علی اکبر براتی

Today, food waste has become a global concern for sustainable agri-food systems. Leafy vegetables are among the products with the highest waste rates throughout the supply chain. In Kermanshah province, a significant portion of leafy vegetable production becomes waste annually due to various factors, including production problems, inadequate technology use, and irresponsible consumer behavior. Despite the high levels of waste in leafy vegetables, there is a lack of precise information about the location, magnitude, and causes of this waste. A review of the literature shows that previous studies have often focused on measuring waste and identifying its causes at certain stages of the supply chain or in specific geographical areas, mainly in developed countries. Therefore, the results of these studies do not reflect the unique challenges faced by agricultural supply chains in developing regions. In Iran, also, research focused on leafy vegetable waste is limited, and no study has yet examined the quantity and causes of waste in the supply chain of these products. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate waste in the leafy vegetable supply chain and identify its causes in Kermanshah province.

The main tool for data collection was a questionnaire. The research's statistical population consisted of two groups: the first group included national and regional experts and several actors in the leafy vegetable supply chain, with 60 purposively selected participants. The second group consisted of actors in the leafy vegetable supply chain, including farmers, retailers, wholesalers, processing units, and consumers (households and food services) in Kermanshah province. The sample selection for farmers and households was done proportionally using stratified sampling, and the sample size was determined using the Cochran formula. For other groups, a full census was conducted. In total, 728 samples were selected and studied (172 farmers, 83 wholesale and retail units, 16 processing units, 384 households, and 73 food service units). The amount of waste was measured using questionnaires based on the actors' perceptions of the percentage of waste at each stage of the supply chain. The process of identifying the main causes of waste was as follows: (1) identifying causes of waste at different stages of the supply chain through literature review and semi-structured interviews with experts; (2) determining the relative importance of causes using the Analytic Network Process (ANP); (3) assessing the current status of each cause from the perspective of actors using a Likert scale; and (4) calculating the final weight of causes by calculating the weighted average. Excel and Super Decisions software were used for data analysis.

The results of the waste assessment at different stages of the supply chain showed that 24%, 11%, and 6.5% of the leafy vegetables turned into waste during production, marketing and distribution, and processing stages, respectively. Waste in the household sector was 21%, and in the food service sector, it was 18%. The main causes of waste at the production stage were identified as lack of access to extension services, pests and disease control, and lack of access to quality seeds and other inputs. The evidence indicates significant barriers to farmers' access to inputs and supportive services. Therefore, targeted interventions to improve farmers' access to training programs, integrated pest and disease management education, and access to quality seeds and inputs play a significant role in reducing waste at the farm level. In the market sector, the lack of proper packaging facilities, poor quality of products offered, and lack of coordination and information sharing among stakeholders had the greatest impact on leafy vegetable waste. These findings emphasize the importance of investing in transport infrastructure and technologies (creating a cold chain) and packaging, implementing farm-level waste reduction interventions, and creating and developing information flow among stakeholders to reduce market waste. In the processing sector, the main causes of waste were identified as poor quality products delivered to processing units, lack of modern processing technologies, and inefficient packaging of final products. These findings indicate the adverse impact of actors' actions in previous supply chain stages and the weakness of technical infrastructure in the processing sector on the quantity of waste. In the food service and household sectors, the poor quality of products offered to consumers was identified as the main cause of waste at these stages. Other important causes in the food service sector were inappropriate food consumption patterns and inefficient food management. In households, a large portion of the waste was attributed to factors such as inadequate planning before shopping and purchasing more than needed. Therefore, providing appropriate training to modify consumer buying behavior plays a significant role in reducing waste in the consumption sector.

The results showed that a significant portion of leafy vegetables in the supply chain becomes waste. Among the different supply chain stages, the production and household consumption stages were identified as the most critical points for intervention and waste reduction strategies. Furthermore, the examination of waste causes at different stages of the supply chain showed that poor product quality, often attributed to undesirable actions and behaviors of actors in previous stages, was the most critical cause of leafy vegetable waste. Therefore, prioritizing waste reduction interventions at the initial stages of the supply chain can significantly reduce waste throughout the entire supply chain.

Nowadays, despite the undeniable importance of the beekeeping in different communities due to its economic, social and environmental functions (such as facilitating the pollination of plants), this sector is facing some challenges and neglected opportunities that have limited its performance and development. Hence, the current research tries to identify and analyze the challenges and opportunities of beekeeping in Fereydunshahr county and provide suggestions for its development. Data were collected with a researcher made questionnaire. The sample size was 140 beekeepers who were selected by stratified sampling method among the beekeepers of Fereydunshahr county (210 beekeepers). The results of descriptive statistics and exploratory factor analysis demonstrated that the supply of counterfeit honey and cultural and social challenges (12.67% of variance) such as the lack of space to establish apiaries and the improper use of chemicals in agriculture are the main challenges. Also, the natural opportunities (22.70% of variance) include the suitable climate and vegetation for beekeeping activities and the presence of high quality and abundant water resources near the apiaries are the most important opportunities for beekeeping in Fereydunshahr county. Finally, in accordance with challenges and opportunities identified in the beekeeping sector in Fereydunshahr county, some solutions were suggested in order to improve and develop beekeeping industry in this county.

Breeding honeybees to utilize their nutritional, environmental, and economic benefits has always been a concern for human societies. However, the beekeeping industry's performance is not currently favorable. The most fundamental action to achieve the desired status is to identify and analyze the current performance of this industry. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the technical performance of beekeeping farms in Fereydunshahr county and provide suggestions to improve their status. The data used in this study were primary data collected through face-to-face and telephone interviews by a researcher-made questionnaire in the spring of 2022. The sample size was 140 beekeepers selected using the stratified sampling method among all beekeepers in Fereydunshahr county (N=210), located in Isfahan province. Due to the study's exploratory nature, only descriptive statistics were used. The results showed that the average age of beekeepers was nearly 44 years, and all of them were men. More than 52% of the respondents followed beekeeping as a side job. The average number of colonies on beekeeping farms was 140, and the average honey production per hive was 9.7 kg, indicating an average level of performance. However, the production of honeybee by-products was not in favorable condition. Finally, suggestions such as increasing the motivation and ability of women and youth to enter the beekeeping profession, and increasing and homogenizing the number of colonies of beekeeping farms are suggested to improve the performance of beekeeping farms.

The shortage of freshwater resources is one of the primary crises the world faces, despite the constant availability of renewable water sources. As a result, the rising risks associated with water scarcity are a critical concern. The water crisis reduces crops production and negatively affects food security. Due to the increase in demand for food, agriculture section is under more pressure because of both water crisis and more demand for food. Agricultural sector has been also facing with water shortage due to climate changes caused by the more global warming and low precipitation. Water crisis and climate changes leading to a decrease in the crops production. Now, agriculture and livelihood of villagers has become unstable more than any time. Considering the importance of irrigated farming in Mazandaran province in the country's food security, the present study was conducted with the aim of identifying the most important variables that affecting water security in Mazandaran province.

The statistical population of the research included 16 subject experts with research or executive experience in the fields related to water studies, water security and climate change. The selection of them was done in a purposeful way. The data collection tool was a researcher made questionnaire and the data collection method was face-to-face interview. At first, to identify the variables involved in water security a subject literature review and several semi-structured interviews with subject experts were conducted. Then, the experts were asked to evaluate the cross-effects of the identified variables through pairwise comparisons and in the form of the MICMAC questionnaire. Finally, the data were analysis using MICMAC software.

According to the results, among the studied variables, "knowledge and environmental literacy of villagers" and "reduction of precipitation due to climate change" (input variables) are two important key variables that directly and indirectly affect water security and therefore should be considered. The variables "best management of appropriate farm operations", "volume and diversity of water resources" and "good management and governance of agricultural water" are intermediate variables, with high impact and high dependence. Based on the direct influence network intensity of the key variables involved in water security, variables such as “best management of suitable farm operations”, “good management and governance of agricultural water”, “the degree of resilience of farmers to adapt to climate change” play a central and sensitive role. Based on the indirect relationships, “best management of appropriate farm operations”, “the degree of resilience of farmers to adapt to climate change”, “risk management of ecological hazards and climate change” have the greatest indirect effect on other variables and should be considered by policy makers and planners in this field.

Water crisis is a major challenge for agricultural activities and consequently for food security. Considering the vital role that Mazandaran province plays in the agricultural products production and as a result food security, the present study examined the most important variables affecting food security. The findings of this study showed that "good management and governance of agricultural water" has the most direct impact on water crisis management. Good water governance can be taken into consideration with the relative strengthening and synergistic participation of public and private sectors and non-governmental organizations in line with the planning and implementation of food security policy with the water-energy-food nexus approach. The role of increasing the environmental knowledge and literacy of villagers by providing effective educational-promotional services such as farm filed school is very important on the farmer's resilience and adaptability. On the other hand, variables such as good water management and governance, development of new irrigation systems and technologies, zoning of agricultural lands and the explanation of the appropriate cultivation pattern for each zone (such as planting crops with low water demand and high added value include medicinal plants) are undeniable impact on the livelihood resilience of the farmer's family and adaptation to climate change conditions. Diversify the livelihood resources of farming households with the participation of household women, promoting climate-oriented businesses that are compatible with climate changes (such as agricultural tourism and handicrafts), using drought-resistant species, changing the date of cultivation, developing greenhouse cultivation, medicinal plants and modernization of irrigation, change of history and cultivation pattern play important roles on the resilience of farmers to adapt climate change.

Excessive use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers has led to acute and chronic health problems and adverse impacts on agricultural productivity, biodiversity, soil health, and groundwater. To address these issues, Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) with environmentally friendly technologies have been widely advocated for health, food security, and the sustainability of production systems. The main objective of this research is to investigate the components of rice production process management with the adoption of GAP technologies. The statistical population of this study was rice farmers in Sari County (25590 individuals), among whom 170 cases were selected as the study sample. The data collection tool was a questionnaire, whose face and content validity were confirmed by experts. The reliability of the research tool was also examined using Cronbach's alpha coefficients. The data were analyzed using the Confirmatory Factor Analysis method and Smart PLS3 software. The results indicated that among the explanatory components of activities related to rice production process management with GAP, the post-harvest operations component (with a path coefficient of 0.912) had the highest explained variance. Following this component, the components of appropriate operations management before cultivation, harvesting, maintenance, and planting were prioritized. Supporting low-income farmers to conduct activities such as soil and water quality testing is a facilitating mechanism for increasing farmers' willingness to engage in preventive measures in farm management based on GAP. Additionally, implementing a cropping pattern system with zoning of rice-growing areas based on climatic conditions for early or late rice harvesting and promoting dryland rice cultivation for water and energy management are other recommendations of this study. Furthermore, increasing the use of appropriate extensional methods such as demonstration farms and farm schools to encourage farmer participation in the adoption of GAP and integrated pest management is suggested.

The issue of agricultural product wastage poses a significant challenge to Iran's agriculture sector, particularly within the horticulture sub-sector. Much of this wastage along the supply chain is attributed to inadequate waste management practices. Therefore, there is a pressing need to develop effective waste management strategies in the country. This study aims to analyze the strategic space of apple waste management within the supply chain of Tehran province.

This study employed a mixed research approach, combining semi-structured interviews and surveys. The target population consisted of experts in the apple supply chain, with 21 individuals purposefully selected for the study. Data was primarily collected through researcher-designed interviews and questionnaires. During field research on the apple supply chain in Tehran province, experts were interviewed to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats within the chain. Subsequently, the strategic space of the chain was analyzed using SWOT analysis methodology, leading to the formulation of improvement strategies.

The findings of this study indicate that the apple supply chain exhibits numerous weaknesses and threats, predominantly characterized by a defensive strategic orientation (WT) with a final weight of 0.41. Analysis of the internal environment revealed that weaknesses outweigh strengths. Similarly, external threats surpass opportunities. Experts identified the ability to maintain high shelf life of apples at the household level as the supply chain's most significant strength. Conversely, the lack of experienced managers and associates in value and supply chains emerged as a critical weakness, underscoring the pivotal role of management in enhancing chain performance and efficiency. The favorable climate for cultivating quality apples represents a key opportunity, while underdeveloped supply and value chains, along with their instability, pose significant threats. Priority strategies proposed by experts include increasing the export share of apples in the agricultural sector, training competent managers in apple value and supply chains, and enhancing and integrating existing organizations. Based on the prioritized strategies and the emphasis on defensive or fallback strategies (WT), it is imperative to adopt defensive measures to create room for implementing contingency and competitive policies, and ultimately growth and development strategies, aimed at enhancing the apple supply chain while addressing waste management concerns. Considering the current circumstances, the initial step involves establishing a sustainable supply chain and value chain, facilitated by collaboration among relevant government and private sectors, as well as stakeholders within the chain. This entails recruiting skilled managers and trained personnel to oversee the integration of chain structure and management.

Given the apple supply chain's weak points, the initial focus is on addressing these weaknesses to leverage existing opportunities and mitigate external threats. Recommendations include creating a sustainable supply chain, integrating relevant stakeholders, offering training courses on waste reduction and marketing, and facilitating export growth through macro-level policies aligned with product quality and market dynamics.act

Agriculture is considered one of the most risky activities due to its heavy reliance on nature. Agricultural insurance is one of the most suitable solutions to cope with the unpredictable nature of these risks, which can support farmers and ensure the sustainability of crop production in the country. Considering the subject's importance, this study's main objective was to examine the barriers to dryland wheat insurance from the farmers' perspective in Kurdistan province. The statistical population of this research included dryland wheat farmers (67,486 individuals) in Kurdistan province. The sample size used in this study was 135 farmers determined by G-Power software, selected through a simple random sampling technique. For data analysis, the Partial Least Squares modeling method was used through applying SmartPLS3 software. This research examined and analyzed individual-professional characteristics, the current status of wheat insurance, access to insurance, and barriers to developing dryland wheat insurance. The findings indicated that financial barriers had a path coefficient of 0.520, evaluation barriers had a path coefficient of 0.872, follow-up barriers had a path coefficient of 0.882, knowledge-information barriers had a path coefficient of 0.837, human barriers had a path coefficient of 0.603, regulatory-political barriers with a path coefficient of 0.906, and supervisory barriers with a path coefficient of 0.720 have a positive and significant impact on the development of dryland wheat insurance from the perspective of farmers in Kurdistan province. Among the barriers examined, regulatory-political barriers, damage follow-up, damage assessment, and knowledge-information barriers played the most significant roles as obstacles to the development of dryland wheat insurance. Based on the findings, it is suggested that to gain a deeper and more accurate understanding of the barriers to the development of dryland wheat insurance and to provide solutions for overcoming these barriers, a qualitative approach should be taken to examine the issue from the perspectives of dryland wheat farmers and agricultural insurance experts and agents.

The sudden decrease in water levels in Urmia Lake has elevated the environmental risk to both nearby and distant communities. For the people living in this region, particularly the villagers, the crisis has brought about a number of negative effects, including economic, social, environmental, and production-related. The current study was carried out with the purpose of evaluating the economic and productive effects of this problem from the viewpoint of the rural residents in the eastern part of the lake. The eastern of the lake's including 87,049 rural households that made up the statistical population of this study from which 230 households were chosen and analyzed using a stratified sampling method. The formula proposed by Cochran was used to determine the sample size. A questionnaire and face-to-face interviews were the data collection tool and method. By employing the opinions of experts and determining Cronbach's alpha coefficient the validity and reliability of the research instrument were assessed. The data analysis was done using SPSS statistical software. According to the findings, among the most significant effects that the villagers agreed upon were the decrease in the area used to cultivate agricultural products, the reduction of water resources and the rise in costs associated with the supply of agricultural water, and the decline in the quality of surface and ground water. According to the results of the exploratory factor analysis, the various economic-production effects of the water reduction of this lake can be summarized under four groups including "quantitative and qualitative reduction of agricultural production and income", "decrease in the quantity and quality of water resources", "increase in costs and threat to job security and income", and "reduction of non-agricultural activities". Around 69% of the variance in the results' overall variance was explained by these four variables. Among the recommendations made by this study to lessen the effects of water depletion in this lake are encouraging the production and introduction of agricultural and horticultural crops suitable for the eastern area of Urmia Lake, developing new irrigation systems, and altering the pattern of irrigated agricultural crops.

Present-day challenges include the growing tendency of unhealthy food shortages in the market and environmental degradation. If properly managed, issuing the safety and health certificate of agricultural products can be a significant factor in resolving the issues brought up. The purpose of the current study was included all the producers in the country who had a license for certified products from the Ministry of Jihad Agriculture in 2021, which numbered 638 people.. 204 producers were chosen at random from this group to serve as samples. A researcher-made questionnaire was employed to collect the data, and in addition to descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis and coefficient of variation were also used to analyze the data. The findings of the research demonstrated that social effects are the health certification of agricultural goods' most significant effects, with a path coefficient of 0.868. The impacts relating to enhancing the production process (0.845), the environment and sustainability (0.819), market and export procedures (0.799), and lastly the effects relating to food health and safety (0.768) come after these effects. It is crucial for producers to build customer confidence in food quality (0.782) since it will have positive societal impacts. To do this, producers must improve the quality of agricultural products and create healthier items that adhere to international standards. However, the development of agriculture and rural communities can be aided by the establishment of small enterprises throughout the supply chain of healthy agricultural products.

Villages are extremely important in many developing nations. However, in today's world achieving rural development has become more challenging and complex. Since cooperatives possess the ability to mobilize local resources against crisis, they are suggested as a solution for enhancing social welfare and quality of life where agriculture is the primary economic activity. Nevertheless, the majority of rural cooperatives in Iran haven't experienced much success, and as a result, the current study was carried out to identify potential areas for cooperative development in rural areas and assess the level of covering these areas by existing cooperatives. This survey study used a researcher-made questionnaire that was completed by face-to-face interview method. The study's statistical population comprised the inhabitants of Savojbolagh County's rural settlements in Alborz province (115,096). G-Power software was used to calculate the study sample size (210 individuals). The data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential approaches, including Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA), coefficient of variation, and frequency. The findings led to the identification of 37 different types of fields for the development of cooperative activities in rural areas (include the agricultural and non-agricultural sector). The average importance of agricultural cooperatives (3.57) was higher than that of non-agricultural cooperatives (3.37). In the group of agricultural cooperatives, the field of processing had the largest gap between performance and importance (2.57). Based on the IPA analysis, area (a), or the concentration region, contains all of the identified fields.

Nowadays, despite the importance of the beekeeping industry in various regions and societies due to its social, economic and environmental functions (such as facilitating the pollination of plants), this industry still faces challenges and neglected opportunities that affect the performance and management status of beekeeping farms. Hence, the present research has tried to identify and prioritize the solutions to improve the performance and management status of beekeeping farms in Fereydunshahr county located in Isfahan province. Data was collected with a researcher made questionnaire. The sample size was 140 beekeepers who were selected by stratified sampling method among the beekeepers of Fereydunshahr county (210 beekeepers). The results from the descriptive analysis and the exploratory factor analysis demonstrated that the formation of an integrated system for the adequate and timely distribution of inputs and services, increasing the attention of the government on beekeeping sector and improving the development services, facilitating the provision of credit and investment in the beekeeping sector, And providing appropriate insurance services in order to increase the resilience of beekeepers has the highest priority among other solutions.

Despite the importance of developing rural entrepreneurship, reports indicate insufficient development of rural entrepreneurship. Therefore, the present research has analyzes the effective mechanisms on the development of rural entrepreneurship in Zirkouh county. The study population included people who used employment loans (840 people). The sample size was determined using G*Power software (215 people). was used to select the samples. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire. The reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed through Cronbach's alpha and content validity analysis based on the opinion of the professors of the Department of Agricultural Management and Development of Tehran University and the experts of the Agricultural Jihad of Zirkoh county. Descriptive statistics and confirmatory factor analysis were used for data analysis (using Smart PLS software V.3). The results showed that among the various components that indicate the development of entrepreneurship, the sub-components of the educational system with the path coefficient (0.921), market (0.809), infrastructures (0.753), and cultural factors (0.691); and finally, laws and policies (0.678) are respectively the most important. The findings also showed that among the various mechanisms for the development of rural entrepreneurship, legal and political mechanisms with a path coefficient (0.304) have the greatest effect on the development of entrepreneurship. After these mechanisms there are social (0.226), infrastructure (0.209), economic (0.207) and management (0.171) mechanisms. To develop rural entrepreneurship, it is suggested to use educational methods as well as develop appropriate legal and policy mechanisms to support rural entrepreneurs.

Access to food is the concept of sustainable physical and economic access to resources to provide food items needed by society. Although in line with population growth the production of agricultural products has increased, the access of the people to the food has decreased and it has caused hidden hunger and food insecurity on a large scale. According to the World Health Organization, approximately 60% of child deaths in developing countries are the result of chronic hunger and malnutrition. In Iran, the level of food insecurity is reported about 23%, and the situation of access to food in both physical and economic dimensions is far worse in rural than urban areas. For example, the level of food insecurity in the rural areas of Qarasu in West Azerbaijan is reported 59.4%. Lack of access to sufficient food and the occurrence of food insecurity are affected by various factors, including economic, social, cultural, political and environmental. As a result, due to the importance of access to food, this study tried to investigate the factors affecting the access of rural households to food in Shavoor district.

Current research is a non-experimental survey research with a quantitative approach. The statistical population was all the rural households of Shavoor district (N= 2624), of which 300 households (n= 300) were selected as a sample using the stratified sampling method with proportional assignment. The data used in this research was primary data that was collected by a questionnaire. The validity of the data collection tool was done based on the point of view of specialists, and Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to determine its reliability. The value of this coefficient for different parts of the questionnaire was between 0.765 and 0.873, which indicates the appropriate reliability of the research tool. This study used SPSS, Excel, and SmartPLS for data analysis. In order to inferentially analyze the data, confirmatory factor analysis based on partial least square (PLS) method was used.

The findings showed that the average age of the respondents was over 47 years old, 85.7% were married, 28.7% were also illiterate. The average number of people per household in this study was 5.86 people. The average number of active people among the studied households was about two. Most households (41.3%) had an income of less than two million tomans per month and 58.3% of the households could not save any money. Although the main occupation of most (31%) heads of the studied households was agriculture, most of the households did not possess agricultural land. Also, the average area of irrigated and orchard lands and the number of light and heavy livestock of each studied household were 2.70 hectares, 0.37 hectares, 2.80 heads and 1.80 heads, respectively. According to the results of the confirmatory factor analysis based on Partial Least Squares (PLS) method, among the three main dimensions (physical, economic and continuity of access), the physical access to food is more unfavorable (0.458) than the economic access (0.900) and continuity of access (0.909). Based on the research findings, economic (0.528), social (0.362), and individual and family (0.340) factors are the most important factors affecting rural households' access to food respectively. Among the economic factors, the income variable has a greater impact on food access. Food consumption pattern and the education level of the head of the household, respectively among the social and the individual-family factors are very important and have a significant effect on improving the access of households to food. Various studies have emphasized the effect of the low level of education of heads of households in a society on poverty and food insecurity. Also, physical factors play a decisive role in households' access to food, and these factors indirectly affect the level of rural households' access to food.

In this research, an attempt was made to analyze the factors affecting the improvement of access to food for rural households in Shavor village located in Susa county. The findings of this research showed that despite the fact that the main source of income for most of the rural households in this village is from the agricultural sector, the situation of rural households' access to food is not favorable, especially in terms of physical access. And various factors, including economic, individual-family factors, social and physical, have directly and indirectly affected this access. In order to improve the access level of rural households to food, it is suggested to provide the necessary background and platform for diversifying rural jobs and improving their income sources. Creation and support of various organizations (such as consumer cooperatives) with the aim of providing facilities and supply of food items at a better price and with more variety to the villagers, targeting the granting of subsidies to agricultural inputs, adopting appropriate support policies for the price of agricultural products, strengthening the market and the transportation network for agricultural products are among the best solutions to improve the level of access of villagers to food.

So far, studies have paid less attention to the farmer’s intention in developing a water-based crop pattern, so this article examines the relationship between the characteristics of 393 active farmers in the Jiroft plain and their willingness to accept a water-based crop pattern. Farmers were surveyed about the level of willingness to accept the proposed cropping pattern, demographic characteristics, socio-economic factors and institutional characteristics using a questionnaire with open and closed questions in the 2020 crop year. In order to achieve the research objectives, a stratified logit model was used in which the dependent variable of the research (willingness to accept the crop pattern appropriate to water resources) was ranked in five categories including 0: unwillingness to accept; 1: low acceptance; 2: willingness to moderate acceptance; 3: willingness to accept too much and 4: willingness to accept too much. The results showed that 62% of respondents tended to accept below average and only 7.9% of farmers tended to accept too much. The results showed that the variables of age, literacy level, average monthly income, personal ownership of land, access to credit and membership in farmers 'social institutions had a positive and significant effect on farmers' willingness to accept and non-payment of water input by farmers had the opposite effect. Findings showed that a variety of variables may explain the willingness of farmers to develop protective behaviors for water resources that should be considered.

 Iran encounters notable obstacles in establishing a strong standard system and issuing safety certificates for agricultural products, which are essential for maintaining a consistent supply of healthy food. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the challenges associated with issuing safety certificates for agricultural products in Iran, drawing insights from experts in the field. The research involved a statistical population of 79 experienced and knowledgeable experts, out of which 65 participants were selected using purposive sampling for the research process. A researcher-developed questionnaire with confirmed validity and reliability was used as the data collection tool. Data analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics and confirmatory factor analysis within the Smart PLS software environment. This study resulted in identification of the key challenges in issuing safety certificates for agricultural products in Iran. The most influential factors were technical, technological, and informational challenges, indicating their significant impact on certificate issuance (path coefficient= 0.889). Additionally, political and program (path coefficient= 0.849), legal and institutional (path coefficient= 0.815), socio-cultural (path coefficient= 0.797), environmental (path coefficient= 0.657), and economic (path coefficient= 0.579) challenges were recognized as the other significant obstacles. These findings offer insights for implementing effective solutions to improve the process of issuing safety certificates and enhance the certification process of agricultural products in Iran.

Access to food is one of the most important components of food security, which plays an important role in food security. Access to food has three main components including physical, economics and stability. The present study investigated the access of rural households to food in Shavoor village. The statistical population of the study consisted of all rural households in this district (N = 2624). The sample size of 300 households was determined based on stratified sampling method with proportional assignment. The data collection tool was a questionnaire. To measure access to food, based on the UN MPI, a standard index was developed whose value was between zero and one. This method was a methodological innovation of the study. Findings showed that about 23% of rural households have a good access to food. Among three main components, economic ans stability access have had the more contribution in access to food index. Disability to food supply resources and centers, lack of self-production and severe fluctuations in food prices are the most important causes for reducing the rural households access to food. Accordingly, it was suggested that improvement of ICT infrastructures will provide better condition to access of rural community to food. Promoting a culture of self-production and saving is another suggestion to improve the resilience of rural households to food price fluctuations.

Food security is one of the important factors that provides personal, family and social health of society and it is a fundamental need for the development of human kind. Although rural areas are a main source of food production, but they still suffer from greater food insecurity than urban society. Many factors affect food security, individual and familial characteristics are one of the most essential factors. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of these factors on food security. The study area was Shavoor district. A total of 300 rural households were included in the study. The samples were chosen using a stratified random sampling procedure, and the data was analyzed using logistic regression. Only approximately 62 percent of households have adequate food security, according to the findings. The variables of the head of the household's level of education, age, having a male child, having an active person in the family, having a person working in the non-agricultural sector, and also having a person with underlying disease on household food security have a statistically significant effect among the individual and family characteristics studied. Given that this set of variables can improve for roughly 30% of the ability to predict the household food security, therefore, managing and improving the situation of rural household food security requires consideration of them along with other variables.

Nowadays, an unprecedented need is felt for considering groundwater quantity and quality in water resource management plans in all ecosystems. The availability of adequate and proper water resources for various uses is an important factor of sustainable development in arid and semi-arid regions such as Minab Plain in the south of Iran. Given the climatic conditions of this plain and the overuse of groundwater tables for various uses, it was decided to investigate the variations in the quantity and quality of groundwater tables and simulate their future trend to find out their impact on the rate of desertification and land degradation. There are diverse traditional methods to assess the quantity and quality of underground water, but they are not economical in time and cost. Today, modern groundwater quantity and quality determination methods have mostly resolved this problem to be informative about the future trend of these variations. Hydrological models were used to estimate groundwater variations trends. Different scenarios were applied to plan and manage these irreparable resources in the future. The present study evaluates groundwater tables' quantitative and qualitative variations using the MGS software package and the Modular Three-Dimensional Finite-Difference Groundwater Flow Model (MODFLOW) code.  The variations of these irreparable resources were simulated in Minab plain to study the rate of desertification in the past, present, and future. Finally, the managerial approaches were proposed to prevent the further depletion and quality loss of groundwater tables in this plain and adopt strategies tailored to determine the desertification rate in the future.

For this research, data of hydrology and geology of the Minab Plain aquifer were supplied by Iran Water Resources Management Company for 2003-2018. After data collection, GMS10.5 was employed to study and model groundwater resources and their future condition. First, the variations in groundwater quantitative and qualitative parameters in Minab Plain and their past, present, and future states were examined. New scenarios of use increase of 5%, 10%, and 15% higher use were used in GMS10.5. Then, the IMDPA model was employed to assess the rate of desertification of groundwater tables in the plain in the past, present, and future.

The results showed that the highest depletion was -3.16, -12.87, -23.89, and -30.30 in the base years of 2003, 2008, 2013, and 2018, respectively. It has happened due to the digging of deep and semi-deep wells. The highest increase in water level balance over 2003-2035 has been -59.5, -61.3, and -63.2 m under the scenarios of 5%, 10%, and 15% higher use, respectively. Prediction of the qualitative parameters of EC and SAR for 2019, 2024, 2029, and 2035 indicates that these parameters will increase in 2035. The resulting pollution will move from the south towards the north. The weighted mean of quantitative values of the factors influencing water resource degradation shows that desertification occurs in the studied region at different rates. Over time, the desertification rate of water criterion will expand towards the north, south, center, and west of the area. The results for different periods are depicted in a figure. It can be asserted that a great part of the region is in the low desertification class in the base period, but the area of this class decreases. The medium desertification class expands over time. The area of the medium desertification class has been 0, 32.37, 46.35, and 123,48 km2 km2 in 2003, 2008, 2013, and 2018, respectively. The very low desertification class has been 125.93, 6.54, 0.23, and 0.07 during this period. In the 5% higher use scenario, the very low, low, and medium desertification classes have decreased by 2.64, 45.47, and 72.04 km2 over 2009-2035.  The very high desertification class has increased by 120.14 km2 in this scenario. It was the same for the scenarios of 10% and 15% higher use. The very low, low, and medium desertification classes have decreased by 0.06, 72.18, and 48.00 km2 in the 10% higher use scenario and by 47.96, 0.06, and 72.14 km2 in the scenario of 15% higher use over 2019-2035. The very high desertification class has increased by 120.189 and 120.187 km2 in these scenarios, respectively.

The results revealed that desertification is happening across the plain at different rates and will continue at a higher rate in the future. It can be summarized that all components of nature are chained to one another. A change in one component entails a change in the other parts of the system so that a decline in groundwater quantity reduces its quality. So, approaches should be adopted to prevent the further quantitative and qualitative decline of groundwater tables, and mechanisms should be taken to minimize damages to the whole ecosystem. Finally, some executive approaches for preventing land degradation and desertification based on the regional water criterion include reforming cropping patterns, adopting modern irrigation methods, and feeding the bed of the plain by flooding.

Climate change over the last century has led to significant changes in human life, challenging human livelihood by increasing production costs, risk and uncertainty. Among different communities, rural communities are highly sensitive to climate change due to their dependence on agriculture and consequently climate. This research is a survey research that was conducted to investigate the vulnerability of rural households to climate change. For this purpose, a sample of 212 households was selected from about 134,000 rural households in Kermanshah province. The data collection tool was a questionnaire. To determine the degree of vulnerability, the household livelihood vulnerability index to climate change (LVI) was used. The results show that in all counties, rural households’ livelihood is highly sensitive to climate change. The highest sensitivity to climate change was observed in Javanrood (0.448), and the lowest was observed in Kangavar (0.4). Among the main components of the LVI index, the Livelihood strategy with a value of 0.565 has the highest sensitivity to climate change, and social networks and socio-demographic index with a value of 0.557 and 0.465, respectively, are in the next ranks. According to the results, the best ways to reduce livelihood sensitivity are to diversify income sources and reduce household dependence on agriculture through the development of non-agricultural job opportunities, expand support services such as insurance by providing various incentives including tax exemptions to insurers and increase household capacity to meet their basic needs by promoting the savings culture and providing support packages to increase their resilience to climate changes.

Although climate change and water crisis result in changing the geographical and yield ranges of crops, there are few studies focusing on the determinants farmer’s intention to adopt crops suited to water resources. Accordingly, this study has been done to evaluate the Jiroft farmers’ intention to adopt this effective invention as a strategy for reducing the cultivation rate of the crop with high water requirement. This study has been conducted in one of agriculturally important plains named Jiroft plain which has been located in southeastern of Iran. The study sample consisted of 393 farmers in Jiroft plain. The study samples were selected using Krejcie and Morgan table and stratified random sampling approach. Farmers’ intention to cultivate crops suited to water resources was empirically examined using two the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the health belief model (HBM). The associations of the constructs were examined using structural equation modelling (SEM). The results showed that the construct attitude and subjective norm accounted for 41.7% of the variance of farmers' intention in TPB. In contrast, the results revealed that 67.3% of the intentions in HBM has been predicted using cue to action, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived susceptibility, and self-efficacy. The results indicated that both theories potentially can predict the farmers' intention. However, HBM is better than TPB in terms of explanatory power.

The present research aims to assess climate change in the Minab plain and its effect on groundwater level variability in the future period. Climate change was explored by the climatic model CanESM2 using the SDSM4.2 software package, and the effect of climate change on groundwater resources was quantitatively modeled in the GMS10.0.5 software package under the emission scenarios of RCP2.6, RCP4.5, and RCP8.5. The results for the effect of climate change in the future period in the context of these scenarios showed that temperature will increase by 1.88ºC, 2.60ºC, and 4.28ºC and precipitation will decrease by 34.19%, 42.08%, and 59.43% versus the reference year, respectively. The results for the application of the climatic scenarios using the groundwater model revealed that due to the decline of precipitation in this period, mean groundwater level balance in the future periods leading to 2019, 2024, 2029, and 2035 versus the reference year (2003-2004) will be -13.99, -19.003, -22.70, and -25.61 m/yr in RCP2.6, -13.99, -18.95, -22.75, and -24.73 m/yr in RCP4.5, and -14.23, -19.22, -22.003, and -25.46 m/yr in RCP8.5, respectively. This shows that the drawdown will be being aggravated over time. Finally, this decline of precipitation and rise in temperature due to climate change and the subsequent increase in water abstraction for different uses will result in the growing depletion of the groundwater tables in Minab. So, it is recommended to planners and authorities to adopt strategies for adaptation to new climatic conditions and water scarcity and accommodate themselves with future conditions.

One of the most important concerns affecting humanity today is climate change. As a result, minimizing climate change and natural resource depletion is critical for present and future generations to maintain their standard of living. One way to attain this goal is to focus on the creation of green businesses and boosting the green level of existing businesses. Green business is a rewarding career that helps to preserve and regenerate the environment while also providing goods and services and strengthening the rural economy.

Given the role of rural women in rural businesses, the current study examines the prerequisites and mechanisms for the development of green enterprises among rural women.

The statistical population included rural women with businesses in Rey County (246 people) and experts in this field (80 people). A total of 202 rural women and 50 experts were interviewed. The samples were chosen using simple random sampling. Data was collected using two researcher-created questionnaires, and descriptive statistics and exploratory factor analysis were used to analyze the results.

There is a significant perceptual difference between experts and rural women when discussing the criteria for the development of green businesses among rural women, indicating that what is more important and priority from the perspective of rural women is having entrepreneurial spirit and a willingness to work in green businesses, among other personal and personality attributes. However, according to experts, one of the most significant conditions for the growth of green businesses for rural women is the availability of information and communication facilities and infrastructure. The prerequisites for the development of green enterprises are classified into six key variables based on the results of factor analysis, which collectively explained around 76 percent of the variance of all indicators, which is a desirable and adequate level. The findings of this research revealed that the development of rural green enterprises involves consideration of information and communication, education and extension, market and management, culture and attitude, knowledge and motivation, and lastly financial and economic components.

The establishment of a supportive context and infrastructure, the facilitation of communications and networking, socioeconomic empowerment, and finally the development of professional competences are all proven to be critical mechanisms for green business development among rural women.

Poverty, unemployment and migration are the main features of the rural areas in developing countries and rural industrialization is and has been one of the ways to deal with such problems. In this regard, in recent decades, the policy of moving towards rural development through industrialization and the expansion of industrial zones in the vicinity of rural areas has been pursued. However, the impact of the industrial zones on rural areas and development remains unclear. The present study has aimed to identify and analyze the various (economic, socio-physical and environmental) dimensions of the impact of the Alavijeh industrial zone on neighboring rural areas. Alavijeh is located in Najafabad county in Isfahan province. The statistical population of this study was rural households located around the Alavijeh industrial zone, which according to the latest official statistics (2016) were 7183 households, of which 210 households were selected for the study using the Cochran's formula. The sampling method was stratified proportional sampling. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS and LISREL software. Descriptive and inferential methods such as frequency, mean, coefficient of variation and confirmatory factor analysis were used for analysis. According to the findings of this study, Alavijeh has both positive and negative effects of which economic, socio-physical and environmental effects are the most important effects with path coefficients of 0.96, 0.92 and 0.83, respectively. The negative aspects of this construction have been more in the environmental and socio-physical dimensions.