JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION AND EDUCATION RESEARCH
Year:2014 | Volume:6 | Issue:4 (24)|Papers Count:10

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of educational strategies in promoting innovation management in agricultural and rural cooperatives of Tehran province. This research is a "descriptive- correlation research". The total population of this study is all general managers and board members of agricultural and rural cooperatives in Tehran province and based on the Cochran formula, 128 respondents were selected through proportionate random sampling method. Validity of questionnaire was confirmed by faculty members of Department of Agricultural Extension and Education, Islamic Azad University, (Science and Research Branch of Tehran) and experts from the Ministry of Cooperatives and Rural Cooperative organization. The reliability of questionnaire was measured by measuring the Cronbach alpha of thirty questionnaires and it was determined to be between 0.87- 0.98. Analysis of data was used through SPSS software version 16. The results of the study show the impact of educational factors on promoting innovation management in agricultural and rural cooperatives in Tehran province were high. The results of correlation show that there was a positive meaningful relationship between educational approaches and promoting innovation management, while there was a negative meaningful relationship between age and years of membership with promoting innovation management. Results of stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated that visiting research and scientific centers and training courses about innovation management explained 45 percent of the variation in perception of respondents about promoting innovation management in agricultural and rural cooperatives.

The purpose of this research was to identify factors affecting the marketing extension of labeled eggs. This was an applied type research and non experimental/correlation methods were used. The statistical population of this research included 70 experts in Association of Labeled Eggs. Validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a panel of experts and its reliability measured by using Cronbach alpha coefficient (0.76). The results of multiple regression analysis indicated that social, marketing, policy, and economic factors explained about 79 percent of marketing extension of labeled eggs.

The main purpose of this research was to investigate factors enhancing gardener’s knowledge in utilizing under pressure irrigation systems in the Semnan Province. This is an applied type research and descriptive/correlational was used. Questionnaire was the main instrument instrument and its content and face validity was confirmed by a panel of experts. In order to determine the reliability of questionnaire, a pretest was done and 30 respondents were selected to collect the data. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for variable of gardener’s knowledge has been calculated to be 0.95. Statistical population of this research was consisted of 984 gardeners that have utilized under pressure irrigation systems during and by using Cochran formula, 100 respondents were selected as sample size. Results of this research showed that educational level, working experience, experience of applying under pressure irrigation system, attendance in extension courses, watching extension films, contacting with extension agent, using extension publications and visiting under pressure irrigation systems had significant and positive relationship with gardener’s knowledge in utilizing under pressure irrigation systems. Results of stepwise multiple regressions also indicated that 15 percent of variation in variable of gardener’s knowledge in utilizing under pressure irrigation systems had explained by contacting with extension agent and attendance in extension courses.

The main aim of this study was to identify factors affecting the linkage between research and extension based on agricultural experts opinions.. The research instrument was a structured questionnaire. The validity of questionnaire was obtained by a panel of experts. The reliability of questionnaire was obtained by pilot test. The Cranach's alpha coefficient for questionnaire was 0.86. The population of this research consisted of agricultural experts in West Azerbaijan province of Iran (N= 381). By using a stratified –cluster randomized sampling technique 180 people were selected. The findings show that adaptability of research findings with culture, values and needs of the rural community, felt needs and responsibility of extension agents in establishing linkage and ability of extension agents to identify problems of rural population was the main solutions in linkage between research and extension. By using factor analysis methods, affective factors for linkage between agricultural extension and research was summarized in nine factors, namely motivation of research and extension agents to work together, capability and expertise of extension agents and research units, applied research findings, joint planning activities, inter organizational competition between extension and research, sufficient number of extension and research agents, structural stability of research and agricultural extension, research and education organization, willingness between the two organizations to communicate together and providing extension services only by extension units. These factors could explain 74 percent of affective factors for linkage between research and extension.

The goal of this research is to identify the requirements of entrepreneurship skills development of rural women in the Qom province. The research is applied type and non experimental and survey method is used. The instrument for the research is questionnaire. The research statistical society is 77 rural women entrepreneurs in the Qom province. The findings show that the entrepreneurship skill condition for most of the rural women is desirable (43.3 percent) the stepwise regression results showed that the individual requirements explain 26.8 percent of changes in dependent variable that means had the highest impact on rural women entrepreneurship skills.

This research is about assessing the effectiveness of the extension and education courses for experts about protection of natural resources with particular emphasis on forest ecosystems. This research was an applied type research with a descriptive-correlation and retroactive method. The target population includes the experts who took part in those training courses at 2008 (N=414). The sample population was 180 respondents who were selected by random sampling method. The data was collected by using questionnaire and analyzed by SPSS win. The results acquired through the spearman coefficient correlation showed that there was correlation between educational level, the number of attendance in the training courses, the conformity of the educational objectives with the educational needs of the participants, appropriate location of classes, the novelty of the educational materials, the suitability of the educational subjects, consent from the instructor, instructor’s ability to teach educational subjects, instructor’s experience in his/her job; using group discussions, scientific visits, scientific instruction and educational aids with effectiveness of training courses. The results from the multi-variable regression showed that the variables including the educational level, the conformity of the educational objectives with the educational needs of the participants, using scientific instruction and group discussion had a positive role in the effectiveness of the training courses. At the same time, the above cited variables determine %50 of the changes of the dependent variable, effectiveness of the training courses.

This study aimed to investigate the technology adoption of IPM technology among orchard farmers of Dalahoo Township by means of Davis, Technology Acceptance Model. The statistical population consisted of orchard farmer’s Kermanshah Province attended in IPM program (N= 130) that 97 of them were selected as sample through simple random sampling technique. A researcher- made questionnaire consist of nine main sections was designed. Cronbach’s alpha cofficient of 0.77 showed that the questionnaire was reliable in gathering data. In order to determine the construct validity and fitting the designed model, factor analysis and structural equation modeling was used. Results showed that there was an inverse relationship between individual and organizational factors with perceived usefulness and between innovation factors with perceived ease of use, while there was a significant positive relationship between other factors. Based on findings, implementing training courses with better quality for orchard farmers are recommended.

The main purpose of this survey research was to study effective factors on farmers' willingness to equip their farms to renewable energies technology in the Tafresh Township. A descriptive- survey method was used for collecting the data. The statistical population of the study consisted of 2470 small farmers working in the smallholder farming systems of the region. According to the Krejcie & Morgan, a sample size of 300 was selected by using the stratified random sampling technique. A questionnaire was used to collect the data. A panel of the experts confirmed validity of the questionnaire. A pilot study was conducted to establish the reliability of the instrument. The Cronbach alpha's coefficient for the main scales of the questionnaire was higher than 0.75. The results of a regression analysis showed that 32.3 percent of variances of effective factors on farmers' willingness to equip their farms to renewable energies technology were explained by the seven variables including: willingness to install solar energy technology in the case of government support, willingness to change the current crop pattern, accept the risk of investing on solar technology, getting information from television about renewable energy resources, diversification of production activities, confidence to projects of taking energy from solar or plant debris and annual cost of home electricity.