Factors Influencing the Information Seeking Knowledge of wheat farmers in Iran

Abstract

The study reports an investigation designed to explore the information seeking knowledge of wheat farmers in Iran and to identify the factors that influences information seeking knowledge. Information seeking knowledge means the extent of use of information sources like agriculture service center, agent workers, etc. A questionnaire was developed to explore information seeking knowledge of wheat farmers. The questionnaire was distributed to 381 wheat farmers. The methodological approach of this study was descriptive-correlative. All data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, Personal Computer Version (SPSS/Ver.15). Appropriate statistical procedures for description and inference were used. The result showed that 34.9, 43.8 and 21.3% of responders had low, moderate and high information seeking knowledge respectively. Also the top two information sources for wheat farmers were agricultural service center and agent workers with mean scores of 4.03 and 4.01, respectively. The results obtained from the factors analysis reveal that the three following factors, social, farming and personal characteristics explain 71.99% of the variation of the wheat farmers’ information seeking knowledge. Key words: Wheat farmers, information seeking knowledge, Iran