An Investigation of the Inhibitory Factors in the Way of Greenhouse Cultivation Development  (Case Study: Isfahan Province)

Asadi, Ali; Hoseini, S. Mahmood; Abdollah Zadeh, Gholamhosein; Gharaghani, Ardavan

An Investigation of the Inhibitory Factors in the Way of Greenhouse Cultivation Development (Case Study: Isfahan Province)

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Abstract

Greenhouse cultivations are of special importance in agricultural development because of their utilization of artificially controlled production factors and artificially created environmental conditions. Proper planning towards a desirable development of this system of agricultural production demands a thorough knowledge and understanding of the factors hindering its soud development. Towards this end, the present study was carried out as a case study in Isfahan to determine and pinpoint the limiting and inhibiting factors in the way of ''in greenhouse production'' development. The research is a kind of an applied one, conducted through a survey method. Questionnaire and interviews costituted the means for data gathering. The statistical population was comprised of all the greenhouse entrepreneurs (361) of Isfahan Province who had succeeded in attaining operation licenses by the end of 2002. One hundred and twenty greenhouse units were selected from 10 counties (in each of which 10 greenhouses were already in operation) of the province as the statistical sample units. Validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a team of horticultural experts, selected faculty members, experts in agricultural extension and development as well as experienced greenhouse owners. Reliability was confirmed through Cronbach's Alpha (estimated as 0.73, 0.91, 0.86, 0.77 and 0.81 for 5 different sections of the questionnaire) SPSS and Excell software were employed to analyze the gathered data. The limiting factors hindering the development of greenhouse cultivation units were respectively found out as economic, support (governmental), administrative laws, infrastructural, and finally environmental and technical as based upon their corresponding coefficients. The four factors of: support, infrastructure, administrative laws, and economic factors were pointed out as determinants of 66.67% of the variance among the hindering factors.

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