An Evaluation of Greenhouse Owners’ Knowledge toward Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in Cultivation of Greenhouse Cucumber in Khorasan Razavi Province

Heidari, Aligholi; Afsari Kohneh Shahri, Somayeh

An Evaluation of Greenhouse Owners’ Knowledge toward Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in Cultivation of Greenhouse Cucumber in Khorasan Razavi Province

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Abstract

The purpose of this study is to evaluate greenhouse owners’ knowledge regarding integrated pest management (IPM) in the production of greenhouse cucumber in Khorasan Razavi province.The survey research was a descriptive – correlational one. The study consisted of all farmers who cultivated greenhouse cucumber in Khorasan Razavi province (N=160), of whom 108 were selected through a random sampling technique (n= 108). Findings indicated that a majority of the farmers' knowledge toward integrated pest management (IPM) was at an ''average '' level. Also, it was revealed that the most important center for gaining information about integrated pest management was the Agriculture Organization and the least informative one was participation in the educational - extensional classes. The results indicated that there wasn’t any positive and meaningful relationship between economic, societal and relevancy channel variants with the farmers' knowledge. There was a positive and meaningful correlation between greenhouse owners' personal education as a variant and their knowledge concerning integrated pest management.

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