Analysis of Adopter and Non-adopter Farmers' Behavior to Cultivate Medicinal Plants in Sari Township

The present study probes into distinguishing factors of adopter and non-adopter farmers in cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants. The study population was farmers of Sari County. According to Krejcie and Morgan sample size table, 312 farmers (n1= 89, n2=61, NT = 150) were selected as a sample using stratified random sampling method. Research device was a self-administrated questionnaire. The face validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a group of agricultural extension and education faculty members and then required amendments were made based on their suggestions. Cronbach's alpha was used to confirm the internal consistency of the items used for research measures and the results ranged from 0.86 to 0.94. The data were analyzed using SPSS20. This study revealed that the adoption rate of medicinal plants' cultivation is 59.33%. The evidence also suggests a suitable fitness of the logistic regression model with quantitative data (Cox and Snell R2 = 0.10, –2log likelihood = 187.190). The results of the logistic regression model also illustrated that the variable knowledge (Exp (B)= 1.88) has the greatest effect on the adoption of medicinal plants' cultivation. As a concluding remark, agricultural extension change agents were provided with some practical recommendations in order to be able to promote the cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants.