Durham E-Theses A geographical analysis of the rural economy in the margins of the Dasht-E-Kawir, central Iran: a case study of the Abuzaid-Abad area Hajiluie, Masoud Mahdavi How to cite: Hajiluie, Masoud Mahdavi (1983) A geographical analysis of the rural economy in the margins of the Dasht-E-Kawir, central Iran: a case study of the Abuzaid-Abad area, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/7587/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 A GEOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS OF THE RURAL ECONOMY IN THE MARGINS OF THE DASHT-E-KAWIR, CENTRAL IRAN : A CASE STUDY OF THE ABUZAID-ABAD AREA by MASOUD MAHDAVI HAJILUIE B.A., M.A. (Tehran) The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. A thesis submitted to the Univ,ersity of Durham for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy January 1983 TO THE MEMORY OF MY FATHER ABSTRACT In this research a geographical analysis has been made of the rural economy in the margin of Dasht-e-Kawir Central Iran* In this region, as in all.rural areas, two groups of factors affect the rural economy; physical and socio-economic. Severe physical conditions, e.g. arid-zone climate, shortage of water, saline soils and limitation of cultivable land, have restricted the agricultural development in the region. The main objective in the study of the physical conditions, is to recognize the areas capability for agric• ultural development and the influence of environmental conditions on the socio-economic factors. The severity of physical factors has encouraged the development of the craft industry in the area in general, and in the Abuzaid- Abad in particular. Thus over 50% of the rural income is derived from the carpet making industry, in which women provide the labour. However, the rural economy in the area can not be assessed without examining the impact of the physical upon the socio-economic factors. In this study the two groups of factors have been investigated separately. In attempting to help the agricultural development, to increase the villagers' income and to improve rural welfare in the region, the complete set of factors must be analysed to identify the strongest correlation between them which is relevant to the above purposes. In chapters one to four the physical factors have been discussed. Chapters five to ten are concerned with socio• economic and technical factors. In chapter eleven the rural income has been described. , The conclusions summarise the most significant general findings of this study besides suggesting some further research for the future. 11 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis could not have been completed without extensive help which I have received from numerous people. I am grateful to Tehran University for giving me the opportunity to complete my research and for providing a full award for the first year of my study in Durham University, I would like to thank Professor J.I. Clarke, Head of the Department of Geography, University of Durham, who allocated some funds for my last year's University fees^ I am also grateful to those who contributed to the payment of my 1981-82 University fees. I am greatly indebted to Professor W.B. Fisher who accepted me as a postgraduate research student and who supervised my work for 18 months. My sincere thanks go to Dr. E.W. Anderson and Dr. R.I. Lawless, my supervisors, who have provided an excellent mixture of guidance and encouragement and for the time which they spent reading and discussing the different aspects and scope of the topic. I would also like to thank Dr. Anderson for his many efforts in writing letters, recommendations and other help. I gratefully acknowledge the help which I have received from the Secretary and technical staff in the Department, particularly Mrs. M. Bell who transformed the original manuscript into a legible, immaculate text. Her careful, painstaking work is very much appreciated, as is that of Mr. I.Dennison who carefully made a beautiful loom iii for my seminar. I also acknowledge the help of the librarians and the Documentation Centre; particularly Dr. R.I. Lawless. Also, I offer my thanks to the staff of the Computer Unit for their invaluable assist-ance with the preparation of my programmes. I wish to thank Anwar Shamim for his valuable help in the preparation of some of my computer programmes. • - • '- In Iran, I thank the Geography Department, the Institute of Geography and the Iran Desert Research Centre, University of Tehran, who provided full facilties for my research during 1976-78. I wish to thank the residents of Dasht-e-Kawir, particul• arly the Abuzaid-Abad area who were willing to be interviewed and made their family records and personal knowledge available. Finally, I give my sincere thanks to my wife Azam for her help and encouragement. I would like to express my gratitude to my little daughter Mahsa for her patience which never failed during my study. iv . CONTENTS Page Abstract i Acknowledgements . — ii Contents , iii List of Figures x List of Tables xvi List of Appendices xxi Transliteration xxii INTRODUCTION 1 - I.l Aim of the study 1 1.2 Selection of the area 2 1.3 Source of Data H 1.4 Organization of study 14 References 18 PART ONE CHAPTER 1 : AGROCLIMATOLOGY . 19 , 1.1 Introduction 19 1.2 Rainfall . 19 1.3 Radiation 33 1.4 Temperature 36 1.5 Evapotranspiration 39 1.6 Water Balance 44 1.7 Conclusion References CHAPTER 2 : HYDROLOGY 56 2.1 Introduction ^6 Page 2.2 Physical conditions 56 Location of the area Topography and Geological conditions Aquifer and water table conditions Ground water quality 2.3 Conclusion 71 \ References 75 CHAPTER 3 : SOIL AND VEGETATION 76 3.1 Introduction 76 3.2 Soil characteristics. 77 3.3 Vegetation 88 3.4 Land capability classes 90 3.5 Erosion .. •••• 3.6 Control of shifting sand 96 3.7 Conclusion 99 References 102 CHAPTER 4 : LAND USE 103 4.1 Introduction 103 4.2 Land use pattern 103 4.3 Cultivated land 105 4.4 Uncultivable land 117 4.5 Type of crops and distribution of area under each type 123 4.6 Amount and distribution of cultivated land 128 4.7 Size of farm and the number of plots in the area 131 4.8 Conclusion 133 References 136 vi PART TWO Page CHAPTER 5 WATER SUPPLY 137 5.1 Introduction 137 5.2 Qanats 137 5.3 Classification of qanats 140 5.4 Qanats of adjoining villages of Abuzaid-Abad 143 5.5 Discharge of qanats in the area ... 144 5.6 The factors causing a reduction in the discharge of qanats in the Abuzaid-Abad area 149 5.7 Shallow wells 153 5.8 Shallow well digging 157 5.9 The factors causing problems for shallow wells in the area 159 5.10 Characteristics of shallow wells in the area 160 5.11-Deep wells 163 5.12 Deep wells in the Abuzaid-Abad area ... 165 5.13 The balance of ground water extraction in the Abuzaid-Abad area 165 5.14 Conclusion 167 CHAPTER 6 References 173 IRRIGATION 174 B.l Introduction 174 6.2 Precipitation 174 6.3 Atmospheric water other than precipitation 175 6.4 Ground water • . 175 6.5 Irrigation methods 176 6.6 V/ater requirement • 183 6.7 Effective rainfall 186 6.8 Water losses , 186 vii Page 6.9 When, to irrigate, and how much water to apply 190 6.10 Cost of irrigation water 191 6.11 Distribution and apportionment of water for irrigation 195 6.12 Irrigation management 202 6.13 Conclusion 202 References 204 CHAPTER 7 AGRICULTURE 205 7.1 Cultivation 205 7.2 Tree crops 211 7.3 Use of fertilizer 213 7.4 Crops' rotation 214 r 7.5 Crops' production 222 7.6 Farm labour 230 7.7 Animal power 236 7.8 Farm machinery 7.9 Livestock 238 7.10 Conclusion 243 References 247 CHAPTER 8 POPULATION AND SETTLEMENT .248 8.1 Introduction 248 8.2 Population characteristics of the Abuzaid-Abad area '. 248 8.3 Population density 250 8.4 Population distribution 254 8.5 Population growth in the Abuzaid- Abad area 257 8.6 Age and sex structure of the population of the Abuzaid-Abad area 262 8.7 Employment 267 viii Page 8.8 Underemployment 275 8.9 Settlement 279 8.10 Conclusion 291 References 295 CHAPTER 9 LAND REFORM 297 9.1 Introduction 297 9.2 The land reform at the Abuzaid- Abad area 301 9.3 Land valuation and payment to the state 303 9.4 Agricultural credit 308 9.5 Rural cooperatives in the Abuzaid- Abad area 309 9.6 Conclusion 316 References CHAPTER 10 CARPET WEAVING IN THE ABUZAID-ABAD AREA ..