Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1
PhD Student of Agricultural Development/ َAgricultural Extension,, Communication and Rural Development Department, Faculty of Agriculture,, University of Zanjan, Iran
2
Associate Professor of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, Agricultural Extension and Education Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University
3
Assistant Professor/, Citrus and Subtropical Fruits Research Center, Horticultural Science Research Institute, Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Ramsar, Iran
4
Associate Professor of Geography Department, University of Zanjan, Iran
Abstract
Adaptation to climate change requires appropriate knowledge. This study identifies extension programs effects and citrus farmers’ perception regarding adaptation to climate change on their knowledge. The research used a quantitative and explanatory perspective. The data were collected using interviews with a sample of 276 out of 99897 citrus farmers in the Mazandaran Province in 2021, selected by a multi-stage sampling technique. Farmers’ knowledge, perception, and access to extension programs were measured through ordinal-scaled questions. The questionnaire validity was evaluated by academic staff and researchers and its reliability was assessed using a pilot study with 30 farmers and the ordinal coefficient theta (θ = 0.92) for farmers’ knowledge. The data were analyzed using SPSSWin software and applying descriptive statistics, correlation coefficients, and ordinal regression. Results showed farmers perceived their citrus orchards’ high vulnerability to climate variability. Farmers' knowledge regarding long-term and short-term strategies to adapt to climate change was low and moderate respectively. Farmers had moderate access to extension agents and mass media and had poor access to group-based extension programs, but obtained low information on climate change from them. A significant correlation was between farmers’ communication and their information obtained. The odds ratios of the regression showed farmers' knowledge was explained by their perceptions of climate change vulnerability (R2Pseudo=2.394) and increased temperature (R2Pseudo=0.580), information obtains from researchers (R2Pseudo=1.473), and access to mass media (R2Pseudo=1.060). Policies are proposed to expand and strengthen the group-based and mass media extension programs, the interactions between researchers and farmers, and agricultural extension agents’ programs.
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