Investigating the factors affecting farmers' intention to adopt contract farming.

Agricultural endeavors, especially in developing nations, entail inherent risks. Amidst challenges related to capital and agricultural marketing, contract farming emerges as a highly effective strategy. It not only facilitates capital accumulation but also ensures consistent product sales, establishes fair pricing, and contributes to the overall balanced development of the agricultural sector. This concern has been a longstanding global consideration, with Iran now addressing it. Recognizing the paramount importance of implementing contemporary agricultural methodologies, including contract farming, this research systematically investigates factors influencing farmers' intentions in Iran. A survey methodology is employed for systematic information collection from a statistical population of 98,777 farmers in rural Markazi Province, Iran. Using the Karjesi and Morgan table for sample size determination, a representative subset of 383 farmers is selected through stratified random sampling, ensuring proportional assignment within strata. A researcher-made questionnaire, validated by expert panels and confirmed for reliability through Cronbach's alpha coefficient, serves as the research instrument. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS 27, and structural equation modeling was performed with SmartPLS4. The findings reveal that trust (0.528), awareness (0.332), and attitude (0.168), exert the most substantial causal influence on farmers' intention to embrace contract farming. Consequently, the research findings offer practical recommendations for the adoption of contract farming, providing valuable insights to policymakers and stakeholders for implementing targeted interventions aimed at boosting farmers' willingness to participate in contractual agreements.

Unveiling energy security in agriculture through vital indicators extraction and insights.

Despite advancements in meeting various human needs, energy supply remains a top priority for all countries worldwide. The escalating energy consumption in the agricultural sector underscores the necessity to scrutinize its energy usage. Presently, there exists an absence of a precise tool for accurately measuring this consumption. Hence, this study aims to identify indicators for measuring energy security in agriculture, conducted in three phases: content analysis, indicator validation, and field investigation. In the content analysis phase, energy security indicators were extracted and grouped into four categories: accessibility, availability, utilization, and sustainability. Following this, a two-stage validation process led to the identification of 18 indicators for assessing energy security in agriculture. In the field phase, a tailored questionnaire was distributed to 160 randomly selected farmers. The findings revealed that the availability component held the highest rank in establishing energy security, with an average score of 3.31. However, the current status of the access component indicates a more unfavorable situation compared to other dimensions. Consequently, to achieve energy security in agriculture, particular emphasis should be placed on enhancing energy access. Key areas to address include reducing transportation costs and minimizing the use of chemical pesticides. This indicates a necessity for focused interventions aimed at improving both energy access and sustainability within the agricultural sector. These efforts would contribute to enhancing economic efficiency and promoting environmental conservation.

A comprehensive study on criteria of sustainable urban waste management system: using content analysis.

The present study was developed to comprehensively analyze experts' views and content of documents focusing on goals and criteria of sustainable waste management system in Tehran, Iran. To this end, the suitable goals for sustainable waste management system in Tehran city were adopted from domestic, national and international documents. For this purpose, 27 national and international documents and 2 domestic documents related to waste management were selected and analyzed by using content analysis according to Gall, 1994. Further, in order to formulate goals in case of bottlenecks and challenges of waste management in Tehran, the focus group technique was used based on Stewart and Shamdasani, 2014. At this stage, 24 key experts in the field of waste management were interviewed in the form of 4 focus groups. Data collection were performed via audio recording and word-for-word implementation of conversations, taking notes and writing field notes. The data collection continued until reaching theoretical saturation. Next, content analysis and coding methods were used to analyze the data. Finally, the goals of waste management were divided into five general categories including: institutional (with emphasis on the integration and inclusion of the key elements of the urban waste management system), technical and infrastructural (with emphasis on the optimization of existing processes in the use of urban waste management technologies), environmental (with emphasis on minimizing the adverse health and environmental effects of the urban waste management system, economic (with emphasis on the economic and financial sustainability of the urban waste management system), and cultural-social (with emphasis on attracting the maximum participation of citizens and service recipients). The results clearly showed that sustainable waste management measures in Tehran should follow these five components in order to reduce the problems caused by unrealistic waste management and make sustainable use of basic, natural, financial and human resources.

Comprehensive motivational framework to drive paddy farmers towards pluriactivity.

Pluriactivity is a livelihood strategy in line with rural resilience. It is a phenomenon of farming in conjunction with other gainful activities. In pluriactivity, the desire and motivation of setting up an extra business and taking necessary actions are crucial. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to identify the underlying components of pluriactive paddy farmers' motivation and also the factors affecting them. The study was implemented based on the quantitative data obtained from 182 pluriactive paddy farmers. The results of the exploratory factor analysis accentuated that there are three components in each of the pull and push typologies. The components related to pull motivation included personal aspirations and pursuit (C1), proper conditions and facilities (C2) and growth and service markets (C3). Likewise, the components related to push motivation included financial status and job creation improvement (C4), uncertainty and risk mitigation (C5) and paddy farming economic enhancement (C6). Also, it was revealed that two motivational components of personal aspirations and pursuits (C1) and financial status and job creation improvement (C4) are attributed to paddy farmer's age of the pluriactivity initiation and also the farm size variables. It is imperative to consider both pull and push strategies in directing paddy farmers towards extension and development of pluriactivity in rural areas to enable farmers achieve sustainable livelihood in line with rural resilience.

Hearing protection behavior of farmers in Iran: Application of the protection motivation theory.

BACKGROUND: Noise in work environments is regarded as a serious issue. Hearing loss leads to socio-economic problems and huge costs to families and communities. Agriculture is one of the professions in which individuals face occupational noise. Farmers are the second leading group in suffering from hearing loss in the world. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to predict the hearing protection behavior of farmers by using the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT). METHOD: This descriptive study was conducted through a survey. The questionnaire was the main tool for data collection. The population of the study consisted of wheat farmers in Kermanshah province (N = 126,900). By using Krejcie and Morgan's table and stratified random sampling method, 382 farmers were taken as the research sample. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by the experts of this field, and the reliability was proved through a pilot study to calculate Cronbach's alpha. RESULTS: The findings showed that perceived self-efficacy, perceived response efficacy, perceived vulnerability, and perceived response costs had the strongest effects on farmers' motivation to protect their hearing, respectively. Furthermore, protection motivation had a significant effect on farmers' protection behavior. CONCLUSION: Threat and coping appraisals as cognitive mediating processes determined farmers' behavior for hearing protection. The results illustrated that the components of PMT were appropriate predictors of farmers' hearing protection behavior.

Tourism Development During the Pandemic of Coronavirus (COVID-19): Evidence From Iran.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic has created a great deal of fear and uncertainty about health, economy, and social life. Therefore, the health, social, and economic impacts of COVID-19 are of great importance. In prone rural communities, tourism industry can contribute to the sustainable economy and social development of the villagers, and as a dynamic economic sector, cause economic, social, cultural, and environmental changes. In this regard, the purpose of this inquiry was to develop tourism during the coronavirus pandemic using the social exchange theory (SET). The present study is a descriptive, correlational and causal inquiry that is conducted using survey technique. The statistical population included tourists visiting Sistan region around Hamoun Wetland in eastern Iran (N = 850). In the sampling process, 266 tourists were selected as a sample using random sampling strategy. The study instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire, whose validity was confirmed by a panel of subjectivists and its reliability was approved by a pilot study and Cronbach's alpha coefficients (0.87≥ α ≥ 0.71). Based on SET, the proposed causal model was able to explain about 56% ( RAdj2 = 0.562) of the variance changes in tourism development during the COVID-19 epidemic.

Students' academic burnout in Iranian agricultural higher education system: the mediating role of achievement motivation.

Agricultural higher education is one of the important context in which students may be face with educational burnout during their studies due to their conditions, such as the nature of the field of study, lack of graduates' employment, and reduction in motivation. This research aimed to investigate the factors underpinning the student's academic burnout of Iranian agricultural higher education system. The research was a kind of descriptive-correlational that has done through a survey. The statistical population composed of all students at all educational levels in agricultural faculties of the Iranian state-run universities (N = 236,973). Accordingly, 386 people were selected using the Krejcie and Morgan's tables and stratified random sampling method with proportional to size. A researcher-made questionnaire with 104 questions arranged in six parts used for data collection. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire were confirmed by calculating the Cronbach's alpha, average variance extracted (AVE) and composite reliability (CR). According to the results, the variables of high workload and achievement motivation were the most influential factors on academic burnout, respectively. This study's results can be a useful step for policymakers and planners in the agricultural higher education system to prevent student's academic burnout and remove obstacles to dynamic academic achievement.

Development of Psychometric Properties of Farmers' Occupational Health Behavior Questionnaire for Iranian Farmers.

Background: Agriculture is one of the most dangerous industries throughout the world, and its risk level is dictated by several determinants whose real weights are often unknown. Objective: The present work aims to develop psychometric properties of farmers' occupational health behavior questionnaire for Iranian farmers. Methods: In this qualitative-quantitative study, the items of the instrument were derived from the qualitative phase. Face validity, content validity, reliability, and consistency methods were applied. Construct validity was estimated by the exploratory factor analysis. Results: Eleven factors with factor loads of >0.501 were extracted as the main factors. They altogether captured about 58.97% of the variance of factors affecting farmers' occupational health behavior. The reliability of the instrument was confirmed as its Cronbach's alpha was in the range of 0.72-0.93. Conclusion: Given the complicated nature of occupational health behaviors among farmers, it is imperative to measure the factors influencing these behaviors precisely. Therefore, the development of a proper instrument can be very crucial in identifying influential factors. The findings showed that the developed instrument was optimally reliable and valid.

The relationship between ENGOs and Government in Iran.

The mottos of scholars of environmental protection movement have turned to "think globally, act locally". For this reason, environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) that have received significant attention in all societies are operational approaches towards protecting the environment and realizing sustainable development. Analysis of the nature of ENGOs' activities reveals that the main function of ENGOs is "participatory, voluntary and supportive". This function can be facilitated through the development of communication of these organizations with governments for the exchange of ideas in order to improve the implementation of developmental projects and approve new environmental laws. Given the fact that ENGOs act as civil societies in the public domain, it can be said that the operational environment for ENGOs is a special political space that should be provided through governments' assistance and support. That is why the present study investigates the relationship between Iranian ENGOs and government agencies. To this end, in-depth interviews are conducted with environmental experts in environmental protection organization and forests, range and watershed management organization in Iran and members and managers of Iranian ENGOs. Also, a questioner is designed and then, completed by managers of Iranian ENGOs. It is found that there is too little communication between Iranian ENGOs and governmental agencies. ENGOs don't discuss various environmental issues with government as advocators. Finally, the principles governing the relationship between NGOs and government is also discussed. Research findings indicate that the type of regime and maturity of NGOs affect the relationship between ENGOs and government agencies.