Factors Affecting Information Seeking Behavior of Wheat Farmers in Central District of the Zanjan Township

Many scholars and experts have a special emphasis on an appropriate understanding of information resources as well as the suitable use of them which means having a desirable information seeking behavior due to the importance of the knowledge and information as the main effective factors of agricultural development. Investigating the information seeking behavior of the wheat farmers in order to determine its affecting factors was the main purpose of the study. All of the wheat farmers of central district of Zanjan township (N=5705) were the statistical population of the study in which 250 individuals were selected as a sample through multistage sampling method. Data were collected through a questionnaire. The content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a panel of experts. The reliability was also confirmed through a pretest which the Cronbach`s alpha of the variables were calculated in an acceptable level (0.784 to 0.888). The results showed that about 50 and 46 percent of the wheat farmers used the communication and information resources and channels at moderate and low levels, respectively; whereas, only 4 percent of them used the resources and channels at high level. Furthermore, the results revealed that among the interpersonal information sources, family members and local authorities; multimedia information sources, television and radio programs; electronic media, educational films and CDs; and printed information sources, scientific books and newsletters and research reports of organizations had the highest ranks in terms of application, respectively. The results of a regression analysis indicated that 65.7 percent of the variance of dependent, use of communication and information resources and channels, were explained by the six variables including access to the resources and channels, communication skills, information needs, trust to resources and channels, information seeking attitude and the wheat yield.