Document Type: Original Article
Authors
1 Faculty of Agriculture, Garmsar Barnch, Islamic Azad University, Garmsar, Iran
2 Faculty of Agriculture, GARMSAR Branch, Islamic Azad University, GARMSAR, Iran
3 Faculty of Management and Economics, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
This paper aims at studying the role of agricultural education and extension methods on the use of renewable energy by farmers in Semnan Province. The research was a practical study in terms of goal and was a descriptive-correlation study in terms of methodology. The population of the study was composed of Semnan Province poultry farmers that used any type of renewable energy. In total, 89 people were analyzed. Data collection tool was questionnaire (composed of 29 main questions and 108 minor questions in a Likert scale). The questionnaire was designed after consultations with university professors and research literature. The validity of the questionnaire was measured in terms of the form and content and its reliability was tested with Cronbach's alpha which ranged from 0.801 to 0.925. It was found that there was a strong significant relationship (r = 0.773) between education and extension methods (participation in the extension and educational courses, visits to farms using solar power, holding workshops on agricultural extension centers, experts’ visiting of poultry, watching videos of farms that use solar energy, production and distribution of educational brochures among farmers, designing related programs at universities, watching videos of the construction of solar power farms, broadcasting radio programs and educational broadcasting from local TV channels) and the use of solar energy by farmers. Based on the farmer’s view, participation in the extension and educational courses was the main source for obtaining the needed information. Also according to stepwise regression, 78.5% of the change in the dependent variable was explained by the variables of “visiting farms using solar power”, “participation in the extension and educational courses”, “production and distribution of educational brochures among farmers”, “holding workshops on agricultural extension centers” and “experts’ visiting of poultry”.
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