RT - Journal Article T1 - Explaining the Role of Financial Credits for Agricultural Production in Rural Areas of Masal County JF - serd YR - 2021 JO - serd VO - 10 IS - 37 UR - http://serd.khu.ac.ir/article-1-3740-en.html SP - 175 EP - 198 K1 - Financial Credits K1 - Rural Loans K1 - Agricultural Production K1 - Rural Areas K1 - Masal. AB - Introduction The limited financial capital in villages and the distance between rural production units and the policy of urban financial institutions have caused the lack of financial resources for villagers. It should be noted that the low returns of both labor and capital factors has reduced the incentive for financial institutions to invest in agriculture, industry and services. In order to overcome this problem, one of the solutions within the framework of rural development policies is to provide micro-credits. This mechanism, which can eliminate the major problems of the rural economic system, has been widely appreciated in the last decade. Being so successful to a great extent, the United Nations named 2005 the Year of Micro credit. The various capabilities of Masal County in Gilan Province have caused managers to seek financial funding from the government for various economic, physical and social sectors of villages to reduce rural poverty and boost local productivity. To this end, the credits were granted from the Agricultural Jahad Organization for agriculture (agriculture, horticulture and animal husbandry) and the banks for tourism and handicrafts to the villagers. Methodology According to the purpose, nature and method, this study is considered as an applied and descriptive-analytical research, respectively. A descriptive method was used to identify the current situation in rural areas of Masal County. In this way, the agricultural land capability and the quantitative and qualitative status of agricultural inputs were identified. Documentary research and field studies were used to collect the required data. In the next step, these descriptive findings were evaluated to analyze the role of financial credits in creating agricultural developments using statistical analysis. The statistical population of the study consists of villagers living in rural areas of Masal County. According to the census of the Statistics Center of Iran in 2016, Masal has 94 inhabited villages with 9380 households and 29019 people and 14 uninhabited villages, which includes 55.1% of the total population of Masal County. 15 sample villages were selected, which include 2406 households. Using Cochran's formula, we determine 331 households as the sample size to complete the questionnaire. Discussion and conclusion 63% of the total respondents received loans and financial credits in the agricultural sector. 37.8% of them admitted that the role of these credits in guiding the villagers towards new cultivation methods was moderate. 33.5% believe that the share of financial credits in increasing rural agricultural production has been between 11% and 19%. In other words, we can say: 58.9% of the respondents who used the received credits in the agricultural sector presume the effectiveness of the credits to be less than 20%. After evaluating and analyzing each of the components related to financial credits for the agricultural developments, each item for the components was scored. The weighted mean of the items shows that the item "role of financial credits in creating new and high-yield crops" with an average of 3.98 in the first place, the item "willingness of villagers to reuse financial credits in the agricultural sector" with an average of 3.72 in the second place, and the item "The effect of financial credits on bringing villagers to provide advanced equipment, tools and machinery in increasing land productivity" with an average of 2.86 is in third place. Based on this we can say: Granting financial credits to farming villagers has made them more capable of carrying out economic activities in the agricultural sector. By providing suitable inputs such as seeds, seedlings, fertilizers, pesticides, as well as improving agricultural and horticultural lands, and using advanced tools and equipment, they were able to increase the efficiency of their lands. In some cases, they were able to exploit bare lands, and help increase the land use. After increasing production and the improvement of the living conditions of the villagers, the service sector has greatly decreased. Based on this we can say: Financial credits have been able to bring about changes in the agricultural sector in rural areas of Masal County. Thus, they have a positive effect on them. LA eng UL http://serd.khu.ac.ir/article-1-3740-en.html M3 ER -