Agricultural Economics
T. Usefi Farahabadi; S. Shirzadi Laskookalayeh; F. Kashiri Kolaei; Kh. Abdi Rokni
Abstract
Introduction
The agricultural sector in Iran holds significant importance due to its substantial capabilities and capacities. This sector is full of risk and uncertainty. Risks and crises significantly influence producers’ behavior, shaping both the income derived from their products and their ...
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Introduction
The agricultural sector in Iran holds significant importance due to its substantial capabilities and capacities. This sector is full of risk and uncertainty. Risks and crises significantly influence producers’ behavior, shaping both the income derived from their products and their decisions regarding input use and product supply. Since individuals’ attitudes toward risk vary, effective risk management in the agricultural sector is a critical concern for farmers and stakeholders alike. Risk management encompasses the application of diverse methods, tools, and policies designed to mitigate the adverse impacts of different types of hazards. Risk and crises influence the behavior of producers, and the outcomes of these are reflected in their effect on the income generated from products and farmers' decisions regarding the use of inputs and product supply. People's attitudes toward these risks differ. Therefore, risk management in the agricultural sector is a critical issue for farmers and stakeholders in this field. Risk management refers to the use of various methods, tools, and policies to reduce the negative impacts of various types of hazards. Strategies such as crop diversification, contract farming, producing crops in exchange for guaranteed prices, and intercropping complementary crops can help mitigate their negative effects by spreading or distributing risks among individuals, organizations, products, and different options. Given the importance of this issue, the present study investigates the impact of risk aversion on crop diversification in the northern Rudpay region of Sari County.
Materials and Methods
In this study, the degree of risk aversion is calculated using the Multi-Attribute Utility Function (MAUF) method. This technique is based on calculating the weight of risk and, as a result, the risk aversion coefficient. This method is based on weighted goal programming. In this research, the two-stage cluster analysis method is used to classify the risk aversion coefficient. Finally, to examine the impact of risk aversion on crop diversification, the Tobit model will be used. The degree of crop diversification will be analyzed using the developed Herfindahl index. The data required for the research, such as water, land, fertilizer, and capital, were partly provided by centers affiliated with the Ministry of Jihad Agriculture in Mazandaran Province. The rest, such as the cropping patterns of each farmer, were collected through the completion of questionnaires and using simple random sampling in the northern Rudpay region.
Results and Discussion
Based on the classification, only one farmer is considered risk-neutral. This indicates that this individual among the farmers of the northern Rudpay region is indifferent to risk and chooses activities without considering their level of risk. In other words, the presence or absence of risk in performing activities is not a concern for them. The next category, which includes 24 individuals, indicates that 10% of the farmers have low risk aversion. The final category shows that 225 individuals (90%) of the sample fall into the high-risk aversion category. Therefore, as observed, the dominant tendency among the studied individuals is high risk aversion. This result suggests that farmers in the region are only willing to adopt new phenomena, such as modern programs and technologies, if they expect or anticipate a higher return compared to the current situation.
The results of the Herfindahl index analysis show that the average crop diversification index is 0.57, which, according to various studies, is a reasonable and acceptable value. Nearly 70% of the farmers, with an index below the average Herfindahl value, have crop diversification and include different products in their cropping patterns. Furthermore, the results indicate that there is no significant relationship between crop diversification and the farmer's age, while variables such as the risk aversion coefficient, the farmer's education, farm size, and the share of agricultural income have a significant effect on crop diversification.
Conclusion
Considering that agricultural products are generally produced in a risky and uncertain environment, this study aimed to calculate the degree of risk aversion of farmers in the northern Rudpay region of Sari County using the Multi-Attribute Utility Function. The results from determining the risk aversion level of farmers in the northern Rudpay region in the first part of the study show that the majority of farmers in the region have a strong degree of risk aversion. The results of examining the impact of socio-economic variables on crop diversification show that there is no significant relationship between crop diversification and the farmer's age. However, variables such as the risk aversion coefficient, the farmer's education, farm size, and the share of agricultural income have a significant effect on crop diversification. The share of agricultural income had the most significant impact on the choice of management tools for crop diversification. Specifically, as the share of income from agriculture increases, the likelihood of using management tools increases by 0.06%. Given the positive impact of education and income on the use of risk management tools, it is recommended to enhance farmers' awareness through agricultural extension programs and increase farmers' income by improving their cropping patterns.
Agricultural Economics
Kh. Abdi Rokni; S. Shirzadi Laskookalayeh; H. Amirnejad
Abstract
IntroductionThe growing importance of energy resources in the formation and growth of economic processes, as well as the need to exploit these resources based on environmental considerations and sustainable economic development, the issue of energy saving as an important issue in all economic infrastructures, ...
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IntroductionThe growing importance of energy resources in the formation and growth of economic processes, as well as the need to exploit these resources based on environmental considerations and sustainable economic development, the issue of energy saving as an important issue in all economic infrastructures, including industry. Global warming, declining crop yields, climate change and acid rain are the result of fossil fuel consumption. Hence, in recent years, there has been a growing global emphasis on renewable energy across both developed and developing nations. The primary objective is to decrease reliance on conventional energy sources, mitigate environmental pollution, and attain sustainable energy practices. Materials and WaysIn the present study, a multi-objective mathematical planning model was designed, in which the optimal crop cultivation model in the southern grove area of Babol city, taking into account the maximum profit from the sale of crops, relying on expanding the use of renewable energy sources in the supply basket Irrigation water and reduction of fossil energy consumption used in irrigation water supply were determined. The objective functions of the study are in the form of two objectives: profit maximization and minimization of greenhouse gas emissions. The amount of profit considered in the present study is equal to the difference between income from crop production and total costs, including irrigation, planting and harvesting costs, seed costs, fertilizers and pesticides, and labor costs. The greenhouse gases considered in this study encompass CO2, N2O, and CH4, with the objective of minimizing their emissions for the determination of an optimal crop pattern. The study endeavors to resolve the proposed nonlinear multi-objective pattern utilizing the constraint epsilon method. Subsequently, employing the energy link indexes (E), the optimal solution is identified among the proposed alternatives through the TOPSIS multi-criteria decision model. The statistical population for this investigation comprises farmers in the southern forest area of Babol city. The analysis of results has been conducted using Matlab, Lingo, and Excel software. Results and DiscussionIn this study, a multi-objective model with objective functions of profit maximization and minimization of greenhouse gas emissions subject to energy, energy flow, water, fertilizer, and capital and land constraints using the method the constraint is resolved and eventually the study decision variables are obtained. In terms of recyclable energy, the model suggests that four types of Tarom rice, Shiroodi rice, soybean, and corn be grown with 0.40, 0.34, 0.14 and 0.12 ha / ha, respectively. As can be seen, in accordance with the outputs of the optimal model in terms of renewable energy, most of the cultivated land is allocated to Tarom and Shiroodi rice. The total amount of energy required in the optimal model in terms of renewable energy was 2518 kWh, of which fossil energy is 79% and solar energy is 21%. According to the calculations made in Equation 3, to provide 21% (518 kWh) of solar electricity required by the irrigation system in order to irrigate one hectare of the proposed model of the optimal model in the study area, a solar panel with a capacity of 0.22 kW will be required. The results of the model show that in terms of renewable energy, with the implementation of the proposed model, the profit of farmers in the region per hectare increases from 14776.21 to 14778.18 million rials compared to the situation of non-renewable energy in the entire growing season. In other words, in the current situation, people cultivate crops regardless of energy consumption and production costs (traditional method of rice production by local farmers), while by choosing the right model, the farmer's economic benefits can be increased by 0.013%. At the same time, it saved a significant amount of fossil energy consumption.The minimum emission target of the model in terms of renewable energy states that for the cultivation of 0.40 hectares of Tarom rice, 0.34 hectares of Shiroodi, 0.14 hectares of soybean and 0.12 hectares of corn, at the rate of 2836 kg equivalent to CO2 pollution Fertilizers, pesticides and fossil fuel consumption will be released, which is 9% less than the current situation where only fossil fuels are used to irrigate crops. ConclusionIn the present study, the interests of farmers were considered by considering the maximum profit from the sale of agricultural products by relying on the use of renewable energy sources in the energy basket of the agricultural sector (by reducing the fuel consumption of fossil energy sources used) in determining the cultivation pattern. Optimally calculated and compared with current conditions. The results show that the optimal model in terms of renewable energy, shows a more appropriate achievement of goals than in the absence of renewable energy. To this end, it is suggested that agricultural policy makers, by promoting the use of solar energy in irrigation and the use of this large capacity in the country, justify farmers to the potential benefits of solar energy (in the agricultural sector) and its widespread use, reduce current agricultural subsidies in the energy sector. Fossilization and subsidizing solar energy, encouraging the private sector to invest in solar projects can help power irrigation projects.
