Behavior Analysis of Paddy Farmers as Members of the Rural Production Cooperatives in the Context of Sustainable Agriculture

The purpose of this study was to analyze the behavior of paddy farmers as members of the rural production cooperatives in the context of sustainable agriculture. The population included all the paddy farmers that were members of rural production cooperatives in Sari Township (N= 4160), based on Cochran formula, 162 subjects were selected by the use of stratified sampling method (n=173). The instrument used was a questionnaire, the validity of which was gained by a panel of experts and also its reliability was reported 0.83-0.93.The results showed that knowledge, attitudes and skills of majority of the paddy farmers in the context of sustainable agriculture was at a moderate level. Also, overall assessment showed that their behavior and performance was at an acceptable level. The results of ANOVA test showed that farmers with more experience had a significant higher and positive performance in their field as well as implementing sustainable agriculture practices.