Determinants of Agricultural Engineering and Technical Consulting Services Firms (AETCSFs) Activities in Broujen County

Benefiting agricultural producers of advisory services is one of the most fundamental development strategies. For this purpose, one of the measures taken by the country's agricultural development planners and policymakers is using agriculture graduates in agricultural engineering and technical consulting services firms (AETCSFs). The purpose of this survey was to identify determinants of the activities of the AETCSFs in Broujen County. For this purpose the stages of establishing, stability, and durability of the firms were considered. Survey method was used to gather data. The statistical population of this study included 10 active and 20 non-active firms. A stratified random sampling technique was used for selecting 5 active and 10 no-active firms. Therefore, a total of 81 members of two types of firms were interviewed with the aid of a questionnaire containing open-ended and closed questions. Face validity was confirmed by experts, and the questionnaire was subjected to reliability testing by using data collection in the pilot study with Cronbach’s Alpha value of 0.63 to 0.94. Comparative analysis revealed that suitable environmental and socio-culture condition were the key determinants for the establishing stage. Findings also showed that the desirable economic, personal, structural, environmental, and socio-cultural situations were important in stabling stage. This is while, the good village, governmental supports, and within group member's trust were key determinants in the durability stage. Logistic regression modeling results showed that economic, socio-culture, management, and within group member's trust were the most important significant factors to predict firm's activity.