International Journal of Agriculture and Crop Sciences. Available online at www.ijagcs.com IJACS/2013/6-3/139-143 ISSN 2227-670X ©2013 IJACS Journal Decomposition of growth of agricultural products value in Golestan province Alamian, M. 1 , Eshraghi, F. 2 , Joolaie, R. 2 1. MSc student of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources University of Gorgan 2. Assistant professor of Agricultural Economics dept. of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources University of Gorgan Corresponding author email: alamian_m@yahoo.com ABSTRACT: In Iran, the agricultural sector enjoys a special position and importance. Regarding to that for more precise planning in agricultural sector, the relevant growth factors should be known; in this research, in was attempted to analyze the components of this growth by an appropriate approach. For this purpose, using of a non-parameteric approach named as multiplicative decomposition method and based on the data of time-series during 1991/92 – 2010/2011 , for the agricultural products in Golestan province, the growth of the agri-products value were decomposed to price growth, area growth, yield growth and changing cropping pattern and the effect of each factors were determined. The results show that the value of agricultural products in this province during the studied period had not always an incremental trend and had some fluctuations, but the main factor of this growth is the price growth. After these factors, the most important factor to create the growth, are the yield, the area, and the cropping pattern. In sum, these results represent lack of an appropriate improvement in land productivity growth as well as the cropping pattern of the region in Golestan province. Key words: Agricultural productivity; Agricultural growth; Cropping pattern; Golestan province; Multiplicative decomposition method INTRODUCTION In Iran, the agricultural sector enjoys a special position and importance. The climatic variety, the presence of rich reservoirs and resources, the possibility to create low-cost and fast-efficiency generator employment and the presence of relative advantage in production and delivery of crops are some capabilities of agricultural sector. 23 percent of employees all over the country are employed in this sector and 31 percent of gross domestic product are supplied in agricultural sector. This sector is regarded as one of the important components of the economy and security of the country in terms of production, employment, export, the fundamental preservation and exploitation of natural and God- given resources, development of research and technologies and development of public participations. The authorities believe that the agriculture is the basis of development and the planning should be made to achieve more growth. For more precise planning in agricultural sector, the relevant growth factors should be known. In this research, it is attempted to analyze the components of this growth by an appropriate approach. More obviously, the main goal of this study is to determine the value growth of agricultural products in Golestan province to the price growth of these products, the growth of area, the yield growth and change in the separated cropping pattern and the effect of each of these factors. Determination of these components helps the planners to have a more precise and better understanding about the effective factors on the economic growth in this sector. Therefore, the related policy-makings are performed in a more effective and useful form. Background Of Research The study by Salami and Eshraghi (2001) in respect of the effect of price policies on the growth trend of agricultural products in Iran using of multiplicative decomposition method and time-series data during 1976- 1977 until 1996-1997 represent that 75 percent of the growth in product value of agricultural products is resulted from the price growth and the remaining is resulted from the growth of yield, the area and the cropping pattern. Ahmadi Shadmehri (2008) in a study by the goal of growth rate estimation and decomposition of agricultural production in Iran used periodic data during 1970-1971 until 1999-2000. The results show that the