M. Charmchian Langerodi
Abstract
Introduction Agriculture relies on nature and farmers face environmental, social, financial and legal issues that makes farming to be consistently and strongly associated with risk. Agriculture can be considered to be the most risky economic venture. Ahmadi (1) listed several main sources of risk that ...
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Introduction Agriculture relies on nature and farmers face environmental, social, financial and legal issues that makes farming to be consistently and strongly associated with risk. Agriculture can be considered to be the most risky economic venture. Ahmadi (1) listed several main sources of risk that farmers face. Economic risk includes price fluctuations for raw materials such as seed and fertilizer and for machinery at the pre-market delivery stage, difficulty obtaining bank credit and loans, price volatility for products in the post market delivery stage, inconsistent government policies for products and global fluctuations in the price of products. Social risk includes theft of crops, production and agricultural machinery and war. Nature-related risk includes natural disasters, climate change, agricultural pests and diseases. Market risk includes changes in the price of raw materials and products and increasing interest rates. Given that the range of agricultural activities having critical risk are diverse and the climate can vary widely, more sophisticated services are needed to meet the demands, cope with hazards and decrease risk. Understanding how women rice farmers deal with risk is essential for educators, and agriculture-related industries such as insurance, and policymakers. If the attitudes of these women towards risk are accurately recognized, risk management strategies, risk-related educational programs and risk strategies can be designed to meet their needs. The overallaim of this research isto investigate factors affecting risk management, and proposing and designing a model among rice cultivating women in Sari.
Materials and Methods: The population of the study comprised 1677rice cultivating women in Sari of whom 248 were selected through stratified random sampling. A combination of quantitative, and descriptive-inferential statistics served as the methodology for the study and SPSS 16 and LISREL were applied for data analysis. To determine the validity of the questionnaire, copies were distributed to experts in the field and their comments were recorded and relevant corrections were made. Corrected content validity was determined by experts at the Agricultural Organization of Mazandaran province, then reliability of the questionnaire was assessed by random completion of 30 questionnaires by women rice farmers in Qaem Shahr by interview and survey. Cronbach’s alpha and ordinal theta were 0.84 and 0.89, respectively. The questionnaire contained questions about age, work experience, area of owned land, extent of financial difficulty related to rice farming, and educational level of the women rice farmers. The questionnaire contained questions about risk management approaches (17 questions), sources of information for women rice farmers in Sari (12 questions) and sources for borrowing funds (7 questions). The Likert scale was: none (0), very low (1), low (2), moderate (3), high (4), and very high (5).
Results and Discussion: The average age range of women in the study was 46.68 years and their relative work experience was 26.17 years. The average financial difficulty for the women was high. The woman rice farmers were most likely to obtain loans from friends and neighbors and also to obtain financing from winning lottery. There was a significant positive relationship between information resources, borrowing resources, extent of financial difficulty, rice cultivation experience, and educational level with risk management methods. Tabatabaee et al. (30) stated that the extent of borrowing affected risk management. Tiraee (31) pointed to agricultural experience affecting risk management. Monfared (21), Torkamani and Ezatabadi (33) and Garavandi and Alibige (10) believe that the level of education affects risk management,which is consistent with the results of this study. Structural equation modeling showed that information sources influenced the use of risk management methods.Structural equation modeling showed that information sources had an effect on risk management rate which is consistent with the results of Tabatabaeeet al.(30) and Stevenet al.(29).
Conclusion: The results indicate that the average age of women was 46.68 years and their average work experience was 26.17 years, which represents a good work experience on paddy land. Women should be encouraged to pursue off-farm income sources and occupations as risk management methods. Collaborative rice farming and consulting agricultural experts are other forms of risk management. Recommended sources of information were the Internet, Jihad-e-Keshavarzi management and service center, participating in agricultural extension classes, educational publications and communicating with agricultural experts. Women farmers should be encouraged to increase their knowledge and awarenessabout the sources of risk and this can improve risk management. This should be regarded as a mission for agriculture extensions. Borrowing sources, the extent of farmer financial difficulties, work experience and educational level should be considered when risk management methods for women rice farmers are advocated.
M. Alikhani Dadoukolaei; M. Charmchian Langerodi
Abstract
Job satisfaction is a positive or pleasant emotional state resulting from a person’s appreciation of his/her own job or experience. The study purpose was to model job satisfaction for teachers working in Agricultural institutes within Mazandaran province of Iran. The study used a descriptive-correlative ...
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Job satisfaction is a positive or pleasant emotional state resulting from a person’s appreciation of his/her own job or experience. The study purpose was to model job satisfaction for teachers working in Agricultural institutes within Mazandaran province of Iran. The study used a descriptive-correlative design . The statistical population (including all instructors working for agricultural Institutes within Mazandaran Province of Iran) was es 127 teachers. Using Cochran’s formula, the sample size was estimated at 85 teachers. To increase the viability of the study, the planned sample size was determined att 110 teachers from which 108 teachers completed the questionnaires. The study was conducted using questionnaire. The content validity of the questionnaire was assessed by a group of extension specialists. In order to measure the reliability of research questionnaires, 29 teachers who were randomly selected. completed some questionnaires. Cronbach's alpha, ordinal theta and combination reliability were calculated by 0.95, 0.92 and 0.87 respectively. The results indicate that the magnitude of job satisfaction for %85.2 of instructors working in Agricultural institutes within Mazandaran province was moderate and relatively high. Based on the estimated Structural equation model, the highest effect on the job satisfaction was related to the environmental factor with the path coefficient of 0.64. Motivational factor with the path coefficient of 0.26 had a significant effect on job satisfaction. In addition, the environmental factor with the path coefficient of 0.55 had a significant effect on the Motivational factor.
M. Charmchian Langerodi
Abstract
During recent years the concept of farmer empowerment has been considered as an important part of many development organizations’ and NGOs’ policies for supporting agricultural and rural development. The overall goal of this study was modeling the farmers’ psychological empowerment indicators in ...
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During recent years the concept of farmer empowerment has been considered as an important part of many development organizations’ and NGOs’ policies for supporting agricultural and rural development. The overall goal of this study was modeling the farmers’ psychological empowerment indicators in Mazandaran province, Iran. To achieve this goal, farmers’ psychological empowerment indicators and affecting factors on farmers’ empowerment were identified in Mazandaran province. The statistical population included 1368233 farmers living in the Mazandaran province, Iran. The sample size was determined using Cochran’s formula. Stratified sampling with proportional allocation was used in this study. Research methodology applied in this study was a combination of descriptive-analytical and quantitative methods. To run the appropriate analyses, SPSS and LISREL softwares were employed. Cronbach’s alpha and ordinal theta were 0.91 and 0.91 respectively. The mean of farmers’ age and their farming experiences were respectively 49.31 and 25.58 years. 22 percent of farmers’ psychological empowerment variance was determined through four factors of farmers’ loan sources, solutions (positive factors), training methods and obstacles. The bank was found the primary source of loan fund for farmers. Among the solutions (positive factors), providing credits and loans to farmers was the most important in the farmers’ psychological empowerment in Mazandaran province. Low literacy level was found the main obstacle in empowering farmers. Participating in farmer field school was found the most useful method to empower the farmers.
