Attitudes of Grain Farmers Towards Selecting and Producing Certified Seeds and Their Relationship to Some Variables in Halabja Governorate

Abstract

The research aimed to identify the trends of grain farmers towards selecting and producing certified seeds and their relationship to some variables in Halabja Governorate, as well as identifying the variation in farmers’attitudes towards them according to the research variables. The data were collected using a questionnaire and in the way of a personal interview from a simple random sample of (312) farmers, who represent (9%) of the size of the research community. The results of the research showed that the trends of grain farmers towards selecting and producing certified seeds in Halabja Governorate are medium and tend to be low There is no discrepancy in the farmers’attitudes towards selecting and producing certified seeds according to the research variables (number of family members, agricultural holding area, agricultural experience,the degree of informal group participation, trends towards agricultural innovations) while there is a discrepancy between farmers’attitudes towards selecting and producing certified seeds according to research variables (age, educational level, exposure to information sources), the results showed that there are several problems hindering the selection and production of certified seeds, the most important of which are (poor exploitation and sustainability of call centres with farmers to produce certified seeds, the lack of clear policies to support the production of certified seeds, The weak use of biotechnologies in developing new varieties has led to the failure of the certified seed industry to develop, so the researcher recommends intensifying specialized training courses in the field of selecting and producing certified seeds and working on modifying negative and neutral trends to positive towards selecting and producing certified seeds by educating farmers and convincing them of their usefulness. And taking into account the obstacles that the study found when preparing a future indicative plan in this area.