Influence of Extension Training Programs on Water Conservation Behavior by Farmers (The Case of Zaloo-ab Farmers in Ravansar)

The main objective of this survey was to investigate the impact of extension training programs on knowledge, attitude and behavior of farmers towards water management using theory of planned behavior. Target population included 420 farmers in zaloab rural district from Ravansar, Kermanshah province who had participated in a couple of extension training programs related to agricultural water conservation, implemented in the region during 2011-2015 time-period. Applying simple random sampling method 95 farmers were selected according to Cochran formula and then, equally 95 farmers, who had not participated in any extension training programs related to water management, were selected using stratified random sampling method. In this way, 190 farmers were included in the study. Data were collected during second 6-month period in 2015 by a questionnaire validity of which was confirmed by a panel of experts in the areas of agricultural extension and water engineering. Reliability of the questionnaire was approved applying Cronbach Alpha coefficient which was estimated between 0.78 and 0.96 for scales of the questionnaire. Findings of t-test revealed that farmers, who had participated in extension training programs on water management, have more knowledge, more positive attitude and more appropriate behavior towards agricultural water management. Furthermore, path analysis showed that participation in extension training programs has the highest influence on farmers’ behavior concerning agricultural water conservation. Accordingly, it is recommended to invest more on extension training programs in the region to change attitude, knowledge and behavior of farmers towards agricultural water management.