Environmental Training Needs Assessment of Pesticide and Fertilizer Dealers in Shiraz, Iran

Chemical input suppliers are one of the main sources of information for farmers, providing training opportunities to increase suppliers’ knowledge is one of the necessary measures to achieve sustainable development in agriculture. The purpose of this research was to determine environmental training needs of pesticide and fertilizer dealers in Shiraz. Borich model was used to assess training needs, and self-assessment and knowledge test were employed for verification. In addition to descriptive statistics, inferential statistics like regression and t-test were employed. Research population consisted of 80 pesticide and fertilizer dealers in Shiraz. A sample of 70 subjects were selected through simple random sampling. A questionnaire was developed to collect data. Face validity of the questionnaire was obtained through a panel of experts on agricultural extension and education, and plant protection, and three input suppliers. Cronbach’s alphas ranged from α = 0.79 to α = 0.91 which indicated the questionnaire reliability. SPSSWin19 was employed to analyze data. Findings indicated that the highest training priorities include knowledge about organic agriculture and non-chemical methods of pest control, knowledge of biological products, and identification of low-risk, high-risk and banned pesticides. T-test revealed that sellers with non-agriculture majors had higher levels of training need than those majoring in agriculture. Regression analysis showed that among independent variables, test score and attitudes could explain 17 percent of the variance in training needs. Finally, recommendations were developed based on the research findings.