Training Needs of Farmers in Ramshir, Khuzestan Province, on Soil Management

One of the most important challenges facing agricultural crop production for the growing population of the world is the declining fertility of agricultural lands. Based on this recognition, the present quantitative study was designed, as an applied and non-experimental one with no control over the variables, and implemented to determine the users’ and farmers’ training needs in the areas of soil and soil fertility. Covering an area of 5422 ha, the study area was the civil district 1 on the eastern side of Ramshir Township. The statistical population comprised all the farmers across the study area (n = 382). Using the Cochran’s formula, the statistical sample size was estimated at 110. However, 124 individuals were randomly selected as the statistical sample in order to achieve enhanced measurement accuracy. Our findings show that the most important training needs of the farmers include: the root causes of soil degradation and the relevant control methods, application of microorganisms for enhancing soil fertility, and hybrid farming methods. In addition, it was found that participation in training and extension courses has significant contributions to elevating farmers’ professional knowledge of agriculture. Finally, farmer’s age and professional background were found to be directly and significantly related to farmers’ professional understanding.