چكيده به لاتين
Rice is considered the principal agricultural produce in the Iranians' basket of goods. The significance of this strategic product makes the sustainable supply of rice the most vital part of food safety and society's health. So, this study intends to propose a holistic solution to improve sustainability throughout the whole supply chain of Iranian rice, which includes the production, export, and import supply chains. Since such a sustainable agricultural supply chain is considered a complex system, due to the complexity of identifying members and their correspondent relationships, this research uses a comprehensive system approach called Critical System Practice which, in turn, is considered a meta-methodology. This meta-methodology integrates other system methodologies such as system dynamics, Critical Systems Heuristics, Soft System Thinking, and Interactive Planning to achieve economic, social, and environmental sustainability in the rice supply chain of Iran. The results for the economic dimension of the aforementioned supply chain illustrate that among the three presumed policies i.e. “reducing the lead time in the production supply chain”, “import ban on rice by the government”, and “increasing the guaranteed minimum price of rice” the latter would outperform the others in providing economic sustainability. Furthermore, regarding the social aspect of the Iranian rice supply chain, the results show that “purchasing of rice from the farmers in the form of agreed purchases”, “offering financial supports and loans for renovating tools and machinery”, “distributing quality-checked branded bagged rice”, “support farmers with educational and technical assistance”, and “providing insurance services for the farmers” all undertaken by the state would bring about social sustainability. Also, “applying drying method for rice cultivation”, “employing rice paddy for industrial use instead of burning it”, and “eco-friendly packaging” are the resulted policies to obtain environmental sustainability in the rice supply chain of Iran
