An Investigation of The Effects of the Elements of Agricultural Knowledge and Information System on Technical Knowledge of Greenhouse Owners (Case Study: South Khorasan Province)

The effects of agricultural information on the technical knowledge of the greenhouse owners in South Khorasan province are dealt with in this study. Research A descriptive-correlational methodology was ployed, and in terms of time, it was limited to the activities of the elements of knowledge and agricultural information as obtained from greenhouses during 2009. The study population consisted of greenhouse owners in South Khorasan Province, as based on Agricultural Organization statistics, The number of individuals being over 122. In this study, a Census method was utilized to achieve the required information. Research findings suggest that the technical knowledge at the level of greenhouse owners is low. There is a significant positive relationship in information sharing between greenhouse operators, researchers, extension agents, academic members, fellow farmers, vs. technical knowledge of the operators. At 95 percent level, a positive and significant relationship exists between technical knowledge of greenhouse operators, vs. education, farming experience, experience in greenhouse cultivation, cultivation of crops and greenhouse production per unit area. The results of regression analysis in determining the estimating equation of the effective professional and individual characteristics on technical knowledge of greenhouse owners indicates that education, history of greenhouse cultivation, work history and cultivation of agricultural crops, respectively, were the most important variables contributing the most to the technical knowledge of greenhouse owners, and explaining about 39 percent of the change in the variance of these variables.