Abstract

Simultaneously achieving the conservation of medicinal plant resources and the improvement of local communities' livelihoods requires adopting sustainable approaches to the cultivation, harvesting, and management of these resources. For this purpose, we investigated the role of cultivation of medicinal plants such as Echium amoenum, Crocus sativus, Rosa damascene in the livelihood of the local people of Vamnan in the Golestan province. After preparing the questionnaire and reviewing its validity, all households that cultivated these plants were identified and selected as interviewees. The average cost, income and profit of cultivation and production of medicinal plants were questioned and calculated. also the profit-to-cost ratio was obtained. Correlation between economic and social indicators of the interviewees with The amount of profit from the cultivation of medicinal plants was calculated using Spearman correlation coefficient. Finally, the effect of economic indicators including six variables consisting of number of livestock, amount of agricultural land, area under cultivation of medicinal plants, number of cultivars, production and income from cultivation and production of medicinal plants on the the livelihoods of the respondents' families were examined using logistic regression. The results showed that the age of the studied individuals with a Spearman correlation coefficient of 0.219 at a 95% confidence level had a positive and significant relationship with the level of profitability from the cultivation and production of medicinal plants. Based on the findings, the level of experience in the cultivation and production of medicinal plants also had a positive and significant relationship with the level of profit from the cultivation of medicinal plants among the respondents with a correlation coefficient of 0.167 and a 95% confidence level. Based on the results obtained from the research, 58.6% of the local people believed that the cultivation and production of medicinal plants has had a great and very great impact on their household livelihood. The findings indicated that the profit-to-cost ratio of medicinal plant cultivation in the studied area is positive and equal to 4.94. The results of the correlation analysis revealed a positive and significant relationship between the profitability of medicinal plants cultivation and the contribution of income derived from their production to household livelihoods (correlation coefficient = 0.485; 99% confidence level). The study's findings indicate that cultivating medicinal plants in the studied village offers significant potential for the sustainable management of natural resources and the improvement of growers' livelihoods; however, generalizing these findings to other regions requires further research under different conditions.

Introduction
Medicinal plants are one of the most valuable resources in the vast range of natural resources that, if scientifically recognized, cultivated, developed, and properly utilized, can play an important role in community health, job creation, and non-oil exports. Using indigenous knowledge in this field can reduce production costs and improve product quality. Activities related to collecting, harvesting, processing, packaging, and selling medicinal plants create numerous job opportunities for rural youth and women. On the other hand, it increases household access to herbal medicines, which improves health and reduces treatment costs. Cultivation of medicinal plants prevents soil degradation and erosion and excessive use of chemical fertilizers. It is essential to examine the impact of collecting medicinal plants on the livelihoods of rural people, considering its place in the economy of rural households. Because achieving multiple sustainable rural development goals, including the exploitation of natural resources, environmental services and increasing rural livelihoods, has become a major challenge for sustainability in the world. Therefore, sustainable development cannot be separated from paying attention to natural resources and the livelihoods of exploiting households, which are interconnected. In this regard, the present study was conducted under the title of investigating the effects of medicinal plant cultivation on the livelihoods of local communities in Vamanan village.
Materials and Methods
In this study, initial information was obtained about the scope of activities of the Vaman region and the activities of people in the villages of that region regarding medicinal plants, in addition to field studies. According to this study, the medicinal plants cultivated in the region and having a significant impact on the livelihoods of the users included Echium amoenum, Crocus sativus and Rosa damascene. In the second stage, a comprehensive review of theoretical literature was conducted and in the process of reviewing existing studies and theoretical literature, factors affecting plant utilization were identified. After that, the main research tool, namely a questionnaire, was designed based on a conceptual framework derived from the research literature. After obtaining the validity of the questionnaire, field data were collected from the villagers under study. To obtain validity, the opinions of faculty members and experts related to rural development and agricultural extension and education were used. The interviewee population included all farmers who are engaged in cultivating the Vamanan's key medicinal plants. In several stages, the geographical area of ​​the study was referred to in order to collect the required data and statistics in the form of a questionnaire and complete information from the villagers. Finally, 97 respondents were selected. Using SPSS software, the frequency distribution of the respondents' social indicators such as age, literacy, marital status, number of dependents, and experience were examined. The frequency distribution of respondents' economic indicators, such as the area under cultivation of medicinal plants and the number of livestock, were analyzed. The frequency of marketing challenges, such as brokering in the sale of medicinal plants, was analyzed. The average cost, income, and profit of cultivating and producing medicinal plants in a one-year period in the region were calculated, and the profit-to-cost ratio was subsequently obtained. To determine the profitability of cultivating and producing medicinal plants, the ISDM method was used, which is classified into four groups based on the mean and standard deviation of the obtained indicator levels. The correlation between the economic and social indicators of the interviewees and the profit from cultivating medicinal plants was calculated using the Spearman correlation coefficient. Finally, using logistic regression, the effect of economic indicators including six variables, the number of livestock, the amount of agricultural land, the area under cultivation of medicinal plants, the number of varieties, the amount of production, and the amount of income from cultivating and producing medicinal plants on the impact of cultivating and producing medicinal plants on the livelihood and economy of the respondents' households was examined.
Results and Descusion
In the present study, the effects of cultivating medicinal plants such as borage, saffron and rose on the livelihoods of local communities in the village of Wamanan were studied. This study showed that cultivating medicinal plants can play an important role in the livelihood strategies of villagers in the Wamanan region. As all families in the region have their own land, most households benefit from cultivating medicinal plants. On the other hand, it is clear that the success of cultivation largely depends on the yield obtained from cultivating medicinal plants. Our field survey confirmed that cultivating medicinal plants is a suitable option for improving the livelihoods of the beneficiaries in the region. The results of the study indicated that the highest frequency of age of the beneficiaries was between 30 and 40 years and the highest frequency of education was at the diploma level. The results of the study on the experience of the respondents in the cultivation and production of medicinal plants indicate that most of them had an experience of between 6 and 17 years in the cultivation and production of medicinal plants in the study area. People who had more experience in the cultivation of medicinal plants benefited from a higher level of profit in this matter. The findings showed that the level of cultivation and production of medicinal plants in the lands of the study area had a positive and significant relationship with their profitability. More than half of the beneficiaries believed that the cultivation and production of medicinal plants had a great and very great impact on their household livelihood and had helped them. The ratio of benefit to cost was also higher.
Conclusions
In addition to increasing income and creating new job opportunities, the development of medicinal plant cultivation reduces the dependence of rural households on traditional and single-crop activities and increases their ability to cope with economic fluctuations and climate change. Realizing these capacities requires comprehensive planning, financial and credit support, training of operators, development of production and marketing infrastructure, access to the supply market, and strengthening the role of support institutions and the private sector.
In fact, the resilience of rural households' livelihoods, as one of the most important factors of sustainable development, requires creating diversity in income sources, increasing the ability to adapt to economic and environmental risks, and utilizing local capacities. Medicinal plants can be one of the important axes of rural economic development, while increasing the livelihood resilience of rural households, playing an effective role in reducing poverty, preventing rural migration, creating sustainable employment, and achieving economic prosperity. Therefore, paying attention to this sector in rural development policies can pave the way for sustainable and inclusive development in rural areas.