Attitudes of Agricultural Cooperative Members of Karaj Township toward Sustainable Agriculture Practices

The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitude of agricultural cooperative members towards sustainable agriculture practices in Karaj Township. The population surveyed were the agricultural production cooperatives (N=1120). By entering the standard deviation of the dependent variable (Achieving Sustainable Agriculture) 177 individuals were selected as the sample for the study using the Cochran sampling formula. The main research instrument was a questionnaire. Content and face validity for the questionnaire was established by a panel of experts. The Likert-type scales were pilot-tested for reliability with a group of farmers. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.7. Findings showed that agricultural cooperative member’s attitude towards sustainable agriculture practices was inadequate and application of sustainable agricultural operations is in moderate and low level. Result of correlation analysis also showed that there was a positive and significant relationship between dependent variable (Attitude toward sustainable agriculture) with member’s level of education, awareness of sustainable agriculture practices, participation in training courses, and governmental support for sustainable development. Result of regression analysis also revealed that three factors including attitude toward agricultural practices, awareness of sustainable agriculture and participation in training courses could explain 56.2 percent of applying sustainable agricultural practices.