نشریه راهبردهای کارآفرینی در کشاورزی
پیاپی 18 (پاییز و زمستان 1401)

Entrepreneurship and the creation of new and startup businesses are considered as a basic strategy in the growth and prosperity of communities and regions and a stimulus for economic and social development in the development process of countries. Today, any planning and policy-making in agricultural businesses, requires financial and economic justification of activities for entrepreneurs. This research has been prepared in this direction and its objectives have been the financial evaluation of Ferula assa-foetida medicinal plant production in dryland conditions. The data of this research was collected by documentary method in 2017 and its update to the year 2021 in the rain fed conditions of the country.

In order to financial evaluation of this research used profitability indicators of Net present value, Benefit-cost ratio, Internal rate of return and percentage of sales return.

The results showed that capital and current operating costs during the period of investment in production were estimated at 166.6 and 247.6 Iranian million rials, respectively, and a total was 414.2 Iranian million rials. The cost price per kilogram of Ferula assa-foetida product was calculated to be 517756 Iranian Rials. During the investment period, the average sales return show that one rial of Ferula assa-foetida product sales in the fifth and seventh years brings 92.1 and 91.1 percent profit per hectare, respectively. The net present value of activity with a discount rate of 18.5% was estimated at 906.7 Iranian million Rials. Internal rate of return and the benefit-cost ratio were estimated at 84.8 percent and 4.4 units, respectively.

In general, according to the results of profitability index, the benefit-to-cost ratio of Ferula assa-foetida medicinal plant production was greater than one and the percentage of internal rate of return was higher than the bank discount rate, which confirms the economics of medicinal plant production in the target region. Based on this, while proposing extension planning for the continuous training of farmers of this strategic product to increase the productivity of Ferula assa-foetida farms due to the double profitability of gum harvest, educational planning has been recommended to empower the farmers of Ferula assa-foetida production units.

Nowadays, the significance of launching startups in the field of agriculture is more evident than ever. In order to achieve this important purpose, it is essential to provide an entrepreneurial ecosystem. Therefore, given the lack of experience in Iran’s agriculture sector of Iran for creating such ecosystems, it is necessary to build on the experiences of pioneering entrepreneurial sectors and identify the components of agricultural startup ecosystems. The present research was conducted with the purpose of designing a model for entrepreneurial ecosystem growth for Iran’s agricultural higher education system.

This study is considered a field research in terms of data collection, non-experimental research in terms of variable control, applied research in terms of purpose, and exploratory sequential mixed method research (in-depth interviews along with surveys) in terms of methodology. In the qualitative part of the study, we identified the constructs of the six components of Isenberg’s entrepreneurial ecosystem model, utilizing semi-structured interviews with 15 startup activists in Iran. In the quantitative part, these constructs were monitored. The statistical population of the quantitative part of the study consisted of 1800 startup experts in Iran. Using the Cochran formula, the sample size was determined to comprise 286 individuals. In order to assess the validity of the research tool (questionnaire), the divergent validity method was used, the value of which for the research constructs was above 0.5 ≤ AVE and acceptable. To determine reliability, the composite reliability method was utilized, the value of which for the research constructs was above 0.6 ≤ CR and acceptable. In order to process the data, we used the principal component analysis method and hierarchical component models, utilizing the Smart-PLS software.

According to the findings, five factors were identified for the policy component which are: strengthening the private sector, appointing a trustee for the ecosystem, supporting productive entrepreneurship, balanced development in the country, and government investment in the ecosystem. For the culture component, the factors of attention to entrepreneurial success stories, developing entrepreneurial culture and promoting entrepreneurial thinking were identified. For the component of support, the factors of attention to the role of advisors, providing the physical space, providing the legal infrastructure, and the role of professional organizations supporting entrepreneurship were identified. For the market component, the factors of networking, providing a competitive platform, and attention to the political status of the country’s market were identified. For the human capital component, the factors of business skills training ecosystem, reviewing the higher education structure, manpower training, encouraging the professors to become entrepreneurs, and target-based budgeting in universities were identified. For the financial capital component, the factors of access to financial resources and timely financial injections were identified. Moreover, the ranking of entrepreneurial ecosystem growth components in the context of agricultural higher education system in Iran were as follows: the component of human capital was in the first place, followed by the components of culture, support, market, policy, and financial capital.

  From the perspective of startup activists in Iran, the human capital factor has the highest level of importance in entrepreneurial ecosystem growth in agricultural higher education system of the country; therefore, it is recommended that Iran’s agricultural higher education system should fulfill this essential role through development of a strategic planning committee responsible for creating and revising the syllabi for university courses and adopting practice-based learning techniques in higher education institutions to further promote the human capital factor.

Traditional agriculture is no longer able to provide sustainable, safe, and nutritious food for a planet with a population of more than 9 billion by 2050. This has led researchers to study about modern agriculture and its related factors. In this regard, the present study was conducted with the aim of presenting an adoption model of IoT in the agricultural sector.

Indicators and factors affecting the implementation of IoT in the agricultural sector were extracted in two stages. Using content analysis, researches related to IoT in the agricultural sector was reviewed in the first stage. In the next stage, effective indicators on the adoption of IoT in the agricultural sector were extracted by Delphi technique and a survey of 15 experts whom were purposefully selected using snowball method.

The research findings showed that 63 indicators in the form of 11 categories and 4 dimentions are effective in adoption of IoT in the agricultural sector. Key concepts include environmental, technological, economic, and socio-cultural factors; sub-categories include cost factors, financial incentives, revenue factors, organizational factors, laws and policies, agricultural and ecological factors, technology infrastructure, security factors, IoT capabilities and features, human factors, and cultur-building.

It can be said that in order to adopt IoT in the agricultural sector, changes and reforms in all four main concepts including environmental, technological, economic, and socio-cultural factors seem necessary. In this regard, it is suggested to government to create laws supporting privacy and data ownership as well as to modify and revise the agricultural sector productivity law emphazing on the implementation of IoT technology. Also, providing cooperation between academic agriculture and information technology experts, developing knowledge-based companies in the field of IoT in agricultural sector, and creating an academic field of IoT are recommended.

To carry out knowledge management projects, organizations need to develop a knowledge management strategy. Considering the important role of the Apiculture Industry Development and Advocacy Fund (AIDAF), this article seeks to develop a knowledge management strategy for this organization.

The present paper is an applied study that was conducted using a mixed method (qualitative and quantitative), questionnaire, and interview within the conceptual model of the research. The statistical population of the study is comprised of two groups. The first group consisted of 16 employees of AIDAF and the second group consisted of eight managers and experts interviewed using the Delphi technique.

AIDAF was assessed using the Asian Productivity Organization Framework categories (Leadership, processes, people, technology, knowledge processes, learning, innovation, and knowledge management outcomes). According to the results of the questionnaires, the score obtained for AIDAF was 113.6 indicating that AIDAF readiness for knowledge management is at the initiation level.

Conclusion:

 Based on K-SWOT analysis, AIDAF is relatively strong in terms of internal factors (weakness and strength) while, it is in a moderate and almost fragile position in terms of external factors (opportunities and threats). Therefore, AIDAF managers need to take the necessary actions to improve knowledge management.

according to Iran development plans, rural cooperatives development and entrepreneurial performance is a necessity for rural development. Studies show their performance is influenced by employee`s social capital. Nevertheless, there has been little investigation of the social capital as a basis for people participation and a driver of entrepreneurial performance. On the other hand, organizational commitment is one of the basic strategic factors of entrepreneurial performance on which the entrepreneurial orientation will success due to existence of organizational identity. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of employees' social capital on the entrepreneurial performance of Rural Cooperatives through organizational commitment.

The type of research is descriptive-correlation. The statistical society of this study was composed of employees and managers of Rural Cooperatives of Sanandaj which was 680. The sample size was estimated to 246 people which their data was randomly gathered using standard questionnaires of social capital, entrepreneurial orientation, and organizational commitment. Finally, results are analyzed with structural equation modeling.

The Findings indicated that social capital of employees has a positive and significant effect on the entrepreneurial performance of Rural Cooperatives. Also result showed that organizational commitment has a positive and significant effect on cooperatives entrepreneurial performance as well as a mediating role in the relationship between social capital and entrepreneurial performance.

social capital is rooted in the employee`s daily relationship on which trust and shared values would be developed. So it is expected that their entrepreneurial performance improve due to employees social capital increase. Also employees that have a good social relationship with their colleagues as well as organizational goals are expected to have more organizational commitment and entrepreneurial orientation. So it is suggested to have an enforcing organizational culture to foster such relationships on which the employee`s commitment and entrepreneurial performance of rural cooperatives developed, to advance job security of free workers through insurance options and to enhance employee job satisfaction through motivation plans.

Today's environment has brought new waves of changes. The environment around organizations has become more dynamic than before and has caused organizations to achieve higher success and performance by using this dynamism. To adapt to today's changing world and to create an atmosphere of creativity and innovation, organizations must be able to create strategies to guide and control these changes with the help of organizational capital. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of social capital and the orientation of entrepreneurial attitude on the entrepreneurial intention with the mediating role of psychological capital.

The present research is descriptive-correlational and method and applied in terms of purpose. The statistical population of this study included all employees of Damon Sabz Chaharmahal Bakhtiari Agricultural Insurance Services Company, during which 560 employees were reported. In this study, the sample size was estimated to be 229 according to the Georgian and Morgan table, which were selected by the available sampling method. In this model, the variables of social capital and entrepreneurial orientation are independent variables, the psychological capital is a mediating variable and entrepreneurship intention is a dependent variable. In this study, two methods of content and face validity were used to determine the validity of the research. The validity of the content was confirmed by several experts and the face validity of the questionnaires was confirmed by several respondents. The reliability of the present research questionnaire was tested using Cronbach's alpha method. The obtained data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical methods using SPSS and PLS software.

The results of hypothesis testing showed that entrepreneurial attitude and social capital affect entrepreneurial intention. Psychological capital also plays a mediating role in influencing the entrepreneurial attitude on entrepreneurial intention.

Entrepreneurial attitude has a direct impact on the economic and social development of the people. The more a society participates in entrepreneurial activities, the faster it achieves economic and social development. Using entrepreneurship as a practical solution, we can take a step towards creating social justice, fighting poverty and economic, social and cultural development. Social capital also plays an important role in entrepreneurial activities. Also, awareness of the importance of psychological capital and strengthening research and development activities to develop businesses and improve their performance in the market is important. It is important to strengthen the entrepreneurial units in the company and to connect with the industry, to increase the participation of employees in the planning of projects, as well as to be aware of the achievements, and to make employees aware of the effectiveness of innovative projects. It is suggested to measure and evaluate the performance of the organization based on the number of new ideas and thoughts presented in the organization by capable, creative and innovative people and providing new solutions and even authoring books and articles. Also, holding festivals of top entrepreneurs, choosing the top national entrepreneurs from among entrepreneurs and introducing them in mass media can strengthen the culture of social entrepreneurship and instill a sense of altruism in society.

The rapid changes and developments of science and technology in recent years have made all countries, especially developing countries, face serious and new challenges, which passing through them requires creative and entrepreneurial approaches and methods. Therefore, entrepreneurship is a key element in societies that has a significant impact on productivity, innovation, employment and economic and social growth and development. The aim of the current research is to identify factors and obstacles affecting the development of agricultural entrepreneurship and strategic planning in this field.

In this research, first by reviewing previous studies and interviewing experts in the field of entrepreneurship, agriculture and agricultural business owners of Kerman province, a set of components of agricultural entrepreneurship were extracted. Then, research data was collected using the questionnaire tool and analyzed using Excel, SPSS and Expert choice statistical software. Finally, based on the matrix of paired comparisons and Fuzzy hierarchical analysis internal and external factors affecting agricultural entrepreneurship were identified and prioritized. SWOT matrix has been used to examine the current situation and formulate effective strategies for the development of agricultural entrepreneurship in Kerman province.

The results of the study indicate that the development of entrepreneurship requires the preparation of cultural and social contexts, cooperation of educational and research systems, administrative and financial structures and other support mechanisms. Based on the results of the SWOT model, revision strategies are the most suitable strategy for the development of agricultural entrepreneurship and agricultural businesses. Also, strategies development of entrepreneurial knowledge and skills, cooperation between public and private sectors in financing start-up businesses, consulting with experts and experienced people, revising and revising the structure of higher education, facilitating investment in the initial stages of starting a business, for the improvement and development of agricultural entrepreneurship, have had the first to fifth priority.

According to the obtained results, it can be said that creating entrepreneurship among farmers has been proposed as a new solution in the theory of development to build the capacity of farmers, which is also necessary to control changes in the direction of reforming and improving the agricultural extension system. Also, strengthening the capacity of the research and development department for better access to market information and techniques to improve the decision-making process of farmers with the aim of creating an entrepreneurial spirit and culture among rural communities and agriculture is inevitable. Therefore, it is suggested that education and promotion of entrepreneurial spirit in the agricultural sector and provision of cultural and economic platforms for entrepreneurship should be paid attention to by policy-makers.

The purpose of this article is to identify, categorize and model the factors affecting the marketing and development of Guilan rice acceptance. Rice is known as a strategic product in Guilan province, but its weak marketability has led to a decline in the agricultural economy of this product. It is thought that the findings of this study can be useful in better policy and management of this issue.

Due to the scope of the problem and the hiding of many influential variables in this research, we used grounded theory method as one of the qualitative research methods. For this reason, according to purposive sampling, we interviewed experts to achieve theoretical adequacy. to obtain the validity and reliability of the data, we used two methods. non-participant experts’ reviews and participant’ reviews.

A total of 395 initial codes were identified from 26 interviews after initial coding. After eliminating the iterations, 318 concepts and 61 main categories were structured based on strauss and corbin paradigm model. Finally, the categories were screened and the final 30 categories were identified consist of causal, contextual and intervening condition, strategies and results with the focus on the core category. In addition to the paradigm model, research-based suggestion were presented, which briefly include: developing rice alterant and processing industries, determination of guaranteed prices by the government for the purchase of rice from the farmer, sensitivity to customer needs, using e-marketing, developing agricultural marketing training programs, provide low interest loans, development of agricultural insurances for risk management, creation of a secondary source of income for farmers in unemployment seasons, timely supply and management of the product to the market, subsidies to domestic farmer to increase their incomes and reduce migration to cities, importing whole grain rice instead of white rice, allocating special funds for basic research, creating a strong organization with the aim of managing rice market and marketing services, holding farmers' meetings with relevant marketers, factory owners and managers, benefiting from food distribution marketers in other provinces, joint promotions of manufacturers and marketers, providing conditions for export.

The presented paradigm model is the result of interviews with groups that are tangibly related to rice crop from different views: Managers and policy makers, experts, farmer, factory owner, sellers of agricultural implements, non-farmer marketers (sellers), farmer marketers. The presence of these diverse groups shows the comprehensiveness of this research. The paradigm model obtained from the research along with the suggestions can be considered as a reliable basis for managing the pre-production, production and post-production of this strategic product and even other agricultural products and be effective in developing the market acceptance of this product.

Nowdays, rural entrepreneurshipis proposed as a strategy for the economic and social development of villages in many developed and developing countries. According to the studies, self-employment is the fastest growing agricultural sector in the villages, so the purpose of this study is explaination of the affecting factors to improve rural women’s business entrepreneurship in rural areas of Malayer.

The statistical community of the study included 92 active rural women entrepreneurs; the sample size is indicated by the census (N=125). Data study collect using questionnaire tool (two parts). The first part was about the demographic characteristics of rural women and the second part was explaining the concept of rural women's entrepreneurship. It was prepared a list of the most important variables in rural women's entrepreneurship fields. The validity of the questionnaire was proved by women's entrepreneurship experts and faculty members of rural development at Bu-Ali Sina University. Also, the reliability of the questionnaire was 0.83.SPSS/22 and factor analysis used for data analysis.

The result showed that there were seven factors that they important to rural women’s business entrepreneurial, Such as socio-cultural, family circumstances, educational-information, economic conditions, institutional-organizational, and financing factors.

The review of the past research showed that the global problems and inadequacies in the field of women's employment are double in Iran. In addition to the existence of global problems and inadequacies in the field of women's employment, these problems are double in Iran and this is even though, at least apparently, the historical, cultural, legal, and social texts in the research literature they do not have any obstacles in this relationship. These problems are such that the small percentage of women's employment in Iran has placed this country in the last rank even among developing countries. Examining the obstacles to women's employment and entrepreneurship from different perspectives brings to mind the hypothesis that, contrary to the majority of opinions, internal factors, especially the lack of creativity and self-confidence, are an important obstacle to women's optimal employment and entrepreneurship. Therefore, based on the results of the study, the following are suggested; Conducting training courses and improving risk management, facilitating loan conditions, offering products in the booth to participate in local exhibitions, cooperation with spouse and other family members, and communication skills training.

Nowodays, companies located in science and technology parks face increasing technological changes and experience a dynamic environment, in such a way that they constantly need to rearrange and recombine their technological assets to respond to the changing conditions of their market and technology. In order to follow this path, the company needs to acquire a new capability or upgrade its existing capabilities in each of the stages of commercialization. Therefore, agricultural companies based in science and technology park should actively develop new technology in products in order to achieve superior technological capabilities against their competitors and find more customers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Commercialization of Knowledge-Based Ideas on Enhancement of Technological Capabilities in In the agricultural companies of Science and Technology Park with the mediating role of organizational development and excellence.

This research regarding to the purpose, is applicable and descriptive-correlational in terms of data collection method. The statistical population consisted of all managers, assistants and senior experts of companies active in the field of agriculture based in Mazandaran Science and Technology Park, numbering 220 people. Based on the Cochran formula, 140 of them were selected through stratified random sampling method with proportional allocation. A researcher-made questionnaire with a Likert scale was used to collect data, and finally, the related information was analyzed using the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique using the Partial Least Squares (PLS) method by SmartPLS3 software. Cronbach's alpha for all constructs was higher than 0.7, and AVE was higher than 0.5, and the validity and reliability of the constructs were confirmed.

The results of the research showed that the commercialization of knowledge-based ideas and organizational development and excellence predicts 34.1% and 47.6% of the enhancement of technological capabilities variance of agricultural companies located in Science and Technology Park, respectively. It was also shown that the indirect effect of commercialization of knowledge-based ideas on enhancement of technological capabilities of these companies was 52.1%, which was determined by the organizational development and excellence mediator variable. R2 equal 0.597 indicated that the independent variable has a moderate prediction of the variable of improving technological capabilities.The fitting indices of the overall research model confirmed the desirable fitness of this model. therefore, organizational development and excellence mediated the relationship between commercialization of knowledge-based ideas and enhancement of technological capabilities of these companies.

According to the research finding , by increasing the amount of commercialization of knowledge-based ideas and using indicators of organizational development and excellence, such as: development of agricultural knowledge-based businesses, development of technical knowledge and agricultural technological innovation, development of skills in the field of agriculture, future research in the field of agriculture, adherence to the main work and independence and entrepreneurship, vertical development and phased development of investment provided the basis for the development of technological capabilities, including: management capabilities, communication capabilities, marketing capabilities, knowledge capabilities and commercialization experience, human power capabilities, and research and development capabilities in agricultural companies based in parks.

Green entrepreneurship is the process of creating a transformation in business and infrastructure in such a way that based on the preservation of the environment and compliance with standards, investment and economic development will be better. The purpose of this article is to investigate the obstacles and challenges of green entrepreneurship development from the point of view of experts and stakeholders using a combined approach.

The current research is applied research in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical research in terms of nature and has a qualitative-quantitative approach. The statistical population of the research includes two groups. The first group includes university professors and experts related to the subject, and the second group includes stakeholders. For the first group of research, 28 people were selected using snowball or chain sampling, and for the second group, 1230 users were selected based on the statistics obtained in the rural areas of the study area, which was finally determined based on Cochran's formula of 276 people. The research data was analyzed using SPSS 23 software. In the qualitative phase of the research, the obstacles and challenges of green entrepreneurship were extracted using the Delphi technique. In the quantitative phase of the research, the factor analysis method was used to identify the basic variables or factors to explain the correlation pattern between the observed variables.

The results in the qualitative part of the research indicated that the most important challenges for the development of green entrepreneurship were extracted using the opinions of experts. In the quantitative part, using exploratory factor analysis in the form of 4 factors that included economic, infrastructural, promotional-educational and social-cultural factors, which explained 65.62% of the total variance.

With the elimination of environmental entrepreneurship obstacles and challenges, including economic, infrastructural, promotion-educational and social-cultural obstacles, we can witness the elimination of rural poverty, redistribution of employment opportunities and rural development. It is suggested that in order to improve the indicators of green entrepreneurship, the promotional-educational factor should be given more attention to improve the final result.

Nowadays, the importance of entrepreneurship and its key role are not hidden from anyone. The objective of this research was to investigate the impact of social responsibility and emotional intelligence on the entrepreneurial spirit of students.

This research is descriptive, analytical, implementation model, field and practical in terms of purpose. The statistical population of this research consisted of the students of Sari University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources in the first semester of 1399-1400, which according to the size of the population, the number of statistical sample using Chrissy Morgan's table is 86 people. The research tools were three questionnaires: Carroll's social responsibility (1991), the entrepreneurial spirit of Houshmandan-Moghadam (2013) and the emotional intelligence of Siberia Shirring (1996), and simple and simultaneous regression was used to analyze the findings.

The results of the research indicated that the four components of social responsibility, Economic responsibility, legal responsibility and moral responsibility explain the variance of responsibility. Which accounted for the highest variance of social responsibility according to the components of social and economic responsibility, and also these 4 components were able to predict the entrepreneurial spirit of students (P≤.01). Emotional intelligence is a suitable predictor for students' entrepreneurial spirit at the level of P≤.01, and among the sub-components of emotional intelligence, empathy, self-efficacy, self-awareness and social skills, had the ability to predict entrepreneurial spirit (P≤.01).

The results show that paying attention to the variables of social responsibility and emotional intelligence can lead to more entrepreneurial tendencies and the efforts of planners to promote social responsibility and strengthen emotional intelligence seem to be essential. At the present time, the importance of entrepreneurship in the growth of societies is obvious and the role of universities and students is influential. Therefore, it is suggested that related institutions and organizations should plan and formulate goals for the growth and development of the entrepreneur-oriented educational system.