نفیسه صلاحی مقدم

Agricultural water resources management in Iran is a matter that should be decided by farmers and water users. Farmers' ignorance of the actions taken about agricultural water conservation and their non-participation in the decision-making process of agricultural water issues will lead to strengthening their sense of not belonging to the future fate of water. The purpose of this descriptive research was to analyze factors affecting farmers’ participation in sustainable agricultural water management in Tarom County. The statistical population of the study was Heads of rural households in Tarom County (N=7774). The sample size was determined via the Krejcie and Morgan table (n=365). The sampling method was multi-stage random sampling. The research instrument was a questionnaire—the face and content validity of the questionnaire were revised and verified by the panel of experts. The reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed by calculating the Cronbach’s alpha and composite reliability (CR) coefficients. For data analysis, SMART PLS and SPSS software were used. Research findings showed that variables such as moral norms, risk perception, self-identity, and social norms had a positive and significant effect on farmers’ participation in sustainable water management so these variables could explain about 51% variation in farmers’ participation.

Increased mortality and morbidity of humans due to unsafe use of chemical pesticides are the most serious occupational hazards faced by farmers in developing countries. As such, The purpose of this research was to investigation of factors affecting farmers’ excessive use of application pesticides and identify barriers to farmers’ usage of self-protective behavioure about the use of chemical pesticides in Zanjan province. The statistical population of this study consisted of the thematic experts in Zanjan province of which 20 persons were selected using the purposive sampling method. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. The software of MAXQDA 12 was used to analyze the data. The results of the study showed that the main factors affecting the farmers’ excessive use of application pesticides were cognitive-informational weakness, educational-extensional services weakness, Characteristic of chemical pest control methods, supportive weakness and personal factors. Additionally, the results of the study indicated that the variables Lack of attention of the government and relevant organizations to farmers' health, health culture weakness among farmers, economic factors, personal factors, information weakness and Individual protection equipment barriers effected self-protective behaviors of farmers in the use of pesticides.

The main objective of this research was modeling the factors affecting rural households’ food security in Zanjan County. The statistical population of the current research was 25864 rural household heads in Zanjan County which based on Bartlett et al. (2001) formula, 353 of them were selected using a two-stage sampling method. A questionnaire was used for data collection. The face validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a panel of experts and as well as the construct validity and the reliability of the questionnaire were obtained after making necessary corrections. The collected data were analyzed using SPSSWin22 and Smart PLS3 software. The descriptive results of the research showed that most of the surveyed respondents (more than two thirds) were in severe food insecurity situation. Moreover, the results of structural equation modeling revealed that each of five factors of economic, policy-regulatory, educational-information, family and geographical had positive and significant effects on rural household heads’ food security level and explained about 57.9 percent of variances in the dependent variable. However, the relationship between social factors and the food security level was not significant.

Regarding the negative effects of overuse of pesticides on human health and the environment, in recent years, sustainable and green methods for pests control especially biological control have been considered by many researchers. However, due to the existence of various barriers, the process of adoption and usage of biological control methods is very slow among farmers. Given the importance of the subject, the main purpose of this study was to analyze farmers’ barriers in using Habrobracon hebetor to control tomato Heliothis spp. in Tarom County. Methodologically, this study was a descriptive-correlational research. The statistical population of the study was 1666 tomato producers in Tarom County in Zanjan Province. Based on the Bartlett et al. (2001) formula, 330 producers were selected by the stratified sampling method for doing the study. A research-made questionnaire was used to collect the data. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a panel of experts and specialists. A pilot study was conducted to establish reliability of the instrument, which the calculated Cronbach alpha's coefficient for the main scale of questionnaire was appropriate (above 0.75). Collected data were analyzed using the SPSSWin22 software. The results of a factor analysis revealed that the farmers’ barriers in using Habrobracon hebetor to control tomato Heliothis spp. in Tarom County were categorized into five factors including, financial-economic barriers, psychological-social barriers, cognitive-informational weakness, supportive weakness and technical constraints and these factors, in total, explained 68.73% of variances of the barriers.

The main purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of nutritional awareness and attitude on rural households’ food security level in Zanjan County. The statistical population of the study was 25864 rural household heads of Zanjan County among which 353 persons were selected using a stratified sampling method with proportional allocation. A questionnaire was used to collect the data. A panel of experts at University of Zanjan confirmed the face validity of the questionnaire. Additionally, the construct validity (including convergent, divergent, and nomological validity) and composite reliability of the research instrument were obtained by estimating measurement model and after making necessary corrections. The data were analyzed using SPSS and AMOS software. The descriptive results of the research showed that the level of food security for the majority of respondents was low. Moreover, the results of the structural equation modeling revealed that two variables of nutritional awareness and nutritional attitude and its components including food hygiene, food safety and health, nutritional value and food price and quality had positive and significant effects on rural household heads’ food security level explaining about 68 percent of its variances. Based on the findings of this research, it can be concluded that improving villagers’ nutritional attitude and awareness, especially by providing them with the necessary educations is one of the basic preconditions for increasing food security among them.

The main purpose of this descriptive-correlative research was to develop a theoretical model for the investigation of factors affecting farmers’ intention to use Habrobracon hebetor to control tomato Heliothis spp. based on Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). The statistical population of the study was 1666 tomato producers in Tarom County in Zanjan Province among which 330 producers were selected by stratified sampling method. The standard questionnaire was used to collect the data. The content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a panel of experts. The construct validity (value range of factor loadings was from 0.58 to 0.94 and Average Variance Extracted was from 0.524 to 0.677) and the composite reliability (values range from 0.766 to 0.857) of the research instrument were tested by estimating the measurement model and they were modified after making necessary corrections. The data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) multivariate technique. The empirical results of the study revealed that the main components of the original TPB model including attitude, social norms, perceived behavioral control and self-efficacy had statistically significant positive effects on the variable intention to use Habrobracon hebetor and explained about 51% of its variances. Furthermore, after inclusion of the variable moral norms as the additional predictor of intention in the extended TPB model, the predictive power of the model was found to increase up to 7%. The findings not only provide more empirical evidences in the cognitive processing of intention to use biological control methods, but also provide useful information for the extension of the use of green/clean methods for pests control.

Nowadays, water scarcity has become a concern in Iran, and agriculture, in particular, appears to be at the core of the water shortage problem. The results of various studies state that a large part of water waste is in the route of water transmission to the fields. Thus, it is essential to optimize the consumption of water by using modern irrigation technologies. The main purpose of this study was to investigate factors affecting the Adoption of modern irrigation technology in Behbahan township. This research was applied research and a descriptive- survey method was used for collecting data. Statistical population of the study consisted of adopters and non-adopters farmers of modern irrigation technology in Behbahan township. The total number of adopters of new irrigation technologies included 174 farmers who were selected by census and among of non-adopters farmers whose their lands were in the neighborhood of adopters by random sampling method were selected. The standard questionnaire was used to collect data. Content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a panel of faculty members. A pilot study was conducted to establish reliability of the instrument. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for the main scales of the questionnaire were at the appropriate level. Collected data were analyzed using the SPSS20 software. The results showed that the discriminant function derived from three models of diffusion, economic constraints and combination model could categorize adopters and non- adopters of modern irrigation technology distance to agricultural services center variable in economic constraints model and farmers’ age variable in combination and diffusion models are the most important distinctive variables between adopters and non-adopters groups. Also, the finding indicated that combination model has a higher ability in classification of adopters and non- adopters of modern irrigation technology.

The main purpose of this descriptive- correlative research was to study the effect of social capital on knowledge management using Structural Equations Modeling (SEM). The statistical population of the study consisted of 272 experts of the Agriculture Jihad organization in Alborz province. According to the Krejcie & Morgan table, a sample size of 213 was selected using a stratified random sampling method. The standard questionnaires were used to collect the data. The content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a panel of experts. The construct validity and the composite reliability of the research instrument were tested by estimating the measurement model and they were satisfied after making necessary corrections. The data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling multivariate technique. The results showed that social capital had a positive and significant effect on dependent variable. All in all, social capital explained about 61 percent of the variances of knowledge management in the Agriculture Jihad organization of Alborz province. Based on the findings, it could be concluded that improving social capital directly results in reinforcing knowledge management in the Agriculture Jihad organization.

Pro-environmental modeling of rural people based on the theory of Value-Belief-Norm was the main objective of this survey study. The statistical population of the research consisted all of the rural household heads of Sojasroud district of Khodabandeh County in Zanjan Province (N= 2354) of which a sample size of 259 individuals was selected by a proportional stratified sampling method. Data was collected using standard questionnaires. Content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a panel of experts and the construct validity and reliability were confirmed through validity and reliability were confirmed through examining of model fit in three levels of measurement model, structural model and total model. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) multivariate technique (Partial Least Squares) was used to analyze data. So Smart PLS2.0 software was applied. The results indicated that components of values, ecological ideology, awareness of consequences, responsibility and personal norms had positive and significant effects on dependent variable of villagers’ pro-environmental behavior explaining about 68.6 percent of its variances.

The purpose of this study was to assess the information literacy among agricultural graduate students in University of Zanjan. Research design was descriptive- correlation and survey method used. Agricultural graduate in University of Zanjan formed the statistical population of study) N =223). The sample size was determined by using Cochran formula (n =80). Samples were selected through stratified random sampling method. Research instrument was a questionnaire. Face and content validity of the questionnaire revised and confirmed by a panel of experts. Results showed information literacy of students with an average of 7.59 and standard deviation of 2.03 was moderate. The highest level of information literacy of students was in the area of effective and access to information need. The lowest literacy level was student's knowledge of the legal and judicial areas related to access and uses the information. Based on the correlation results, there was positive and significant relationships between student’s research situations with their information literacy.

Rural women have significant role and share in agricultural and non-agricultural activities in rural areas. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the factors affecting on Garmsar rural women’s participation in rural activities. The research design of the study was a survey utilizing descriptive-correlation technique. The statistical population consisted of rural women in the Garmsar township (N=1600). A proportional stratified sampling method was used to select 134 women as samples of the study and the Cochran’s formula helped to determine the sample size. A questionnaire was designed to gather data. A panel of extension and rural development experts determined content validity and a reliability analysis of questionnaire was conducted by a pilot test, Cronbach’s alpha values were obtained ranging 0.72-0.84 for various parts of the questionnaire. Results showed that rural women participate in the agricultural activities (mean: 3.24) more than non-agricultural activities (mean: 1.99). In addition, their attitude toward participation in rural activities was “agreed”. The result of the multivariate linear regression indicated that 28% (R2=0.28) of the variance in women’s participation in agricultural activities could be explained by their marital background. In addition, variables including age, marital background and role of women in home activities could explain 23% (R2=0.23) of variance of women’s participation in non-agricultural activities.

The main purpose of this descriptive- correlative study was an analysis of the effect of emotional intelligence on entrepreneurial spirit among agricultural students in Tarbiat Modares University. The population of this research consisted of graduate students in agricultural faculty of Tarbiat Modares University (N=764). Sample size was determined by Krejcie and Morgan table (n=280). Sampling method was stratified random sampling. (n=256). Research instrument was questionnaire. Face and content validity verified by faculty members of agricultural extension and education in Tarbiat Modarres University. For determining reliability of instrument, pilot test is done then mean of Chronbach’s alpha calculated for emotional intelligence 0.72 and entrepreneurial spirit 0.85. Discriminant validity and the composite reliability of the research instrument were tested by estimating the measurement model and they were satisfied after making necessary corrections. For analysis of data, variance and covariance technique is used by structural equation modeling. The results of structural equation modeling showed that the emotional intelligence had a positive and significant effect on entrepreneurial spirit of students. Thus, this explained about 55 percent of the variations of entrepreneurial spirit among students. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that reinforcing the emotional intelligence directly results in improvement of entrepreneurship students of Tarbiat Modares University.

The main purpose of this descriptive- correlative research was to study the effect of social capital on organizational performance of the Alborz Jihad-e-Agriculture organization. The study was a descriptivecorrelational survey research. The statistical population of the study consisted of 272 experts of the Alborz Agriculture Jihad Organization. According to the Krejcie and Morgan table, a sample size of 213 was selected using a stratified random sampling method. Standard questionnaires were used to collect the data. The content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a panel of experts. The construct validity and the composite reliability of the research instrument were tested by estimating the measurement model and they were satisfied after making necessary corrections. Data were collected and analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) multivariate technique. The results verified the hypothesis of the research in a way that social capital had positive and significant effect on dependent variable. All in all, social capital explained about 64 percent of the variances of organizational performance of the Alborz Agriculture Jihad Organization. Based on the findings, it could be concluded that reinforcing social capital directly results in improvement of organizational performance of the Agriculture Jihad Organizations.

The main purpose of this descriptive- correlative research was to study of the effect of organizational culture components on knowledge management in Agricultural Consulting, Technical and Engineering Services Ventures (ACTESV). The statistical population of the research consisted of all experts in the ACTESV in Zanjan Province (N= 301). According to the Bartlett, et al. (2001), a sample size of 207 was selected using the stratified random sampling technique. The standard questionnaires were used to collect data. The content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a panel of experts. The construct validity and the composite reliability of the research instrument were satisfied after making necessary corrections. The results showed that four components of organizational culture including mission, adaptability, involvement and consistency explained totally 41 percent of variances of knowledge management in the ACTESV in Zanjan Province. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that reinforcing organizational culture directly results in developing knowledge management in the ACTESV.

The purpose of this descriptive- correlative research was to study effect of knowledge management on organizational performance of Jihad-e- Agriculture organization in Alborz province. The statistical population of the research consisted of 272 experts of Jihad-e- Agriculture organization in Alborz province. According to the Krejcie and Morgan table، a sample size of 213 was selected using a stratified random sampling method. The standard questionnaires were used to collect the data. The results showed that the knowledge management and its components including، creation، acquisition، recording، transfer and using of knowledge had a positive and significant effect (p < 0. 01) on the dependent variable. The knowledge management totally explained 54 percent of variances of the organizational performance of Jihad-e- Agriculture organization in Alborz province. Based on the findings، it can be concluded that reinforcing the knowledge management and its components directly results in improvement of organizational performance of the Jihad-e- Agriculture organization

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of emotional intelligence on students’ entrepreneurship competencies in agricultural majors of University of Zanjan. This study in terms of purpose is considered as an applied research and in terms of data collection is considered as a descriptive and correlation type study. The population of study was including 366 M. Sc. students in agricultural faculty of University of Zanjan. According to Krejcie and Morgan table، a sample size of 280 was selected using a stratified random sampling method (n=280). The standard questionnaire was used to collect the data. The content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a panel of faculty members in University of Zanjan. A pilot study was conducted to establish reliability of the instrument. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for the main scales of questionnaire were at appropriate level (0. 706 to 0. 872). The data analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) multivariate technique. The results showed that the most of respondents were at low and moderate levels in terms of emotional intelligence and entrepreneurship competencies. Also، the results indicated that emotional intelligence and its components including interpersonal skills، intrapersonal skills، adaptability، change management and self-motivation were explained about 35 percent of variances of entrepreneurship competencies.

There are new evidences to suggest that personality and emotional intelligence play a significant role in origin of entrepreneurship. However، few studies are carried out in this area particularly with regard to gender differences among individuals. Therefore، the main purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of emotional intelligence on students’ entrepreneurship competencies in agricultural fields of Zanjan University and to examine the moderating effect of gender on the relationship between emotional intelligence and entrepreneurship competencies. The target population of the study contained all M. Sc. students in agriculture faculty of Zanjan University (n=366). According to Krejcie and Morgan table، a sample size of 280 was selected using a stratified random sampling method (n=280). A questionnaire was used to collect the data. A panel of faculty members in University of Zanjan confirmed the content validity of the questionnaire. A pilot study was conducted to establish the reliability of the instrument. Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient for the main scales of questionnaire was at appropriate level. The data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) multivariate technique. The results showed that emotional intelligence had a positive and significant effect on dependent variable of entrepreneurship competencies explaining about 35 percent of its variances. Also، the result indicated that gender had a moderating effect on the relationship between emotional intelligence and entrepreneurship competencies; so that the relationship was non-significant for male students، whereas it was positive and significant for female students.