Inappropriate water governance, which has been known as a variable to explain the water crisis in many parts of the world, needs to examine the institutional structures and required reforms. In the present study, the effectiveness and possibility of applying of five rural local organizations, as intermediate organizations for water resources protection in Anar and Rafsanjan areas, Kerman province, Iran, were investigated. These organizations are included as;villagecouncils, Basij (non-governmental branch of Iranians military forces), agricultural production cooperatives, mosque board of trustees, and agricultural well curator. Here, in this research, we applied a survey method, and the research tool was two types of questionnaires which must be completed by farmers and organization managers. As the first step, the validity and reliability of questionnaires were determined. For first purpose, i.e., the determination of validity, the questionnaires were sent to a numbers of researchers, farmers, and organizations’ managers, and their received opinions were considered. For the second purpose, i.e., the determination of reliability of the questions, the Cronbach's alpha was calculated, which was about 0.83 (in a good and acceptable level). A sample of 1099 pistachio producers was selected. To measure the effects of socio-economic factors on rural local organizations efficiency, multivariate regression and the analysis of variances (ANOVA) were also applied. The final results indicated that none of these five organizations, solely, can be considered as an intermediate organization for water protection. Therefore, a formal or informal combination of the mentioned organizations might be enough efficient to improve the water resources protection factors. Manuscript profile

The rate of pistachio export in Iran has decreased since 2010 onwards while the United States exports has risen sharply at the same time period. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the factors which may affect negatively on exports of Iran’s pistachio. For this purpose, the macroeconomic variables and pistachio exports data of the desired period were used. Autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model was used for this study. The results indicated that economic growth, appreciation of the exchange rate and bank facilities remained positive and had significant effect, while liquidity growth has a significant negative effect on pistachio export. The coefficient of ECM (-1) for pistachio is -0.0642. The low amount of error correction coefficient indicated the low rate of adjustment in pistachio exports. Only 6% of the imbalance error of pre- period adjusted in each period. Therefore, solely relying on short-run policies will not be beneficial. Based on the obtained result, it is recommended to provide financial resources for pistachio producers and exporters, domestic liquidity should be directed toward productive economic activities, domestic inflation should be deflated and adjusted with exchange rate and real appreciation of the exchange rate, should be considered by improved exchange market management. Manuscript profile

In this study, we first identified the existing knowledge about temporal management of pesticide consumption. Then the growers view and performance in this regard was estimated. Comparing growers’ knowledge with experts’ idea, the pistachio producers score related to temporal management of pests control was calculated. Pistachio producers of Anar and Rafsanjan areas in Kerman province, Iran were considered as our study population. Using stratified random sampling method, a sample of 100 growers were selected. Pearson correlation, analysis of variance and regression were used to investigate the socioeconomic factors affecting growers’ knowledge and the effect of this knowledge on growers’ performance. The results showed that in the field of temporal management of pesticide use, growers’ knowledge is low. Investigating the factors affecting growers’ knowledge level showed that research, education and extension activities have had the significant effect on increasing knowledge of inputs temporal management. The results also showed that knowledge of temporal management pest control did not increase land use productivity (pistachio yield) but enhanced pesticide productivity. The amount of pesticide usage decreased by 0.477 l/ha/year, with increasing of each score to pest control knowledge. In other words, with increasing knowledge of pest control, not only the costs of spraying will be reduced, but it will also have environmental benefits. In short, current conditions are not suitable for precision agriculture application in Iranian pistachio orchards, but with increasing knowledge of growers, these conditions will be created. Manuscript profile

Investigation of factors affecting total and partial productivity with applying these factors for reforming producers' economical/ technical management may provide a proper base for enhancing productivity and profitability as well, and then leading a more sustainable situation for Pistachio orchards in the future. In this paper with respect to scattering type of statistical population, a multi stage cluster random sampling method applied for data collection. The 200 producers selected based on area planted in each region and interviewed personally, with completing a research questionnaire, during 2012-2015. Turnquist- till index, multi-variable regression and analysis of variances applied to investigate orchards productivity and factors affected. Results indicated that average productivity, maximum productivity and productivity growth rate had declined during study period. Results also indicated that producers’ education level and chemical fertilizers amount had positive effect on total productivity, but number of garden fractions, number of family members, ratio of the number of male to female tress and amount of organic manures had negative effect on total productivity. Results also revealed that partial productivity of Labour force, fluid fertilizers, organic manures and water resources had positive effects on production per hectare. Finally, to enhance productivity and profitability of farming system and reach to a more sustainable one, it is suggested to provide necessary circumstances for entrance of agricultural graduated people in pistachio production sector, to program an integrate pistachio farms system and to put more effective supervision/monitoring on agricultural inputs and credits market. Manuscript profile