The Effects of Participatory in Cooperatives on Farmer's Environmental Attitude The Case Study of Farmers in Shiraz County

This study was conducted to investigate the attitude of farmers who were members and non-members of agricultural cooperatives toward environmental issues in Shiraz Township, using survey method. Questionnaire was the instrument for gathering data. It included both closed and open ended questions. Multi-stage stratified random sampling was used to collect data from 272 farmers as the research sample. The questionnaire validity was confirmed by faculty members of agricultural extension and education department. A pilot test was done to test the reliability of the questionnaire. The results showed that the member farmers in agricultural cooperative had a more positive attitude than the non- member farmers regarding environmental issues. Also, the results of statistical regression showed that the awareness of adverse consequences, environmental knowledge and moral norms expected thirty- six percent of the variety in member-farmers’ environmental attitude. Two variables of the awareness of adverse consequences and relationship with agricultural experts expected seventy percent of the variety in non-member farmers’ environmental attitude. Finally these recommendations were made for the cooperatives to follow: 1) increasing farmers’ awareness of adverse consequences of their activities (for the ecosystem), 2) strengthening farmers’ environmental knowledge, 3) providing the moral training for farmers.