Effectiveness of Extension Agronomic Techniques in the Peyvand Rural Production Cooperative in Golestan Province by the Use of Societal Experimentation Evaluation Model

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of extension agronomic techniques using the societal experimentation evaluation model in the Peyvand rural production cooperative in the Aqqala Township in the Golestan province. The population included N=345 of farmers who were members in the cooperative as well as N=1104 of farmers who were not members. The sampling method was multi-stage random sampling, in which n=220 of farmers’ member in cooperative and n=200 of farmers’ non-member in cooperative were selected as the sample of the study. The data gathering tool was a questionnaire whose face validity was confirmed by experts and its reliability was confirmed by Cronbach's alpha for attitude and skill dimensions 0.92 and 0.84, respectively. The results showed that extension agronomic techniques improved the attitude of farmers’ member in land preparation and planting, growing and crop harvest and increased their knowledge and skills in this field. The results of the mean comparison showed that there was a significant difference between the two groups of farmers’ member and farmers’ non-member in cooperative in terms of knowledge, attitude and skill in land preparation and planting, growing and harvesting of agricultural products and in addition, extension agronomic techniques could improve farmers’ attitudes about land preparation and planting operations, and also could improve their knowledge and skills. The results of Friedman test showed that extension agronomic techniques had the most effect on knowledge and had the least impact on the field of land preparation and planting, growing and harvesting operations, on farmers’ member in cooperative.