Study of Attitudes toward Sustainable Agriculture: A Case from Iran

ABSTRACT: The main purpose of this study was to investigate the researchersʹ attitudes of natural resources and agricultural research organization of ILAM province toward sustainable agriculture. This study included all the researchers affiliated to natural resources and agricultural research organization of ILAM province (N= 92). Using census, questionnaires were sent to all researchers that ultimately 76 of whom completed questionnaires and returned them. Results showed that the attitude of the majority (63.2%) of researchers toward sustainable agriculture was moderate and negative. Also, there were significant differences amongthe researcherʹs attitudes towards sustainable agricultureon field of studyand level of education. Based on correlation coefficients, positive and significant relationships were found betweenresearchers’ work experience, the number of refereed papers published, the number of extension papers published, the number of papers presented at national and international conferences, the number of books published , and the number of translated books and attitude towards sustainable agriculture. In addition,multiple regression analysis showed that three variables including the number of bookspublished, the number of refereedpaperspublished, andthe number of books translated account forexplaining36 percent of variances of the dependent variable (attitude towards sustainable agriculture).