The Impacts of the New Agricultural Extension System on Improving Knowledge and Changing the Behavior of Farmers in Fars Province

The agricultural extension system of Iran has faced various climatic, ecological, economic, and social challenges during the past two decades. In order to manage the chronic problems of agricultural extension in the country and improve its structure and organization, the New Agricultural Extension System (NAES) was designed and implemented. This survey study aimed to investigate the effects of the NAES on knowledge, information, and behavior of farmers in Fars Province. The study area included Jihad Agricultural Centers of Fars Province that were used as the pilots to study the impact of the NAES which included 95 parcels of 14 Jihad Agricultural Centers. The sample size (n=260) was determined based on the table of Krejcie and Morgan. The data was collected through a questionnaire and a multi-stage random sampling method was employed to select the samples. A panel of experts confirmed the face validity of the questionnaire. Also, a pilot study was performed to evaluate the reliability of the instrument. The results revealed that farmers were relatively satisfied with the services provided by the NAES. Also, comparison of farmers' knowledge and information before and after implementation of NAES indicated significant increases in awareness of technical, infrastructural, general, and supportive services. However, the study ascertained that the level of farmers’ usage of the extension services was moderate.