مجله پژوهش های ترویج و آموزش کشاورزی
سال پانزدهم شماره 2 (پیاپی 58، تابستان 1401)

The present research was conducted with the aim of investigating the role of educational-promotional and social factors affecting the development of saffron business clusters in South Khorasan province. The statistical population of the research consists of managers, assistants and marketers of saffron processing centers and saffron sales centers of saffron business clusters in South Khorasan, whose number is 987 people. The sample population was equal to 278 people, and the necessary information was collected using a questionnaire. SPSS and AMOS software and structural equation analysis were used for data analysis. The inferential findings of the research showed the complete compliance of the measured factors with the existing theoretical models and the complete consistency between the theoretical constructs and the experimental constructs of the research. Accordingly, the educational role of promotion in the theoretical model was confirmed in ten dimensions and the social role of promotion in five dimensions in the final models. In the educational sector, the most important items affecting the development of saffron business clusters are "holding specialized seminars and familiarizing investors with the capacity of saffron", "establishing internal and external exhibitions to display saffron products" and "using virtual networks to advertise saffron products." " and in the social sector, the most important factors affecting the development of saffron business clusters are "creating culture about the place of saffron in the household food basket" and "investment risk for saffron product".

In the last two decades, contract farming has turn-into a method for maximum resources utilization. However, this method has been neglected in Iran; and only developed for a limited number of agricultural commodities in small regions. Because of considerable advantages of contract farming,, this study focused on analysis the success factors of tomato contract farming in Kermanshah province. For this purpose, a desk review alongside a structural interview was designed. The questionaries' was completed by company experts and 246 farmers who work with the company. Finally, the Analytic Network Process (ANP) method was applied for data analysis. The main results indicated that tomato contract farming in Kermanshah leads to a 65% increase in tomato yield and an 11% decrease in water consumption. Moreover, it causes a higher income for farmers due to the higher tomato price relative to market prices. Based on the ANP analysis, an increase in farmers' income per hectare with a weight of 0.097 is the main success factor from the farmers' point of view. On the other hand, from the company's point of view, access to high-quality raw materials with the weight of 0.117 is the most vital success factor of tomato's contract farming. Based on these results, supporting contract farming should be considered as a priority of the country's development plan for selected agricultural products in different regions. For instance, export facilities for the final goods of contract farming are a strong incentive for the development of contract farming.

Employee’s satisfaction is a pivotal factor in the success of the organization. As such, this study was conducted to investigate Jihad-Keshavarzi Staff’s satisfaction and factors which determine it in Khouzestan Province. This research used satisfaction model as research framework. The statistical population of this research was formed by the experts of the Jihad-Keshavarzi Organization in the center of Khuzestan province (N = 500). 217 experts were selected based on the table of Krejci and Morgan. The sample people were studied using simple random sampling method. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire, whose formal and content validity was confirmed by a group of professors and experts. In addition, to determine the level of reliability, the pre-test was used and confirmed by calculating Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS 24 and Amos 24 software. The result reveals that organization image and commitment to organization determine perceived value and motivation and personal characteristics determine staff’s satisfaction. Based on the research findings some applicable recommendations have been presented toward staff's job satisfaction

The agricultural higher education system and its institutions have a serious mission for the sustainable development of this sector, considering the vital and pivotal position of the agricultural sector in food security, job creation, environmental protection and rural development. Higher education in agriculture, like other sectors of higher education, faces problems and obstacle. The aim of this study was to identify the challenges and problems in higher agricultural education. The aim of this study was to identify the challenges and problems in higher agricultural education. The approach of this research is qualitative and based on the method of basic theory or data base, in which to collect the required information from a semi-structured interview with 32 academic experts, graduates, agricultural entrepreneurs and jihad managers.Agriculture has been used in Zanjan province. By analyzing the text of the interviews, 335 conceptual statements related to the purpose of the research were extracted during open coding. These concepts, in axial coding, in the form of 82 subcategories during axial coding and then into 7 general categories during selective coding. According to this category, the most important obstacles and problems of agricultural higher education include educational-research, structural, economic, individual-skill, cultural-social, administrative-organizational and infrastructural barriers.

The purpose of the present study, which is of a descriptive-analytical type, is to explain the mechanisms and strategies of agricultural development with an emphasis on agricultural education in the rural areas of Aqra/Aqra city, Dohuk province of Iraqi Kurdistan climate. Data collection tools included document analysis, observation and questionnaire. In this study, content validity was confirmed using a panel of experts and its reliability was also confirmed using the triangulation method. The statistical population of this study included all the experts and specialists working in the Ministry of Agriculture of Kurdistan Region of Iraq (working in the four districts of Bejil, China, Zakurd and Gharcheesin) who are active in the field of agricultural development and are also familiar with the city of Acre. 32 people were selected using the purposeful sampling method and through the snowball method. According to the results of the SWOT analysis, an aggressive strategy (relative weighted average of internal factors = 3.14 and external factors = 3.26) was determined to transition from the current situation to the desired situation. In this regard, strategies such as cultivation of commercial crops according to suitable climate, modification and breeding of seed inputs to increase yield, employment of specialized forces for training for the commercialization of the agricultural sector, use of transgenic livestock to increase productivity and market needs assessment for Production of commercial products was extracted.

The aim of the current research was to identify the factors influencing the acceptance of canola (Brassica napus) cultivation among the farmers of Boyer-Ahmad County. For this purpose, the integrated model of acceptance and use of technology was used. The statistical population of the research was the adopters and non-adopters of canola cultivation in the country. All adopters (35 people) and 118 non-adopters who were selected by random sampling with appropriate distribution were studied and investigated using the survey method. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire, which was developed based on the components of the theory, and its validity was revised and confirmed by a panel of academic experts. To measure the reliability of the questionnaire, a pilot study was conducted outside the statistical population, and the Cronbach's alpha coefficients (0.67 to 0.93) obtained indicated the satisfactory reliability of the questionnaire. The collected data were loaded into SPSS21 statistical software and related statistical tests were taken. The findings of the research showed that the average score of "facilitating conditions", "expected performance" and "expected effort" in two groups of farmers showed a significant difference. Also, the findings from the discriminate analysis indicated that "facilitating conditions" had a greater share in the discrimination of the two groups of the farmers. Meanwhile, the results of the path analysis showed that "social influence" and "expected performance" had the greatest effect on the willingness to accept, and "facilitating conditions" had the greatest effect on the adoption behavior of canola cultivation.