Agriculture Section Research Articles

Out Where the West Begins: Profiles, Visions, and Strategies of Early Western Business Leaders by Philip F. Anschutz

Reviewed by: Out Where the West Begins: Profiles, Visions, and Strategies of Early Western Business Leaders by Philip F. Anschutz Clinton Mohs Out Where the West Begins: Profiles, Visions, and Strategies of Early Western Business Leaders. By Philip F. Anschutz, with William J. Convery and Thomas J. Noel. Denver: Cloud Camp Press, 2015. 392 pp. Figures, illustrations, index. $34.95 cloth. Philip F. Anschutz’s Out Where the West Begins profiles the businessmen who made the American West a viable marketplace while also creating and disseminating popular western imagery. The forty-nine biographies included in the book focus on strategic and technological innovations and are organized by venture—trading, farming and ranching, transportation, mining, manufacturing, banking, and entertainment. Highlighting the myriad connections among the businessmen featured in his text, Anschutz asserts that these westering entrepreneurs “created the American West[,] … both the perception and the reality” of the region (13). Out Where the West Begins is most successful in the breadth of Anschutz’s profiles, which range from 1800 to 1920 and emphasize the cumulative enterprise of national growth. An excellent example of this understanding occurs in the agriculture section. Rather than vaunting Henry Miller as the apotheosis of industrialscale ranching, his work is contextualized with Charles Goodnight and John Wesley Iliff—individuals who identified the untapped western market and met its demands by developing the means to raise cattle on an unprecedented scale. In so doing, Anschutz delineates the gradual nature of westward expansion and underscores the vital role the Great Plains served as a proving ground for innovations that would make settling the Far West possible. Although providing insight into the process of expansion, Anschutz tends to neglect the labor unrest, environmental devastation, and unstable economy that often attended these innovators and their breakthroughs. The forced removal and assimilation of Native Americans is also almost entirely omitted. While these issues are briefly mentioned, Anschutz does so in a manner that obfuscates the direct connection between these conflicts, their costs, and the spread of American markets and population into the West. Underlying these exclusions is Anschutz’s use of financial success and philanthropy to rationalize the repercussions of industry. While a full exegesis of the social, environmental, and economic ramifications of growing business interests in the West is beyond the book’s scope, the failure to more meaningfully engage this legacy is ultimately a missed opportunity to render the full complexity of these enterprising individuals. From the nearly fifty portraits emerges an understanding of national growth not merely spurred on by a sense of preordained destiny but as underpinned by myriad business interests. Out Where the West Begins elucidates how interdependent innovations across various industries influenced the cultural imagination and helped ensure the success of America’s westward expansion. [End Page 69] Clinton Mohs English Department University of Nevada, Reno Copyright © 2017 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Water Crisis in Iran: Its Intensity, Causes and Confronting Strategies

Objectives: This investigation was done in order to study Iran’s water crisis intensity as well as its causes and also to propose some solution to confront and mitigate this crisis. Methods/Statistical Analysis: This research was carried out as a documentary and library research using Grounded Theory Method. Also 3 famous and common water crisis indexes were used in order to assess Iran’s water crisis. Findings: Results of all investigated indexes showed and confirmed that Iran is in intense water stress condition. Among the factors causing and intensifying this crisis the most important factors are: Irregular water consumption and increasing demand for water along with limited water resources and consequently water supply-demand imbalance; Rapid urbanization along with population growth and its unsuitable geographical distribution across the country; Iran’s geographical and climatic condition as a country in arid and semi-arid region of the world; Mismanagement of water resources; Improper development of agriculture section along with unsuitable cropping pattern in agriculture. Application/Improvement: some exit strategies in two categories of short-term and long-term solutions are presented at the end in order to confront water crisis condition of Iran.

Estimation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and energy use efficiency (EUE) analysis in rainfed canola production (case study: Golestan province, Iran)

Increasing the use of energy inputs in agricultural section has been led to numerous environmental concerns such as greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, high consumption of non-renewable resources, loss of biodiversity and environment pollutions. The study was aimed to analyze the energy use efficiency (EUE) and estimation of GHG emissions from rainfed–based canola production systems (RCPSs) in Iran. In this study, data were collected from 35 farms in Golestan province (northeast of Iran) by a face to face questionnaire performed and statistical yearbooks of 2014. The amount of GHG emissions (per hectare) from inputs used in RCPSs was calculated using CO2 emissions coefficient of agricultural inputs. Results showed that the EUE and net energy (NE) were as 3.44 and 35,537.81 MJ ha−1, respectively. The value of these indices for the study area indicated that surveyed fields are approximately efficient in the use of energy for canola production. The highest share of energy consumption belonged to nitrogen fertilizer (42.09%) followed by diesel fuel (39.81%). In production of rainfed canola, GHG emission was estimated as 1009.91 kg CO2 equivalent per hectare. Based on the results, nitrogen fertilizer (44.15%), diesel fuel (30.16%) and machinery (14.49%) for field operations had the highest share of GHG emission. The total consumed energy by inputs could be classified as direct energy (40.09%), and indirect energy (59.91%) or renewable energy (2.02%) and nonrenewable energy (97.98%). These results demonstrate that the share of renewable energies in canola production is very low in the studied region and agriculture in Iran is very much dependent on non-renewable energies. In this study, the energy use status in RCPSs has analyzed and the main involved causes have been interpreted.

The impact of social and economic factors on farmers’ willingness to participate in the management of use and maintenance of the irrigation network at the downstream area of Sattar Khan Dam, Ahar

Water is considered as one of the most vital factor in human survival. Absolute limitation of this vital substance as a renewable source and placement of considerable parts of country lands in arid and semiarid areas have caused agriculture section confront wide limitations of water resources. Hence water resource management, maintenance and preservation are considered vital for our country. To achieve this goal, beneficiaries' cooperation is considered essential in irrigation management. Present investigation was carried out in coastal lands of Ahar Sattar Khan Dam. The main aim of present study is to explain factors influencing beneficiaries' tendency to cooperate in utilization and maintenance management of irrigation channel. Statistical population of present investigation involves all 1624 beneficiaries of Ahar Sattar Khan Dam coastal lands. Number of beneficiaries needed for sample size calculated using Cochran reviewed formula. 260 beneficiaries were selected by classifying and proportional sampling method. Research method of present study is survey and data were gathered using questioner and interview. Questioner reliability was acceptable calculating Alpha Kronbach coefficient (0.78). Results obtained from this investigation indicated that 77.5% of beneficiaries are inclined to cooperate in irrigation management and 22.5% were reluctant There is a meaningful relation between willingness to participate and the variables of the extent of land ownership, agricultural income, number of children, non-agricultural income and gender. Results of legit regression showed that about 80 percent of dependent variable changes were related to the extent of land ownership, agricultural income, non-agricultural income and agricultural history.

Analyzing Effective Factors on Villagers’ Behavior to Apply Educational Services in Guilan Province

Analyzing Effective Factors on Villagers’ Behavior to Apply Educational Services in Guilan Province

Trayectorias de la producción familiar en las últimas décadas: una exploración de las transformaciones sociales agrarias en los márgenes de la región pampeana argentina

<p>El artículo aborda las transformaciones sociales relacionadas con la profundización del capitalismo en el sector agropecuario pampeano argentino. Para esto, hace hincapié en los procesos de diferenciación social que se han presentado durante las últimas tres décadas en unidades productivas familiares de una zona relativamente marginal desde el punto de vista agropecuario —el sudoeste de la provincia de Buenos Aires (Argentina)—. Con una metodología exploratoria y cualitativa, se analizaron las estrategias y trayectorias de 30 familias productoras desde finales de la década de 1980 hasta la actualidad, con el objeto de explicar por qué, habiendo tenido un punto de partida común (en la década de 1980 todas eran unidades familiares), algunas continuaron trabajando bajo formas de organización familiar, otras adoptaron características empresariales y el resto debió abandonar la actividad.</p>

A design of ecological restoration and eco-revetment construction for the riparian zone of Xianghe Segment of China’s Grand Canal

ABSTRACTThe riparian zone is a unique landscape component that represents an ecological transition between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. The restoration of riparian zones has become an ecological focus in the realms of both urban development planning and watershed management. This paper applies the concept of landsenses ecology, ecological restoration principles and a range of eco-revetment models in riparian zone restoration for Xianghe Segment of China’s Grand Canal (XSCGC). Based on field trip investigation, the restoration considerations involve the current status quo of the segment’s riparian zone. In addition to the analysis of key flood control areas, the restoration considers the main functions of various landscape components. The riparian zone is divided into five typical sections: the wetland ecological conservation section in the upper reaches, the wetland ecological conservation section in the lower reaches, the riverside leisure and entertainment section in the middle reaches, the restoration and reconstruction section in the middle reaches, and the ecological agricultural section in the lower reaches. Based on the spatial form, human senses and the flood control function of the riparian zone, three typical revetment models are applied, namely original natural revetment, natural revetment, and hybrid revetment. A vegetation plan was proposed for every functional section. The aim of the present study is to provide a reference for the restoration and ecological management of the riparian zone in XSCGC.

Improvement of Pest Detection Using Histogram Adjustment Method and Gabor Wavelet

Plant diseases reduce production and cause huge economic losses in the agricultural section. At present, plant diseases are diagnosed by specialists and with the naked eyes. Presenting a simple, fast, cheap and accurate way for the diagnosis of plant diseases is necessary. In this paper, by using image processing and machine vision techniques, four methods for the diagnosis and classification of the diseases of corn leaf are presented. In the first method, the affected parts were separated from the healthy parts using the histogram adjustment; subsequently, a two-layer Perceptron Neural Network was used to categorize the final results and diagnose the disease type. The results indicate that Neural Network with an average of 65.15% is able to correctly diagnose the disease of the corn leaf. In the second method, different types of Laplacian filters, Canny and Sobel were applied on the leaves; after the separation of the affected parts, the classification and diagnosis phase were implemented. The results revealed that the algorithm with the accuracy of 67.94%, can correctly diagnose the disease. In the third method, using the analysis method of principal components, data dimension was reduced, and then was sent to the Support Vector Machine classifier for the diagnosis of the disease. This algorithm is able to correctly diagnose the disease with an accuracy of 75.28%. Furthermore, the algorithm is able to diagnose Class 5 and 4 diseases in a more accurate way. Finally, in the fourth method, a combination of Gabor filter and visual features was used in order to diagnose the type of disease. In this method, the proposed algorithm can correctly diagnose the disease with the accuracy of 90.04%.

不同类型人类活动干扰对河岸带外来植物群落的影响——以北京永定河为例

PDF HTML阅读 XML下载 导出引用 引用提醒 不同类型人类活动干扰对河岸带外来植物群落的影响——以北京永定河为例 DOI: 10.5846/stxb201501060032 作者: 作者单位: 中国科学院生态环境研究中心,中国科学院生态环境研究中心,中国科学院生态环境研究中心 作者简介: 通讯作者: 中图分类号: 基金项目: 国家自然科学基金重点项目（41030744）；国家重点基础研究发展计划（973计划）项目（2006CB403402）；科技部国家重点实验室专项经费项目（SKLURE2008-1-01） Community characteristics of riparian alien plants influenced by different types of human disturbance: A case study of Yongding River, Beijing Author: Affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology,Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences,Chinese Academy of Sciences,State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology,Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences,Chinese Academy of Sciences,State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology,Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences,Chinese Academy of Sciences Fund Project: 摘要 | 图/表 | 访问统计 | 参考文献 | 相似文献 | 引证文献 | 资源附件 | 文章评论 摘要:强烈的人类活动对自然生境的扰动促进了外来植物侵入河岸带，但不同类型的人类活动干扰对外来植物的影响有所不同。按照不同人类活动干扰类型设置了山峡段、平原段和城市段，通过比较河段间河岸带外来植物群落特征的差异，探讨不同人类活动干扰类型对河岸带外来植物群落的影响。结果表明：（1）永定河河岸带共有维管束植物27科72属101种，外来植物13科28属29种。外来种比例高达28.7%，其中82.4%的国外外来种来自美洲和亚洲。（2）不同河段间的外来植物群落的物种构成和优势度呈现出显著性差异。外来种比例由山峡段的20.9%，上升至平原段和城市段的30.2%和25.5%；而优势度由12.1%，分别上升至13.4%和17.5%。（3）不同河段间的外来植物群落生活型结构有显著性差异。多年生草本植物在山峡段比例最高，达到66.7%，在平原段和城市段较低，分别为46.2%和30.8%；而一年生草本植物在城市段比例最高，达到69.2%，在平原段和山峡段较低，分别为53.8%和33.3%。（4）平原段属于农业干扰类型，其河岸带外来植物主要以农业类杂草为主，如禾本科的假稻（Leersia japonica）和菊科的钻叶紫菀（Aster subulatu）；城市段是城市干扰类型，外来植物中入侵种比例和优势度较高，典型入侵种为反枝苋（Amaranthus retroflexus）和牛筋草（Eleusine indica）等。北京永定河不同河段河岸带外来植物的种类构成特点，反映了河岸带外来植物受快速城市化、农业活动等不同人类活动干扰的影响呈逐渐扩大的趋势。 Abstract:Riparian zones are highly modified by frequent and intense human disturbances worldwide. Human-mediated disturbances often occur in concert with the proliferation of alien plants in the riparian zone, although their effect on alien riparian plants may differ among disturbance types (agriculture, urbanization). However, few studies in China have attempted to detect these effects on alien plants in riparian zone. The objectives of this study are (1) to compare the characteristics of alien herbal plant communities in different sections of a river (mountain section, agricultural section, and urban section) and (2) to explain the differences in alien plant communities that are caused by different types of disturbances (agriculture and urbanization).This study was conducted in 2009 in the riparian zone of the Yongding River in Beijing. The river stretches were categorized into three river sections based on the human-mediated disturbance types in that stretch of the river: mountain section (natural section without disturbance), plain section (agricultural disturbance), and urban section (urbanization disturbance). Using the transect method, 11 study sites were set up in this three river sections. The results show that the vascular herbal flora of the study area comprises 101 species from 72 genera and 27 families, including 29 alien plant species from 28 genera and 13 families. Alien species represent 28.7% of the total herbal flora, of which 82.4% originated from America and Asia. The species composition and dominance index of alien riparian plant communities change significantly among the three river sections. The percentage of alien species increases from 20.9% in the mountain section to 30.2% and 25.5% in the plain and urban river sections, respectively; the dominance index increases significantly from 12.1% to 13.4% and 17.5% in the plain and urban river sections, respectively. The composition of alien riparian plant communities inferred from the life cycle of the plants also shows significant difference among the three river sections. Perennial species are the most abundant in the mountain section (66.7%), while they are represented by 46.2% and 30.8% in the plain and urban sections, respectively. In contrast, the highest percentage of annual species is found in the urban section (69.2%) followed by the plain section (53.8%) and the mountain section (33.3%). The plain section is greatly affected by agriculture, where the alien riparian plants are mainly dominated by agricultural weeds such as Leersia japonica and Aster subulatus. The urban section is strongly influenced by the disturbance from rapid urbanization, in which the percentage and dominance index of invasive plant species are high. The typical invasive plants are Amaranthus retroflexus and Eleusine indica. These results indicate that the species composition of alien riparian plants differs among river sections and they are affected by different types of human-mediated disturbance (agriculture, urbanization). Our results also indicate that alien riparian plants may become predominant and spread further in the riparian zone due to human activities such as rapid urbanization and agriculture. 参考文献 相似文献 引证文献

Optimizing Patterns for Cultivating Agricultural Products toward Sustainable Development (Case Study: Sahl-Abad Plain)

Purpose: Agriculture has a fundamental role in societies. The unique performance of this section of economic is the reason for strict attention to sustainable development in agriculture. Achieving this important matter needs various programs and policies which include optimizing and organizing patterns for cultivating agricultural products as a fundamental action for sustainable development in agriculture. Located in Nehbandan, Sahl-Abad Plain is one of the geographical regions in east part of the country which has severe restrictions for human and natural environment. By using goal programming model, in this study we tried to present optimized patterns for cultivating agricultural products in Sahl-Abad plain emphasizing on economic efficiency of natural basics for production such as water. Methodology: This study is an applied research. For data collection, we used documentary research and fieldwork. A sample size of 250 producers living in 28 villages in Sahl-Abad plain was studied. Data analysis together with presenting patterns for cultivation has been done by cluster analysis and calculating functions of goal programming model or multiple goals. Findings: the results show that cultivating millet by current pattern is not economically or environmentally affordable. In this context, economic goals have priority to environmental goals too. The optimized pattern which is presented in both structures of goal programming and also in all groups leads to decrease in consumption of measures of production limiting agents. Research limitation: Lack of up to date statistics of production costs in agriculture section especially farming in studied regions. Practical implications: Field visits and completing questionnaires about costs/ income survey for agricultural products. Original/value: the special characteristic of this study is that it presents optimized pattern for cultivating agricultural products for a region that is fragile and vulnerable environmentally and the results of this study could be used by programmers.

Strategic Planning for Remediation and Optimization of Irrigation and Drainage Networks: A Case Study for Iran

Abstract Development of modern irrigation and drainage networks is one of the effective strategies to preventing water losses and optimal usage of water resources in agricultural section. So far, about 1.8 million ha of the total 8.5 million ha irrigated lands are irrigated using modern irrigation networks in Iran. Many new irrigation networks are also under construction. In the other hand, recent studies have shown that the most of the existing networks which have been constructed with huge costs suffer from various social and technical. The nature and type of these problems are different depending on the stages of construction and operation in different networks. In this research, an attempt has been made to determine the main problems of the networks, and remediation measures for rehabilitation and optimal modification of the networks. For this purpose, the methodology and principals of strategic planning was used. To do this, the pattern of strategic planning, including organizing of main and sub main committees with participating of stakeholders, review of literatures, field studies and visits, holding on workshops was applied. Based on arguments made in the workshops and main committee, the whole problems of the irrigation and drainage networks were followed in four principal subjects including drainage and environment, structural and construction, managing aspects and construction materials. The existing problems in the networks were drawn in the form of problem trees for each subject separately. Then in the basis of problem trees, target trees were developed to optimize and modification of irrigation and drainage networks. Based on the target trees, and considering previous studies and experiences, distinctive executive and research strategies were proposed considering various basic criteria. Finally temporal priorities (short, middle and long term) were determined to performance of the suggested executive and research strategies.

Socio–Economical Impact Assessment of Drought on the Rural Agriculture; a Case Study of Rural District in Southern Iran

This study has aimed to assess the social and economic impacts of drought on agriculture of a rural district in southern Iran entitled Jiroft County. To prepare data, about 217 questionnaire forms were collected in the field works during 2011-2012 then statistically analyzed. According to drought time series of the study area, the year 2008 is known as a strongest drought, which has effected on job sharing, income rate and cultivated areas. The impacts of drought on agricultural workforces and migration are approximately negligible, while the changes on job condition after drought are temporarily high (P<0.01). The correlation analysis exhibited a positive meaningful relation between drought effect and economic income. Income of household from agricultural activities has been remarkable declined hence the rate of investment on agricultural section has been reduced. The changes in household income, cultivated areas and agricultural employment have leaded the various migrations in recent years. About 30% of the population has migrated out of the study area after the 2008 drought event. Due to the migration of ~1100 populations with mean monthly income of ~30 USD, the volume of ~400,000 USD have been lost annually after the 2008 drought event in the study area.

Economic Modeling of the Regional Polices to Combat Dust Phenomenon by Using Game Theory

In recent years, dust phenomenon as an environmental externality has affected Iran and other Middle East countries. The major parts of dust which has polluted Iran's atmosphere, mainly comes from Iraq. This dust phenomenon has also had a lot of economic and social damages for these two countries. The main aim of this study is to analyse the advantages of cooperation between Iran and Iraq against this phenomenon. The significant damage of this phenomenon has been estimated on health and hygiene, transportation and agriculture sections. The expenditure in contrast with this problem has also been calculated in the crucial zone of creation dust. According to the estimation of this study, total damages of dust for Iran and Iraq are 1043.5 and 1404 million dollars, respectively. While the cost of solving this problem is about 2425.7 million dollars. By applying cooperative games theory, the cooperation between Iran and Iraq to combat dust phenomenon has been analysed. Net benefits of these two countries has been calculated in two cooperation games and their characteristic functions has been derived. Then by using Shapley solution, outcome benefits have been distributed between these two countries. The results suggest that the net benefits of two countries will increase if they associate with each other. In the meantime, based on the results of coalition, a fairly allocation has also been used for costs which has been utilized against dust phenomenon between Iran and Iraq. So these two countries should spend 1442.6 and 1082.1 million dollars to conquer this phenomenon, respectively. The managers of Iranian environmental protection organization should have more effective cooperation with Iraq to resolve dust problem by using diplomatic means and provide parts of its cost by side payments.

Evaluation of Irrigation Water Price Addition on Productivity of Agriculture Section in Iran (Case: Kashan Region)

The shortage of irrigation water is one of the most important problems which Iran is facing. Irrigation water pricing is one of the economic approaches to manage irrigation water consumption and using it efficiently. This study purpose is to evaluate the effect of irrigation water price induction on productivity of agriculture section in Iran (case: Kashan). This study is an application development in terms of objective and a post-event in terms of the study design, and is descriptive in terms of conclusion. The study results show that during study period (2006-2010), irrigation water price has risen in Kashan region. But this leads not only to increasing average cultivated land per a farmer, but also to increasing crops and garden products’ monetary productivity. It means that Iranian government can use irrigation water price induction as a tool for increasing productivity in agriculture section in Iran. In addition, crops and garden products have different productivities. Results also show that dill and apricot have the highest productivity in all crops and garden product in the region respectively.

Evaluation Effects of Subsidy Aiming on Agriculture Section of Iran in Frame of Massive Economic Pattern

Today Energy one of the most important factors of growth and economical development, that in all fields of economic play important roles. In agriculture section also, Energy use both direct and indirect. In Iran because of oil and gas sources, the price of energy carrier is lower than world prices, typically to economical section pay enormous help for energy carrier. This study in the frame of economic measurement massive structure frame, study about effect of increasing prices of energy carrier and omission of helping in agriculture section. The result of research show that execution of policy of subsidy removing of agriculture section related to increase of containers energy prices has less injurious effects, execution of policy of subsidy removing price of petrol, increasing price of Energy container in first year of production decrease in this manner 7.6, 5.9, 2.65 percent Execution of gradual policy of subsidy removing, increasing price of petrol and increasing price of Energy container in first year of investigation decrease 4.7, 3.2, 0.47 percent decrease. Execution of policy of entirely subsidy removing increasing price of petrol and increasing price of Energy container in first year of investigation decease 5, 4.7, 9.5 percent.

Economical valuing of Water in Irrigation and Drainage Lattice in Khuzestan Province (1979-2013)

Since early times water has always been considered as the most important factor in development and applying the new, has played the vital part in obtaining the goal of food supply for the world's growing population. The shortage of sweet water in recent years has become a global problem and particularly in Iran due to water shortage the efficient consumption of agricultural water has achieved significant importance. Therefore water pricing policy has been applied in order to improve agricultural irrigation and determine certain approaches to improve irrigation efficiency. This study has adopted the Ramsey pricing method and time serial data throughout (1979 – 2013) years to present the model. ARDL model was used to estimate demand and supply functions. Cobb Douglas function was taken into consideration in order to present water supply function. Pricing capacity and final production costs were calculated according to demand function and production function and Ramsey water price for agriculture section was determined by these two variables by the help of MATLAB software. According to the results of this study, the estimated prices on the base of Ramsey pricing policy are higher than current prices. In fact the comparison between actual price (86 Riyal per qm in 2013) and Ramsey price (96 Riyal) shows that the amount of money paid by the farmers is less than the economic (Ramsey) value of water. This absence of conformity between the numbers indicates great loss for water and sewage companies and on the other hand low elasticity of water demand (-0.06) has resulted in more water consumption.

Smart Energy and Water Meter: A Novel Vision to Groundwater Monitoring and Management

Water crisis and threat of shortage in water resources have been raised as a direct consequence of various factors such as limitation of precipitation, use of traditional irrigation methods and lack of efficient monitoring and controlling systems in agriculture section. The fact is that dry regions all over the world are facing water shortage and sharp decrease in groundwater tables as a result of over-pumping. In this paper RSA Electronics offers a solution which is an effective management system on monitoring and controlling groundwater resources. This solution for information management includes three main elements: Metering Device, Communication Device and Software. The specific Information of water wells which are calculated and measured by the metering device through a patented method will be transferred to the control center through telecommunication infrastructures; subsequently in control center, data compiling, information processing and reporting is performed by Meter Data Management (MDM) software.

ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION THE SUSTAINABILITY OF AGRICULTURAL SYSTEM (CASE STUDY: RURAL AREAS OF CENTRAL DISTRICT OF MINOUDASHT COUNTY)

Sustainable and continuous development of each country is depended to Sustainable of agricultural system . Therefore achieving Sustainable agricultural system is one of the important policies of each country agriculture section . The sustainability of agricultural system depends on many factors . The knowledge of these factors can play an important role in compiling the policies and strategies of agriculture. The main purpose of this research is recognition and assessment of effective factors on sustainability of agricultural system which has been done as a case study in rural area of central district of Minoudasht township. The method of this research is a descriptive and survey one which has been performed by gathering data through field research. The statistical sample consisted of the heads of rural households all of the villages of central district of Minoudasht township, randomly selected and through the use of Cochran's formula amounting 194 cases and have been studied by the questionnaire .In order to measurement of reliability coefficient the questionnaire was performed scout test that the Cronbach alpha coefficient was more than 0.79 percent. The results of statistical analysis in SPSS software show that that five factors of service –infrastructure supports factor, agent –based sustainable agricultural operations of axis, social –collaborative , ecological and economic are able more than more than 58 percent of the variance to explain the sustainability of agricultural system that in the planning , paying attention to this factors seem necessary .

Economic Sharing of Basin Water Resources between Competing Stakeholders

This paper describes an application of linear programming (LP) methods for optimal allocation of water among competing stakeholders that would achieve the highest economic return from water use in the agricultural section of the Sefidrud Basin, northern Iran. In a network presentation of the basin, the nodes stand for the supply and demand points and arcs represent reaches. The constraints of the LP model are the network structure of the basin (flows, stream geography and channel capacity), the available surface and ground water in each node, the environmental demand in different reaches, upper and lower bands of supply in each node and water balances. Optimal policies are derived for current and future demand. The optimal policies indicate that, at present, the basin water resources satisfy the demands of all stakeholders. Although, the results show that there is no conflict for supplying stakeholders’ current demands, they indicate that the current proportion of surface water used is not optimal compared with the proportion of ground water used. The results also indicate that some future demands of provinces with lower marginal value of water are unsatisfied and that this could cause conflict between stakeholders. Since in some nodes the optimal solutions suggest using surface water even where they have available ground water, they are categorized as having a higher possibility to construct dams in the basin.

Evaluation and Improvement of Crop Production Functions for Simulation Winter Wheat Yields with Two Types of Yield Response Factors

Water is an important item of crop production and Irrigation water is limiting for crop production in arid and semi-arid areas. On the other hand, considering the population growth and increasing the water and food needs and also limited resources of water, the optimization of water consumption, especially in section of agriculture is important. For this purpose, in first step, the production function of expected products in any region should be obtained acceptably, because in this case, the models are totally dependent on the production function. Thus, finding the optimal production function has the lowest error in the estimation of risk-taking and decision-making power in the future will be important. So this study was conducted in Esmaeil Abad in Qazvin plain in Iran in the growing season of 2009-2012. Deficit Irrigations applied on different growth stages of winter wheat. The maximum evapotranspiration 641 mm and maximum attainable yield 5847 kg/ha was determined. After that the different production functions were studied and these methods have been tried to improve a new method with the least error. On the other hand yield response factor (Ky) per month was defined as either one of the standard values by FAO and the other using correction values by Najarchi et al. (2011). The result showed that the new model in this study is normalized with yield response factors of Najarchi et al. (2011) with 5% normal root mean square (NRMSE) has the lowest error. Therefore this technique for estimating water deficits of winter wheat in the Qazvin Plain was suggested.