Analysis of the role of socio-economic factors in the ecological sustainability of saffron cultivation; a case study of Gonabad County

The implementation of sustainable farming systems is essential for ensuring long-term food supply. One of the most important agricultural products produced in Iran is saffron, which is the main source of income for many villagers in the east of the country. Therefore, attention must be paid to the sustainable saffron cultivation in main saffron production regions. The present study was conducted with the aim of measuring the ecological sustainability of saffron farms in Gonabad county and identifying the socio-economic factors affecting it in 2020. The data collection tool was a questionnaire and 193 questionnaires were completed based on simple random sampling procedure. In order to achieve the research objectives, first, ecological sustainability of farms was evaluated based on 12 criteria and using TOPSIS method. Subsequently, an ordered logit model was carried out to determine the factors affecting farm sustainability. Study findings reveal that perception towards sustainable agriculture, age, income and education, as well as having agricultural insurance and pursuing agriculture as the main job, have positive and significant effect on the probability of saffron farmers to be in more sustainable groups. Training courses, by contrast, has a negative effect on this probability, however, it is not significant at the desired statistical probability level. Therefore, improving farmers' perception towards sustainable agriculture, using the experiences of older farmers, financially supporting saffron growers in order to provide the required inputs, and a fundamental revision of the content of training courses can be considered as strategies to enhance the ecological sustainability of this valuable spice.