Factors Influencing the Gardening Management Skills among Citrus Farmers (Case of Iran, Sari)

Production management is the best and foremost factor in exploiting the production factors more desirably and advantageously. Accordingly, the present study sought to evaluate the factors affecting the gardening management skills among citrus farmers in Sari, north of Iran. The statistical population for the study was 12,800 people. The stratified random sampling using the Cochran test was applied, and 250 subjects were selected for the study. The research instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire, the content validity of which was confirmed by the agricultural and extension experts and its reliability was estimated by Cronbach's alpha as to be 0.94. The data analysis results showed that the respondents’ gardening management skills was at high (41.6%) and average levels (54.1%). Considering the research findings, there was a significant positive correlation at the one percent level between citrus farmers’ gardening management skills and social, knowledge, attitude, educational factors, the total cultivated area and gardening experience. Also, there was a significant positive correlation at the five percent level between citrus farmers’ gardening management skills and the garden area, citrus annual income and the distance of the garden to the agriculture center. Considering the stepwise regression results, 45.7% of the variation in respondents’ gardening management skills was accounted for by three variables of knowledge, educational factor and the total area of cultivated land, serving as the best predictor of citrus farmers’ gardening management skills in Sari.