The Role of Extension and Education in Agricultural Development: Empirical Evidence from Iran

Abstract

For several years, economic sanctions imposed by the US have created considerable pressure on Iran’s economy. Thus, Iran has continuously been seeking ways that improve productivity progress in order to acquire greater production by consuming fewer resources. This study aimed to explain the design of agricultural extension in the resistive economics development in Iran and present a practical model. The general approach of the present research is quantitative and inferential and has a mixed nature. Indeed, this investigation is semi-experimental in terms of the possibility of controlling variables, and data collection has been performed through the assessment of documents, context, and library. For sampling, the stratified random sampling method was used, while the sample size (151) was determined using the modified Cochran’s formula. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and LISREL software were applied to analyze the collected data, and finally, the structural equation modeling was achieved through regression and path analyzes. The validity of the questionnaire through expert opinion and average variance extracted (AVE) index, and the reliability of the questionnaire through Cronbach’s alpha coefficient (89%) were obtained. The findings of the goodness-of-fit test for the deterrent factor of agricultural extension affecting resistive economics show that the set of independent variables could explain 61–83% of the probability of variance of the dependent variable. For the leading factor of agricultural extension affecting the resistive economics, between 68.8 and 99.6%, and for the factor of resistive economics affecting the agricultural development sector, between 69.1 and 99.8% were calculated.