----Analyzing the Training Needs of Greenhouse Owners in Zanjan Province

Considering the importance of greenhouse crops on the one hand and the need to improve the level of technical knowledge and skills of greenhouse owners in order to increase their production performance on the other hand, this survey research was conducted with the main purpose of identifying and analyzing the training needs of greenhouse owner in Zanjan province. The statistical population of the research was made up of 147 active greenhouse owners with operation licenses in Zanjan province in 2022 of which 120 were selected through the stratified sampling method with proportional assignment. The research instrument for data collection was a questionnaire, the content validity of which was established by the faculty members of University of Zanjan and the experts of Jihad Agriculture Organization of Zanjan Province. In order to check the reliability of the questionnaire, a pilot study was also conducted, and the value of Cronbach's alpha calculated for the main scale of the questionnaire named training needs of greenhouse owners. The results of reliability analysis through Cronbach's alpha demonstrated an acceptable (i.e., 0.89) level of reliability for the research instrument. The collected data were analyzed using SPSSWin26 software. The results showed that the greenhouse owners' training needs in Zanjan Province can be loaded on six components including “factors related to technical issues before planting and after harvesting”, “technical issues related to crop planting”, “greenhouse management and harvesting and packaging”, “methods of marketing, advertising and value enhancement of the crop”, “location and technical issues related to the design of the greenhouse”, and “pests and diseases and their management”. Moreover, the results indicated that the intensity of training needs among the surveyed greenhouse owners, especially cucumber producers, was high, indicating the necessity of compiling and implementing related courses to cover the greenhouse owners' training needs.