Economy

Nowadays, management and economy as science as well as entrepreneurship receive special attention. Strengthening entrepreneurship and creation of an appropriate setting for its development are being considered as a good tool for economic improvement namely in developing countries. Based on entrepreneurship world statement, there exist a high relationship between national economic growth and organizational and national entrepreneurship level. Generally speaking, entrepreneurs potentially exist in any country. However, one should put extra effort to increase their capabilities. Moreover, the existing structures should pave the way for proving themselves. As a matter of fact, entrepreneurs play a vital role regarding social and economic development and transformation. They act as a prime element for revitalization as well as continuation of development. That is why many governments in both developed and developing countries try to guide and encourage entrepreneurs and provide them relevant education .Iran experienced high rural-urban migration as a result of rural backwardness. This is associated with ghettoes, down grading of quality of life, low job opportunities, increase in crime and delinquency. The major objective of rural plan is the achievement of rural development. This in turn will lead to reduction of unemployment increase in job opportunities. These two phenomena are the resultant of Imbalanced labor force, demand and supply as well as decrease in agricultural growth sector in rural areas and decline in job opportunities (23.4%). It is argued that agricultural development by itself cannot guarantee rural economic development and irradiate poverty. Thus attention to other sectors is strongly suggested. Despite, the importance of entrepreneurial ship and its impact upon global economy, Iran has not paid an appropriate attention in this regard. High degree of youth population, lack of job opportunities, high unemployment rate demand more attention to this phenomenon. As such this paper predominantly aims to access entrepreneurship status in southern Astarabad in Gorgan.

This study possesses descriptive- analytical nature. It is farther based on survey technique and questionnaire. As such 10 experts in the area were asked to give their opinions in order to weigh the relevant chosen criteria. Study area is composed of 16 villages which house 4805 households. Cochran formula was applied in order to determine the appropriate sample size with the significant level of 95%. Sample size turned out to be 356 which extracted via random sampling technique taking into consideration the number of households in every individual village. This study further followed by application of hierarchical weighing fuller triangle technique regarding the viewpoints of the experts. At the end, it demands ORESTE model in order to rank the villages.

This study suggests that entrepreneurship not only cause better utilization of the existing resources, but also paves the way for rural settlements sustainability. This is because entrepreneurship through providing job opportunities and resultant sufficient incomes make the settlers to remain in their village. It further could attract investment and draw outside labor force to the area. This in turn will strengthen the foundations of national regional development. However, all of the villages do not possess the same potential in terms of entrepreneurship. As such this study try to prioritize villages located in southern Astarabad in Gorgan from entrepreneurship aspect. According to experts view points, accessibility to education and training, consulting, experiences, knowledge and skill are being considered as main yardsticks in this regard. However, access to capital without needed education and training could not lead to entrepreneurship. According to ORESTE technique computation Naziabad, Sarnabad, and Maryamabad, based on the above mentioned criteria possess the highest ranks as opposed to lower shahkoh, Siyashlou and Qazagh-mahale. This study suggests education and training regarding entrepreneurship specifically in the area of tourism. It believes that lack of capital is being considered as a major obstacle in the study area. Providing low interest loans to rural settlers which could give them initial capital and motivation with respect to entrepreneurship is highly recommended.

Todays, the importance of agricultural development and putting more value on it, unlike past days, is concluded from the fact that in the process of economic development program, an increasing attention is given to social welfare goals in addition to other goals of increasing revenue. In every society, at times of population increase, the increase of agricultural products, which is in direct relation with the rate of population increase, requires an increase of the productivity in existing lands relying on the improvement of farming techniques and irrigation systems. Basically, agricultural development means a transition of traditional techniques to modern industrial ways of production which includes top modern agricultural techniques like planting and harvest methods and the use of agricultural machinery. Agricultural mechanization is a new approach of providing the situation of promoting from traditional to modern agriculture. Additionally, it is considered as the most useful factor to help us achieve our goals of rural development. Machinery technology development is a matter of great importance in rural development strategies. Using technology in the process of rural development can lead to the elimination of barriers to production. As mechanization causes less difficulties and more money from agricultural activities, it makes farming more fascinating for villagers and stimulate them to continue their farming activities and prevent them continuously move to the cities. In this research, we are investigating possible consequences of mechanization and its effect on rural development of south Astarābād to find answers to the following questions:

This is an applied research which has been done using descriptive- analytical approach in a field study. For data analysis and interpretation, independent T test, Mann Whitney test, and the process of correlation analysis have been applied in SPSS software. Statistical population of the research consists of two types of agricultural households, a group of more mechanized households and another group of less mechanized ones, from 22 villages located in rural district of South Astarābād. A number of 10 villages (including 6 plain villages and 9 mountain villages) were chosen as sample society based on the total number of 6423 households and homogeneity of the villages in terms of geographical features. Using Cochran formula, the sample size of the society (190 households) was determined. Considering the population of each village, their participation in answering the questionnaires was determined. Questionnaires were delivered among different households in a simple random sampling way.

Discussion and conclusion
By its effect on timely agricultural operations and reducing production costs, agricultural mechanization plays an effective role in increasing revenues and consequently improving economic level and quality of life for agricultural uses. According to the results from the questionnaires a significant relation of a top confidence level (95 or 99%) is confirmed between agricultural mechanization with productivity and improvement of economic and social components. In this regard, the government plays a key role in the development of mechanization infrastructures such as integration, leveling, land drainage, giving low-interest loans and making decisions for agricultural institutions. Considering the fact that lower participation and self-help of operators and lack of education and awareness of the benefits of mechanization are the most important factors affecting the failure of the government and people in promoting mechanization, an overall management and programming by the government is inevitable to help us achieve our goals. The followings are suggested for the improvement of mechanization.

- Strong support of the government for infrastructure development of agricultural mechanization such as land consolidation, irrigation channels, land leveling and drainage, irrigation development, and construction of roads between farms;
- Reducing official bureaucracy and granting low-interest loans by banks to promote agricultural mechanization;
- Holding training and educational coursed for the introduction of proper use of machineries and their technology to the farmers.