The Impact of the Agricultural Extension and Education System on Organic Agricultural Development in Agricultural Cooperatives of Shabestar Township

At the present time, although the productivity and sustainability of many environmental protection technologies, such as organic technology, have been widely demonstrated, many farmers are still unaware of these technologies and the reason of it, is that such technologies require the replacement of management skills, knowledge and local manpower with foreign inputs. In this regard, the purpose of this study was to analyze the impact of agricultural extension and education system in the form of educational-extension methods on the development of organic agriculture in agricultural cooperatives. The statistical population consisted of the members of active and passive agricultural cooperatives in Shabestar township in 2019. This study is In terms of paradigm, quantitative; In terms of purpose, practical; In terms of data collection, survey and in terms of the relationship between variables, it is a type of descriptive-correlation researches. Structural equation modeling technique was used for data analysis. According to field data, there was sufficient evidence to support the significant impact of "scientific visits" and "training sessions" on "organic technology behavior". Also, the significant effect of the variables of "personal contact" and "knowledge of organic technology" on "attitude to organic technology" was confirmed. Based on the results, the following recommendations are proposed: the establishment of R&D center and national organic database, Orientation to farmers' thoughts for more communication with extension agents, leading farmers and experts, and culture building on how to use of messengers (Telegram, WhatsApp and Instagram) and mobile text messages.