JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION AND EDUCATION RESEARCH
Year:2021 | Volume:14 | Issue:1 (53)|Papers Count:7

The main purpose of this study was to examine the effect of innovation climate on agriculture experts’ innovative behavior by focusing on the mediating roles of psychological capital and creative self-efficacy. The statistical population included all agriculture experts in Agriculture Organization of Hamedan Province (N=400), from which 178 agriculture experts were selected as the statistical sample. Data were collected using a standardized questionnaire. The results of structural equation modeling indicated that psychological capital and creative self-efficacy were significantly related to agriculture experts' innovative behavior. In addition, the results showed that innovation climate was directly and positively related to agriculture experts’ creativity. The mediation analysis revealed that creative self-efficacy partially mediated the relationship between innovation climate and agriculture experts’ innovative behavior. These findings help to better understand the mechanism of effect of climate innovation on agriculture experts' innovative behavior. The theoretical and practical implications, limitations, and future research directions are discussed.

This applied research, in terms of documentary method and secondary information analysis, was conducted with the aim of investigating human development index(HDI) and its components based on official secondary demographic, economic and educational data in rural areas of Iran. In this study, the rural areas in different provinces were classified in two steps, first, classification was done by using of country’ s official data in 2017 for HDI and its’ components measurement, based on UNDP criteria, and then zoning of these areas was taken. The research findings showed that the provinces were divided into two categories, middle(30 provinces) and low(Sistan and Baluchestan) classes in terms of HDI values. The findings of the research in the components of HDI also showed that in terms of Life Expectancy Index(LEI) values, 31 provinces were divided into two categories as very high and high LEI value. In the first group, Tehran province achieved the first rank and 24 provinces were categorized in the second group regarding. The third categorization was done by considering Education Index(EI) values, that rural areas were divided into two classes by very high and high. Eleven provinces were placed in the first group. Accordingly, the Alborz province achieved the highest index value. But Per Capita Income Index(PCII), the whole of Iran’ s rural areas were placed in one category, based on PCII values. The maximum value of this index allocated to Mazandaran province by a score of 0. 485 and the minimum of PCII belonged to the Sistan and Baluchestan province with a score of 0. 270.

Organic farming is more knowledge-intensive than input, and requires improving the knowledge of farmers. Langrud is considered as one of the important counties with a share of about 27% of rice production and one of the areas in demand for organic rice cultivation in Guilan. The purpose of this study was to investigate the awareness of paddy rice farmers in Langrud regarding organic farming. The statistical population was paddy rice farmers in three districts with 500 people in 2018. The sample size was 211 according to the minimum sample size of Bartlett et al. A simple random sampling method was used to select this sample size. Data were collected by questionnaire. Its face and content validity was based on a survey of opinion leaders and experts. The reliability of the measurement tool was performed by a completing a questionnaire from a sample of 30 people outside the original and calculating the Cronbach's alpha coefficients (0/7). To analyze the data, descriptive statistics, correlation tests and multiple regression were used and analyzed by SPSS22. The results showed that the level of knowledge of 84. 8% of the respondents was at a moderate and good level, which indicates the positive tendency of the statistical community to obtain the needed information.

The present study has identified the challenges of the educational system in Agricultural Higher Education and Natural Resources Centers in Khuzestan Province. This research is achieved based on qualitative method and it was done using a strategy based on Grounded theory. In this regard, using a targeted approach and applying the criterion of theoretical saturation, semi structured interviews were conducted with 14 experienced professor and managers of higher education centers of agriculture and natural resources in Khuzestan province. The results of data analysis were separated in to separate concepts with the help of MAXQDA 2018 software. Concepts were classified in the hierarchy of coding in grounded theory in form of 15 categorical propositions. In the axial coding stage, educational factors were recognized as the main category. Finally, the paradigm model of research considering the main category called causal conditions, insignificance and underestimation of the evaluation of teaching quality and evaluation forms, Curriculum inefficiency "as a context, lack of attention and emphasis of the university on importance and role of education, lack of consensus of policy makers and planners on a specific philosophical basis, lack of attention to entrepreneurship as one of the missions of the agricultural university were drawn as intervening conditions and necessary strategies were developed to solve the challenges.

Nowadays, wetlands are indispensable ecosystems and play a crucial role on the stability of cosystems in future. Considering the importance of sustainable management of the saline wetlands and their impacts, participatory patterns of sustainability management of the saline wetlands in the plain of Masileh in Qom province is discussed in this paper. The population of this study includes all experts in Agriculture Organization of Qom province, Qom Regional Water Company and all Environmental Protection Department experts, Natural Resources and Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism of Qom, as well as the Subsidiary Department of these organizations that are located in Qom and Qomrud counties (the area of the Masileh Plain). The sample of the study are 251 experts, based on Cochran, selected through simple random sampling. Two section questionnaires were utilized for data collection, including participatory management section and sustainability section. The reliability of Questionnaire was measured through pre-test and analyzed using Cronbach’ s alpha coefficient. Meanwhile, the research committee confirms the validity of the questionnaire. Pearson correlation coefficient, one-sample t-test and path analysis were used through SPSS and Lisrel softwares for analyzing the data. The results showed that social sustainability, environmental sustainability and economic sustainability have significant and positive effects on the participatory management. In addition, the role of interest groups (consultation, intervention in planning, intervention in decision-making, motivation, independence, communication and individual rights) have significant and positive effects on the social, environmental, and economic sustainability.