A B S T R A C T
Sustainability in horticulture products depends on economic, social and environmental factors. Knowing these factors' sustainability levels can be effective in formulating SUSTAINABLE horticulture development strategies and their effect on the SUSTAINABLE livelihood of the user family. Therefore, this research aims to analyze the sustainability of horticulture products and their role in the livelihood of the beneficiary households in the villages of the central part of Bandar Gaz city. The required information was collected through a researcher-made questionnaire, the validity of which was obtained based on the opinion of relevant experts and the reliability of which was obtained by calculating Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.89. The statistical population of this research includes garden operators in three villages of Eastern Gaz, Western Gaz and Val Afra, which was calculated using Cochran's formula as a sample size of 250. A random sampling method was used to select research samples. To measure the sustainability of garden products, 45 indicators were used, separated by economic, social, and environmental dimensions, and 53 indicators were used, separated by economic, social, human, and environmental dimensions, to measure the SUSTAINABLE livelihood of the beneficiary household. According to the Spearman test, horticulture products' economic, social and environmental sustainability is effective in the SUSTAINABLE livelihood of the user family. The Kruskal-Wallis test results indicate that the beneficiaries' SUSTAINABLE livelihoods in the three studied villages have a significant difference up to the 99% confidence level. The results of the one-way independent variance analysis test on the cultivated area of three villages and horticulture income in three villages also stated a significant difference in these three factors up to the 99% level.
Extended Abstract
Introduction
The most critical challenge in the world today is food security and providing essential human needs. The lack of balance between population growth and agricultural production has made developing countries face a serious challenge. SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE is an approach that meets human needs without harming the environment and uses natural resources better. SUSTAINABLE horticulture is a type of AGRICULTURE that is in the direction of human benefits, is more efficient in the use of resources, and is in balance with the environment. Horticulture activity in the category of SUSTAINABLE agricultural development, considering its nature and the positive aspects that govern this activity, in case of proper management, is superior in terms of not disrupting the ecological balance or at least due to little damage compared to AGRICULTURE. In fact, the benefits that can be listed for horticultural activities in order to achieve SUSTAINABLE agricultural development compared to AGRICULTURE are food supply and welfare facilities, storage and meeting the needs of other plants, growing crops under the shelter of trees, soil protection and green cover, air conditioning and increase of atmospheric precipitation, less consumption of chemical fertilizers and preservation of plant genetic resources. A SUSTAINABLE livelihood strategy is one of the new strategies that can help the villagers' problems. The SUSTAINABLE livelihood approach was proposed in the 1980s as a new approach to rural development to reduce and eradicate rural poverty. Livelihood is SUSTAINABLE when it can withstand unexpected pressures and damages and restore itself and improve its capabilities and capital in the future without harming natural resources.
The main problem of the research is, what is the state of sustainability of the garden products system in the central villages of Bandar Gaz city? We are also trying to find out what effect the sustainability of garden products can have on the SUSTAINABLE livelihood of rural households.
Bandar Gaz is one of the Golestan province's cities, located in the southeastern part of Gorgan. In terms of longitude and latitude, it is located between 53 degrees and 51 minutes to 54 degrees and 3 minutes of east longitude and 36 degrees and 39 minutes to 36 degrees and 49 minutes of north latitude. Bandar Gaz has a population of 20,742 people in 6,715 households, according to 2016.
Methodology
This research is of applied type and descriptive-analytical and survey method, carried out in the 2018-2019 crop year. The main tools for data collection were questionnaires, observations and interviews. The statistical population of the research consists of 715 users of horticultural products. A random sampling method was exerted to select the samples, and 250 samples were selected based on Cochran's formula.
Results and discussion
The Kruskal-Wallis test was exerted to investigate and compare the household's SUSTAINABLE livelihood level using gardens in the studied villages so that the results show a significant difference of 99%, 95% and 90% in the variables. The results show that the level of SUSTAINABLE livelihood is different in the three villages, so based on the results, the level of sustainability of horticultural products is also different in these three villages.
Conclusion
The efficiency of horticultural work for support and investment in the village of East Gaz is more than the other two villages. The ability to buy housing, the amount of meeting health needs, the amount of willingness to migrate, and the amount of unemployed and employed people are more in West Gaz village. However, regarding the village's up-to-date architecture and the village houses' strength, there is a more favorable situation in the village of Eastern Gaz. The results of one-way analysis of variance ANOVA indicate a significant difference between the garden income of three villages among the examined components up to the 99% level.
Funding
There is no funding support.
Authors’ Contribution
The authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approthe contenttent of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work declaration of competing interest none.
Conflict of Interest
The authors declared no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.