Analysis of Sustainability of Family and Rural Production Cooperative Farming Systems (Case Study: Agh-Ghala Township: Golestan Province)

The overuse of agricultural production inputs during recent decades with the aim of increasing crop yield the consequent deterioration of the environment are serious concerns that redouble the importance of more careful attention to the sustainability of farming systems and continuous production, accompanied by the conservation of natural resources. In this regard, family and rural production cooperative farming systems are considered as the most important and extensive agricultural farming systems. An identification of the type of more sustainable farming systems as well as factors affecting the sustainability of the system is a key to achieve rural sustainable development. This research was therefore conducted with the aim of examining and analyzing the sustainability of family and rural production cooperative farming systems in Agh-Ghala city. The research methodology employed in the study was a survey method and the required data collected and analyzed using questionnaire and cross-sectional/multi-stage stratified sampling during the 2008-2009 growing seasons from 190 farmers in the family group and from 150 farmers from the cooperative group in Agh-Ghala city. The research results revealed that 14.7 % of the farmers in the farming systems under study (whether family or cooperative group) were in a highly unsustainable state, 42.1% in unsustainable state, 22.1% in a partly sustainable state, 20.3% in a sustainable state and finally only 9% in a highly sustainable state. In addition, a comparison of the average sustainability of these two farming systems indicated that the sustainability level of the cooperative farming system in terms of different ecological, economic, and environmental dimensions is in a more appropriate standing than the family farming system. Also, the results of Path Analysis for causal explanation of factors affecting the farming system sustainability showed that the six variables "investment" "age of farmer" "level of participation" "size of farmland" "access to inputs" and "access to farm machinery" exert direct effects while the variables "access to agricultural information resources" and " farmers'' literacy level " indirect effects on sustainability.