange rate have been very low and short, therefore it is suggested to refrain from re-allocating the currency with any preferential rate to this input. Since the cost of red meat production increases with the liberalization of the barley import rate, it is suggested to pay compensation to households as the final link of consumption and to help finance the producers as the demanders of imported inputs.

About 98% of chickpea cultivation is dry-land in Iran. This subject indicating the importance of producing this product according to water scarcity in this country. While in 2021, the production of chick peas were 172.8 thousand tons and, 107 thousand tons of chickpeas with value of 95.8 million dollars were imported. Compared to 2019, the import volume of chickpea has increased by 66.5% and the import value has increased by 88.5%. In other hands, the trade balance of chickpeas in 2021 was negative. In the conditions of exchange limitation, the volume and value of agricultural products imports becomes a challenge. Discovering major exporter countries can help both exporters and importers of chickpeas to planning for contribution in global markets. On the other hand, determining the global market structure helps to design and implement trade strategies with a lower cost.

This study is documentary method, and the data and information were derived from FAO statistical database, International Trade Center (ITC) database. Data analysis and trends during 2017-2021 was done. In order to identify the structure and determine the market power, concentration ratio and Herfindahl indices have been used. These indicators help to identify the market power. When a group of market firms have higher bargaining power compared to others, market power is appeared.

In 2021, more than 2.3 million tons chick peas with value of 1.45 billion dollars have been traded in the world. More than 15% of the world import was related to Bangladesh. After that, India, Turkey and Iran have the next ranks. The volume of chickpea imports by Iran has increased by 89% compared to 2020 with import of 107 thousand tons in 2021. Also, the share of Iran from global imports of chick peas reaches 6.6%. While in 2017, the structure of the global chickpea market was a monopoly with a dominant country (Australia), this structure has changed to a closed multilateral monopoly (Australia, Russia, Turkey and Canada) in 2021. Turkey and Russia being the major exporters of chickpeas, and this subject, brings an opportunity to joint trade agreements or importers of chickpeas at a cheaper price.

Choosing the optimal cultivation model that is both environmentally sustainable and suitable for specific climatic conditions in each geographical region can be considered as one of the efficient solutions to solve the challenges and increase the profitability of agricultural activities.For this purpose, in this study, an attempt has been made to design the optimal pattern of crop cultivation in Miandoab plain, which is the fourth most important plain of the country, located in West Azarbaijan province.Optimizing the cultivation pattern was done in the form of two separate goals of maximizing profit and minimizing water consumption.For this purpose, the required data for the three years 2016-2018 were collected from various provincial and national institutions, and the average data of the mentioned three years were used to propose the optimal pattern of crop cultivation in the form of each of the mentioned goals.In this research, 12 important crops cultivated in this plain have been used.The results showed that the two crops of rainfed chickpeas and nut sunflowers, with the cultivation of the entire agricultural lands of the plain with approximately 57 thousand hectares and 5500 hectares, respectively, and a gross profit of 1614 billion rials, were introduced as the optimal model proposed with the aim of maximizing the gross profit.became.In the proposed cultivation model with the aim of minimizing water consumption, the re-cultivation of rainfed chickpeas and nut sunflowers on an area equal to 57.600 hectares and 5300 hectares will result in the optimization of water consumption.In other words, two goals of profit maximization and water consumption minimization will be achieved by sub-cultivating dry peas and sunflower seeds.

Banks are economic units that affected by shocks. Because their sources and expenses are affected by the impact of unexpected economic shocks. This study investigates and analyzes the effects of inflation and changes in the stock exchange index on the profitability of three selected banks, Karafin, Eghtesad-e Novin and Saman Banks during the period of 2014-2015 using panel data. The results of the F-Limer indicated that the possibility of estimating the model using the Panel data method is confirmed with 95% confidence. In order to detect the presence of fixed effects or the random effects, Hausman's test was used. The results of the Hausman test showed that the research model is panel data with fixed effects. The results of the model estimation indicate that the economic growth and the growth of the stock exchange index have a positive and significant effect on the profitability of the selected banks. On the other hand, the increase in the general level of prices (inflation) has reduced the profitability of banks. Therefore, it is suggested that the production sectors such as agriculture and industry should be prioritized for financing by banks. So that the economic growth is realized by increasing the supply side of the economy and the profitability of the banks is strengthened by both the economic growth and the reduction of inflation.

Distribution of income and wealth is one of the problems and issues that exist in developing countries. This research aims to identify the factors affecting income distribution in the group of Islamic countries of Iran, Malaysia, Egypt, Algeria and Turkey during the period of 2004-2017 using panel data method. The results of Limer's F test showed that it is a panel model at a probability level of less than 0.05.In this regard, the results of the Hausman test indicate the randomness of cross-sectional effects. The estimation results of the model indicate that the logarithm of the GDP with a coefficient of 0.14, the logarithm of the price index with a coefficient of 0.07 and the logarithm of the population with a coefficient of 0.43 have a positive and significant effect on the Gini coefficient.The positive relationship between GDP and the Gini coefficient indicates the necessity of income redistribution mechanism. Considering the positive effect of inflation on the Gini coefficient, it is better to apply appropriate monetary policies to reduce inflation in the countries under review.

Due to its inherent role in ensuring food security and as one of the productive sectors of the economy, the agricultural sector has a priority in receiving preferential currency. Having a preferred currency has caused the price of this commodity in the market to be multi-valued. On the other hand, the allocation of billions of dollars at a price lower than the free market price of foreign exchange to imports makes the percentage of the effect of the preferred currency on the price of commodities more important. In such circumstances, it must be determined whether the allocation of preferential or bank currency (42000Rials) to sugar has been able to be transferred to the final price of this commodity. To answer this question, time series data with monthly frequency of domestic sugar prices, official exchange rates and world prices during the years 2011: 03-2019:11 and the nonlinear pattern of Markov MSIAH regime change have been used. The results showed that during the period 2011:03-2019:11, the average monthly growth rate of the price of this product was equal to 1.5 percent. Meanwhile, during the period of implementation of the preferential exchange rate policy, the average monthly price growth rate was equal to 2.7 percent. The results also show that in the short run, the exchange rate pass-through to sugar price in the second regime was significant and equal to 5%. In the long run, the exchange rate pass-through in this regime was equal to six percent.

Interest rates are one of the most effective channels of money transfer. Interest rates can potentially affect the economy as a whole by determining the level of many economic variables such as investment, capital flows, credit demand, bank profitability, liquidity and exchange rates. Since the profit curve can absorb and predict the future progress of the economy, it is expected that by creating the conditions for future expectations, it will affect the behavior and profit of the bank in creating more liquidity. Therefore, in this study, Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model was used to investigate the effect of interest rates on liquidity. The results showed that the variables of interest rates and capital have a positive and significant effect on liquidity, while inflation has a negative effect. Therefore, a change in bank interest rates will lack the necessary efficiency to stimulate the real sector of the economy. Determining bank interest rates without considering changes in inflation rates cannot explain why there is no savings in banks. In order for governments to be able to provide the central bank with the tools it needs to stimulate the real sector of the economy, it is essential that efforts be made to reduce economic risk in addition to empowering the central bank to rationalize bank interest rates. In this case, the central bank will be able to use bank interest rates as an efficient tool to manage liquidity and convert it into investment and production flows.

Tea is one of strategic products in north of Iran with a history of 120 years. However, Per capita consumption of tea in Iran from 1977 to 2016 reached from 2.1 kg to 5.1 kg. Increasing consumption lead to accurate estimation of tea demand and supply and would help to adopt effective policies.

annual prices and demand data is used for estimation Threshold regression model. The supply elasticities are calculated by original Nerlovian partial adjustment framework.

The Hansen test showed that per capita income had two regimes (one threshold) in this study. The level of income threshold is about 20 million rials. This study, with the estimation of nonlinear structure in tea demand, showed that, income elasticity for both high and low income level is positive and significant

For low-income groups, tea is an inelastic and essential commodity that tends to become more elastic as income increases. Income elasticity of demand is positive and significant for both high and low income groups. The results showed that the possibility of increasing production by increasing the cultivation area is limited.

Developing economies suffer from high degree of macroeconomic uncertainty. Growth, inflation, real exchange rates and other key macroeconomic variables are much more volatile, and the consequences of this excess volatility for aggregate performance in several dimensions like growth, investment and trade, have attracted some attention in recent empirical literature. In the case of investment, this concern has been renewed by recent theoretical work identifying several channels through which uncertainty can impact investment, under various assumptions about risk aversion, adjustment costs to investment and other factors. Iran, has a high degree of uncertainty in the macroeconomic variables. One of the major challenges related to the management of the foreign exchange market in Iran comes back to agricultural investment. Among different investments in economic sectors, investment in agricultural sector possesses a special prominence and position since investment in agricultural sector not only induce the growth of production and employment in this very sector, but also encourages production and employment growth in other economic sectors. Therefore, identifying effective factors on investment in agricultural sector and adopting suitable policies for increasing investment, possesses a supreme prominence. In Iran, the notions of finance and investment have always been facing several difficulties due to deep independence to oil revenues and instability of its price as well as high risk it involves; and for this reason, investing in different sectors, including agriculture, has always experienced severe fluctuations.

Data on agricultural investment in Iran were provided by annual statistics from 1978-2016. All of the following data were gathered from the statistical office of the Central Bank of Iran including Investment in agricultural sector in Rials using a constant price of 2011 = 100, Annual real GDP using a constant price of 2011 = 100, Short run interest rate on bank facilities and loan, and loans given to agricultural sector by banks.NARDL Method When the order of integration is not the same for all variables then we use the lagged variables as proposed by Pesaran et al. (2001). Imagine two variables and their relation as follow:To check the asymmetries, we have to make a separate series for appreciation and depreciation as proposed by Bahmani-Oskooee and Soharabian (1992). A series of exchange rate will be divided in its positive movements or appreciation, as indicated by, and negative movements or depreciation, as indicated by, and is given as follows: To check the impact of positive and negative movements of one variable on the other variable, Equation above will be transformed as:  
The non-linear ARDL model can be described as follows 

In order to study the nonlinear effect of exchange rate and its shock on investment in agricultural sector, a NARDL model has been used. The results of Ramsey Reset Test show that the model is well-specified. LM test has been applied to investigate auto correlation. The results of LM test also reveal that the zero hypothesis is not rejected, and the final model does not have the problem of consistent correlation. The Breusch-Pagan-Godfrey Test (BPG) has been employed to investigate the phenomenon of heteroskedasticity. The results of this test also indicate that for the final model, the zero hypothesis is not rejected, and therefore the pattern do not have the problem of Heteroskedasticity. Positive shocks of exchange rate have shown a negative impact on agricultural investment in the current and previous two periods. While negative shocks of exchange rate have had a positive effect on current investment. NARDL pattern is a method which considers the short-run dynamics among the variables and estimates the long-run relationships as well. In this pattern first the dynamic model, then the long-run relation and error correcting pattern are fitted. The results of the Wald test show that the hypothesis of symmetry between positive and negative shocks is rejected and hence the effect of currency shocks is asymmetric. In the long run, changes in positive currency shocks have had a negative effect on investment. Results of F test also approve the long run relation. H0 is rejected and the presence of long-run relation is confirmed. The presence of co-integration among a set of economic variables provides a statistical base for using the error correction pattern. In the short term, current currency shocks and the previous two period currency shocks have had a negative and significant impact on agricultural investment. In Short term, changes in negative shock had no effect on investment. Also, after 1.5 periods, the short-term imbalances are adjusted in the long run.

This study used a non-linear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model to check an asymmetrical relationship between Exchange volatilities and agricultural Investment. In current study, the Hodrick Prescott filter has been used to derive exchange rate volatilities. Results have shown that: 1) there is a negative and significant relationship between exchange rate shocks and investment in the agricultural sector in the short and long term. 2) With respect to negative impact of exchange rate on investing in agricultural sector, if this exchange rate increases remain stable, investment in the agricultural sector would decline very severe. Given the direct and historical impact of investing in the current period, investment will also be a problem for future years. Since given loan have had a positive impact on the investment, it is suggested that government increases these loans and facilities. The purpose of this policy is to prevent current investments decreases. 3) With respect to negative reaction of investment to US-Dollar-denominated shocks, the decline in US-Dollar dependency and the use of other high-yielding currencies such as the EURO currencies are appropriate. There are asymmetrical linkages between these two variables therefore negative exchange rate volatilities have positive effect and positive exchange rate volatilities have negative and significant effect on agricultural investment. The effect of negative shocks was less than the positive ones.

Rice is one of the most important and strategic cereal in human consumption. Because of population growth and instability in rice price, household’s rice demand subject is important. This study investigate the effect of price and income changes on rice consumption in different level (threshold level) of income. This paper uses time series data from 1991-2014 and two regime threshold regression model. This paper with exploring nonlinearity in the rice demand structure shows that income elasticity for the income level less than 15 Million Rial is positive and negatively significant income elasticity for the income level greater than 15. Results of price elasticity shows that it is constant to -0.25 for all income level. This paper suggests the use of threshold regression may be necessary in situation of changing demand structure.

The main objective of this paper is determination of the price transmission mechanism in shrimp market of Iran by using bivariate GARCH model. The monthly data during 1380:1-1394:4 was used. The results indicated that the rate of change in retail prices is partially causes changes in wholesale prices. So that one unit increase in the retail price index would increase less than one unit (0.2 units) Wholesale Price Index. Therefore, the price transmission in shrimp market is imperfect. The result of Houck method indicated that price transmission in the shrimp market is asymmetric and, speed of transmission in increasing price is more than decreasing prices. Therefore, according to the policy of reforming Shrimp imperfect market, the government must attended to non-price supporting Policies.

Agricultural prices are one of the most important tools for resource allocation in an economy. Evidence suggests that, agricultural prices in comparison with other goods prices have more volatility. If these volatility leads to asymmetric price transmission, this subject will be very important. In other words, if changes in the market price are not absolutely transferred between levels, asymmetric price transmission has occurred, which is leading to increased marketing margin. Price transmission in different market levels related to the marketing efficiency, which also affected the welfare of producers and consumers. Dates, among all horticultural crops, with a share of 10% of the planted area in our country, after the pistachios and grapes were located in the third highest level, and with 6.5 percent of the total horticulture products after grapes, apples and oranges, are in the fourth highest level. Iran Dates from global production share is 14% in 2012. Despite of important Dates, Dates producers, suffer from volatility and low price of this product. Dates owners considerable expenses for crop production, including purchasing, supply of fertilizers and pesticides, irrigation (water and electricity costs) and the cost of labor in planting and harvesting spent, but in most cases they not only benefit from production, but also sell it below cost. According to the phenomena that Dates owners are not marketed through cooperatives, so farmers are the victims and intermediaries benefited. In such an environment, the marketing of dates, have a significant impact on how prices transmitted. In policy debates, asymmetric price transmission is a phenomenon that arises from imperfect competition in the market and it would be imposing additional costs to consumers. Having this information will help policy makers to adopt the correct policies.
To achieve the aims of this study which determines the mechanism of price transmission in dates market bivariate GARCH model was used. Developments of ARCH and GARCH models take into account the nature of the phenomenon Volatility in financial and prices error component regression equations. ARCH model was first introduced by Engle and augmented GARCH model was first introduced by Bollerslev. Due to Conditional variance Heteroscedasticity, ARCH and GARCH models are widely used but little attention has been to this interaction. For this purpose, bivariate GARCH models developed. This study determined the mechanism of price transmission in date's market, over the period 1361: 1-1391: 4 with Diagonal VECH Bivariate GARCH model.
With the implementation of augmented Dickey-Fuller test, it was found that the time series producer price index and the consumer price index over the period 1361:1-1391:4 are stationary in first difference. In this study, also Hegy test used for stationary of variables. In this test the unit root hypothesis tested with different periods (for the monthly data used in this study up to 12 repetitions will examined). Next, Johansen co-integration test results showed that there was a long-term relationship between the producer price index and the consumer price index. Granger causality test results indicated that there was a one-way causal relationship from consumer price index to producer price index. The results of this study indicated that the producer price index volatility with one lag has a positive and significant impact on its current volatility. As the results indicated, the covariance coefficient is statistically significant, indicating the volatility spillover between the two levels of the market. The spillover of volatility indicated uncertainty in the retail market and in producers market. The results also indicated that a one unit increase in the consumer price index cause an increase in producer price index less than unity (0.003).
the price transmission in Dates market is incomplete. So it is recommended to policy makers and government for reducing price risk and producers stabilize income, perform market regulation policies and protection policies like as steward devices on the market to buy dates at harvest time and, it needed structural support like appropriate and timely packaging and ware housing which Can lead to an increase in the welfare of producers and consumers as well as reforms in incomplete dates market.

Because of the increasing limitations of production factors, productivity improvement is known as an effective method for obtaining production growth. So, in this paper, we applied GAP method for calculating average capital productivity during 1959-2006 in sub-agricultural sectors, and Panel Data method for determining effective factors on capital productivity. Results showed that the amount of labor used for each unit of capital and human capital have positive effects on capital productivity in sub-agricultural sectors of Iran. Results also showed that fishery and forestry sectors have had maximum capital productivity during this period. So, with respect to the result that, human capital for each unit has a positive effect on capital productivity, it is suggested that using specialist labor will help efficient use of production techniques.

Study of price trend in Iran, showed that general level of prices is rising continually during time. An inflation situation has effect on most economic variables. Therefore investigation of effective factors and variables on inflation is important. Exchange rate and Gap in product are factors which affect inflation. In this paper the impact of exchange rate shocks and GAP on inflation in Iran’s economy with use of Hoderik Prescott filter and Kalman filter for analyzing exchange rate shocks and GAP during the time 1998:1-2007:4 in Johanson Cointegration test and VECM Model has studied. Main results indicated that, positive exchange rate shock has a negative effect and negative exchange rate shocks has a positive effect on inflation in the long run and sustainability in inflation in long run is less depended to exchange rate rather than short run. Also the Gap in gross domestic product and liquidity has a positive effect on inflation. So taking suitable exchange rate policy could be one way for controlling inflation.

Comparison of food prices in different periods, indicates fluctuations and continually upward trend. Any change in agricultural sector variables, as main food supplier, will affect food price. Productivity shocks and production gap are examples of such variables. In this paper, Hodrick Prescott and Kalman filters are used as generators of productivity shocks and production gap series. Also for analyzing the impact of these variables on food prices growth during the 1976-2007 Johansen Cointegration test and VECM Model are applied. Main results indicated that, productivity shocks have a reverse effect while production gap has a positive and significant effect on food price. Also among all surveyed variables, the effect of negative productivity shock on food price is the greatest. Therefore more attention should be paid to management of negative shocks in comparison with positive ones. Productivity promotion and bridging the gap between actual and potential production can lead to control of agricultural prices.

Continued inflation and relative price variability could have negative impacts on both groups of producers and consumers. Examination of the relationship between relative price variability and inflation plays a vital role in setting appropriate economic policies. To study the causal relationship between agriculture relative price variability and inflation during 1369-1387, Granger causality test was used. Also the existence of long-run relationship between variables was examined using Johansen Cointegration test and vector error correction model. Results indicated that there was bilateral positive relation between inflation and agriculture relative price variability in the short–run, but in the long-run there was unidirectional causality from inflation to relative price variability.

Liberalization of international markets affects level of pollution in developing countries more than in developed countries. Therefore the impact of trade liberalization on environmental pollution is a challenge for policy makers. In this paper Auto Regressive Distributed Lags (ARDL) and Error Correction Model (ECM) methods are employed for a study of the relationship between trade liberalization and environmental pollution in Iran, in the long run as well as in the short run. Results indicate that pollution is negatively related to trade intensity and openness, while capital to labor ratio and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) are positively related to pollution. Results also show that trade liberalization in the long run can solve environmental problems. At last, the paper analyzes the Environmental Kuznets Curve as regards Iranian economies.

Capital is one of the most limited inputs in agriculture of Iran, which impacts creating value added process. Capital rate of return is an index of capital productivity, therefore, in this paper, capital rate of return in sub agricultural sectors by use of capital stock time series during 1959-2005 and production function technique was determined. Results show that the best form of production function for Agronomy and Horticultural sub sectors is Cobb-Douglas, for Husbandry sub sector is Transcendental and for Fishery and Forestry sub sectors is Cobb-Douglas. Results also show that average capital rate of return in Agronomy and Horticultural sub sectors, Husbandry sub sector, Forestry and Fishery sub sectors is 1.7, 3.8, 0.42 and 0.21 respectively.

The water crisis has become a serious issue in Iran in recent years due to the arid and semi arid nature of the country. The water issued in the production processes is called "Virtual Water", some of it remaines in the product. When these products enter the international markets, virtual water trade happens. Virtual water trade is expected to decrease water use in national and international levels due to the efficient and specialized use of water. Nowadays, the concept of virtual water is an important issue in water resource management. In this study, a method is introduced for quantification and evaluation of water hidden in the agricultural products exported from and imported to Iran during the period of 1996 to 2006. Results indicate that the imported virtual water was more than the exported portion and Iran can be called an importer of virtual water for the study period.