Feasibility of introducing medicinal plants into the cultivation pattern and feasibility assessment based on Bolin's logic (Chenaran county, Razavi Khorasan province)

 Changing the cultivation pattern of water-bearing crops to medicinal plants is emphasized by agricultural and rural experts due to the preservation of essential environmental resources and high added value. The present study deals with the feasibility of introducing four medicinal plants, pumpkin, black seed, asparagus, and cumin, in the cultivation pattern of farmers in Chenaran county.

 The descriptive research method is analytical, and the type of research is applied. In this study, 245 rural farmers in 16 villages were studied. 

 The farmers' acceptance of introducing medicinal plants into the cultivation pattern is low, so only 11% of the farmers had a great desire to cultivate the four proposed plants. Also, 98 percent of the farmers needed more technical knowledge in planting, growing, harvesting, processing, maintaining, and selling the proposed medicinal plants. The most important reason for farmers' failure to introduce medicinal plants into the cultivation pattern has been the government's lack of support for producing medicinal plants, drought, and problems related to the labor force. Agricultural land potential assessment showed that of the total area of 327,000 hectares in Chenaran county, 32% is suitable for cultivating asparagus, 11% for cultivating pumpkin, and 32% for cultivating cumin and black seeds.

 Since medicinal plant producers must be sure of guaranteed markets, it is necessary to increase the farmer's share in the potentially profitable value chain of the market by adopting appropriate strategies.

Innovation: 

One of the most important innovative and practical aspects of the research is to identify the degree of acceptance of farmers towards the cultivation of the proposed medicinal plants and the level of their technical knowledge in this field.