JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION AND EDUCATION RESEARCH
Year:2017 | Volume:10 | Issue:3 (39) |Papers Count:7

The purpose of this study is to analyze the factors affecting labor productivity in producing grapes in Doshman Zeyari Region of Mamasani Township, Fars Province, Iran. The Statistical population this study were grape growers in the year 13942016-2015 (1395-) who were selected 140 samples by Using Cochran Formula. Sampling done by stratified random. The analysis was done by using a multiple regression model.The results indicated that the level of education of read and write and primary, farm size, membership in cooperative, participating in training extension programs, visiting of Vineyards by extension men and household head residing in a highly developed village had positive and statistically effect on labor productivity. Variables such as level of education of high school Diploma, experience, Total assets of grape grower had negative and statistically significant effect on labor productivity. The results of this research suggest that enlargement of the size of farm, extension and training program and farm visits by extension men be encouraged and facilitated by the authorities and policy makers.

This study investigates and analyzes the discourse of the agricultural philosophy within the framework of technological philosophy theories. Lack of sufficient knowledge on the philosophical nature of agricultural technologies that have been led to relying on creation of aimless, pointless, non-teleological, non-anthropocentric technique and technology inconsistent with the genuine essence of universe, makes it necessary to do this research.Research methodology of this paper has been qualitative discourse analysis based on Laclau- Memphis approach that is a descriptive-analytic and critical approach at the same time. Research tools were interviews, written surveys and questionnaires. The samples selected for interviews were philosophers (Iranian and non-Iranian) and experts in research areas related to technology. In this study, after the interview and implementation of texts, the procedures for discourse analysis of agricultural philosophy were conducted relying on main discourse concepts and signifiers, and the obtained results were presented and analyzed in the form of charts of discourse semantic system.

Constructing reservoir dams for water storage and inter-basin water transfer is one of the main policies of recent decades in Iran for providing water that can have numerous positive or negative impacts on dam-affected local communities living in origin basin or people living in the receiving watersheds. This research aimed to investigate local communities› attitude towards the construction of the Beheshtabad reservoir dam in the Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province using a survey methodology. A sample of 200 out of 3514 households of the origin basin who may be affected if the dam is constructed was randomly selected. The data were collected using the structured interview technique and a questionnaire confirmed in terms of validity and reliability measures. Local communities tended to have negative attitude towards constructing the dam, particularly that it would cause the destruction of the basin›s environment and nature and escalating rural-urban migration and socio-cultural abnormalities of local communities. Regression analysis showed that the attitude is explained by dependency on natural resources, having agricultural occupation, land area, the number of days working as nonagricultural laborer, access to external services and facilities and income from handcraft production. The households with higher dependency on natural resources and with occupations depended on the area, particularly agriculture and sales occupation, had higher negative attitudes, while the households who worked outside the origin basin, specially nonagricultural workers, and the households with higher access to external services and facilities and resources less affected by the dam had less negative attitudes towards the dam construction.

This applied study was a descriptive-survey. The statistical population of the study was both graduated and undergraduate students from Bu-Ali Sina University (N=200) from those 120 samples were selected by Cochran›s sample size formula (n=120). Data were collected through a researcher-made questionnaire structured in six parts with 76 both open and closed questions. The validity of the questionnaire›s questions was verified by a group of experts and the reliability of the questionnaire during a pre-test was calculated by Cronbach›s Alpha test.The reliability rate of the questions for different parts of the questionnaire was higher than 0.87. Data analyzing method in descriptive section was done using mean, frequency and coefficient of variation and in analytical section some test such as correlation coefficients (Spearman, Pearson, Kendal tau) and factor analysis for analyzing the most important environmental factors affecting on entrepreneurship were used. Results showed a significant relationship between the students› age, level of education and their level of entrepreneurship. The results also revealed a significant relationship between some individual characteristics of the students i.e. flexibility, perseverance, and leadership and the level of entrepreneurship. Results from ordinal regression analysis indicated that group leadership, flexibility, effort and perseverance explained, skill 41 percent of the probability of variance of entrepreneurship variable.

The main purpose of this descriptive-correlative study was to investigate the relationships among social capital, entrepreneurial orientation and job performance. The mediating role of entrepreneurial orientation was also analyzed. The statistical population of this research consisted of 635 agricultural experts of the Jihade Agriculture organization in Hamedan Province (N=365). According to Krejcie and Morgan’s table, a sample of 242 experts was chosen through random stratified sampling method. Data was collected using standardized questionnaires.The content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a panel of experts. The reliability of the questionnaire was investigated using Cronbach’s alfa coefficient, with values of 0.83 for entrepreneurial orientation, 0.85 for social capital, and 0.79 for job performance. The results structural equation modeling indicated that social capital and entrepreneurial orientation were significantly related to job performance. In addition, the results of bootstrap procedure showed that entrepreneurial orientation mediated the social capital-job performance relationship. Based on the findings, it could be concluded that investing in social capital is worthwhile, since creating and preserving social capital will increase the employees› entrepreneurial orientation level and their performance.

The entry of any innovation into a social system usually faces various barriers and limitations and it cannot be expected to be necessarily accompanied by acceptance and use. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate factors affecting the adoption of safflower cultivation in Bandamir district of Zarghan area of Fars Province.The study was conducted using a stratified random sampling method, data were collected from 64 adopters of safflower cultivars and 36 non-adopters. The data collection tool was a questionnaire whose face validity was confirmed by experts. Cronbach›s alpha coefficient for different parts of the questionnaire was higher than 0.71.Data were analyzed using SPSSv22 software. The results showed that the most important difference between the adopters and non-adopters of safflower cultivation is related to age, agricultural experience, and the amount of the loan received. The results also indicated that the high accuracy and utility of discriminant analysis can classify adopter farmers of safflower cultivating from non-adopter ones. From the total variables entered the model, some variables including awareness rate, the received loan rate, communicational factors, the total amount of land under cultivation and literacy level, were the most important distinguishing variables of two adopter and non-adopter groups of safflower cultivation. In addition, the results of studying the characteristics of safflower products showed that according to farmers› view, this product is generally in desirable condition so that respondents› understanding of its relative advantage was higher than average score, in terms of compatibility it was in good conditions, in terms of the complexity it was nearly low, in terms of trial- ability, it gained a medium-to-high score and, about visibility, also it was moderate.