Abstract
Introduction
Wheat production is a strategic product of great importance not only in Iran but worldwide. This crop is predominantly cultivated in rainfed areas and is susceptible to economic, social, and natural hazards such as drought, cold, frost, and hail. Protecting farmers' production and income is a key priority for governments. Agricultural insurance is one of the most important solutions in this regard. The comprehensive rainfed wheat insurance plan is a recent initiative that includes all risk factors in a single policy and offers flexibility in premium rates. This plan has been implemented in Hashtroud County, the production hub of this crop in East Azerbaijan province, where 75,000 tons of rainfed wheat was produced from 92,000 hectares of cultivated area, making it the top producer in the province for the 2022-2023 crop year. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate the factors affecting the adoption of the comprehensive plan of wheat in Hashtroud County. 
Materials and Methods
The logit model was used for this analysis to identify factors affecting the adoption of the insurance plan in rural regions. Estimated coefficients of the logit model do not have a direct interpretation, so the marginal effects and elasticity of variables are calculated to interpret the effect of factors on the adoption of the comprehensive plan among wheat farmers in Hashtroud County. The elasticity indicates that by changing one percent in the independent variable, the probability of adopting the comprehensive plan among wheat farmers of Hashtroud County will change (increase or decrease). The marginal effect also shows that with a one-unit change in the independent variable, assuming that other conditions are stable, the possibility of using the comprehensive plan will change. Data were collected from 250 wheat farmers who accepted and did not accept the comprehensive insurance plan in the 2022-2023 crop years through face-to-face interviews and questionnaires.
Results and Discussion
The logit model results showed that the farmer's age has a negative effect, while the total level of crops, obtaining bank loans, satisfaction with insurance premiums and indemnity, satisfaction with risk factor coverage, the occurrence of cold and frost damage, the number of times receiving indemnity, and satisfaction with the amount and administrative process of indemnity have a positive and significant effect on the acceptance of the comprehensive insurance plan. The percentage of prediction of the estimated model was 86.85, which, according to acceptable prediction for logit and probit models, is 70 percent. This percentage for the estimated model is desirable.
Conclusions
Considering the new comprehensive insurance plan offered by the Agricultural Insurance Fund, measures such as informing farmers about the rules, regulations, and services, holding promotional classes to increase technical and insurance knowledge, revising the damage assessment and compensation payment processes, and providing financial resources for compensation payments from the agricultural insurance fund will be beneficial and effective in increasing the acceptance of the comprehensive plan. It is suggested that the agricultural insurance fund and agricultural jahad management hold extension classes regarding the benefits and importance of insurance as well as the insurance process and compensation and payment of compensation, conditions and insurance clauses, and also electronic services of the agricultural insurance fund in order to inform the rules and regulations of agricultural insurance and increase the information of policyholders and wheat farmers.