A Study of the Behavior of Ghazvin Province’s Extension Workers towards Adoption of Sustainable Agricultural Practices

The main objective followed in this study was to assess the rate of adoption of sustainable agricultural practices among extension volunteers in Qazvin Province. The study was a descriptive – correlational survey one. The population of the study was comprised of wheat farmers in province of Qazvin who acted as agricultural extension volunteers (N=365). From among these members, 185 were selected as sample of the study. Simple random sampling technique was employed to do the sampling. A questionnaire was designed for gathering the needed data. Content validity of the questionnaire was verified by a panel of experts in the fields of sustainable agriculture and agricultural extension affairs. A Cronbach’s Alfa reliability coefficient of 0.78 was obtained for the dependent variable of the study. A pilot test was conducted on a similar population from a different province to gather data for verification of the questionnaire reliability. Adoption behavior of the respondents was designated as the dependent variable of the study. The results indicated that a majority of the respondents were of either ''favorable'' or ''excellent'' adoption behavior. Muti-variant regression analysis indicated that about 68% of variability in the dependent variable could be explained by respondents’ education level, and as well, by the extent of their irrigated wheat farming land.