The Environmental Attitude and Using Chemical Toxins among Rice Growers (Case study: Esfivard-shoorab Rural District, Sari County)

According to the mission of agricultural extension in reduction of pesticide use on farms, agricultural producer's attitude on the use of pesticides on farms is important. This study aimed to identify the environmental attitude of farmers towards the use of chemical toxins on the farm, based on descriptive and survey research method. The target population in the study consisted 200 rice growers lived in villages of Esfivard-shoorab rural district in central district of Sari County in Mazandaran Province that 130 of them were selected as research samples. Data gathered through a questionnaire and its face validity was confirmed by expert’s panel and the reliability analysis was conducted and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.71. Data were analyzed using SPSSwin19 software. The research findings showed that farmers have a moderate to high positive environmental attitude for reducing the use of Chemical toxins on their farm. The correlation test showed that by increasing in agricultural experiment, age, perceive biological control importance, participation in extension classes, farmers have more positive attitude for reducing the use of Chemical toxins on their farm. Also, the compare mean results showed that there is a significant difference between environmental attitudes of chemical toxins usage in terms of the cost of buying chemical toxins used in one crop season. This study recommended continuing educational courses formation with the aim of creating of positive environmental attitudes of reducing chemical toxins in farmers