Institutional-Structural Aporia and Developmental Failure: Challenges of Agriculture Green Development Through the Lens of Greenhouse Farmers in Ashkzar County

Authors

1 Department of Social Policy, Faculty of Social Sciences, Yazd University, Yazd, Ira

2 Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran.

10.22059/jrd.2025.392360.668914

Abstract

The adverse climatic conditions and the deterioration of water resources in Iran have rendered traditional agriculture impossible. Meanwhile, ensuring food security for Iranian society remains contingent upon the persistence of agriculture. In this context, greenhouse farming has emerged as an environmentally sustainable solution aligned with the principles of green agricultural development. However, the expansion of green agriculture in Iran faces numerous challenges and obstacles. This study explores these challenges and barriers. The research methodology employs constructivist grounded theory. The participants were greenhouse farmers in Ashkzar County with at least three years of experience in greenhouse farming. Using a purposive sampling method (maximum variation sampling), focused interviews were conducted with 45 of these farmers. The collected data were analyzed using the three-phase coding approach of constructivist grounded theory: initial coding, focused coding, and theoretical coding. The findings indicate that institutional aporia, environmental-industrial pollution, economic disorder, inefficiency in energy policy-making, inadequacy of environmental education, technological backwardness, and climatic incompatibility are the most significant challenges to green agricultural development from the perspective of greenhouse farmers in Ashkzar County. The core category identified was “institutional-structural aporia and the failure of green agriculture green development.” In their interrelated articulation, these challenges have collectively contributed to the failure of green agricultural development in Ashkzar.

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