ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the strategies of small holders in an area on the Semnan/Khorasan border in northeastern Iran up until the Iranian Revolution. It discusses the social, geographical, historical, political, and economic relationships which have affected not only these peoples, but other rural small holders in Iran. The area of Khar-o-Tauran in northeastern Iran is one where residents combine sheep and goat pastoralism with irrigated cropping of wheat and barley—a production emphasis of some antiquity in the region and in Iran. The most important social and economic patterns in Iran will be highlighted as historical background to local smallholder response in Khar-o-Tauran. In the 19th century, the Iranian government played a minimal role in agriculture and pastoralism. Local economic strategies were determined primarily by commercial opportunities and ecological factors. The fate of small holders is important to the national economy. The local relationship to the Tobacco Commission seems somewhat improved when contrasted with the Department of the Environment or the Range and Forest Organization.
