Factors influencing sustainability of horticultural private extension services

R. Keshavarz Ba Haghighat; S.M. . Hosseini; S.J. Farajollah Hosseini; F. . Lashgarara

doi:10.37855/jah.2022.v24i02.30

R. Keshavarz Ba Haghighat Department of Agricultural Extension and Education, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran.
S.M. . Hosseini Faculty of Economics and Agricultural Development, University of Tehran, Iran.
S.J. Farajollah Hosseini Department of Agricultural Extension and Education, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran.
F. . Lashgarara Department of Agricultural Extension and Education, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37855/jah.2022.v24i02.30

Keywords: Educational extension, extension performance, sustainability, public extension services, private extension services

Abstract

The present study aimed at evaluating prominent factors that affect the sustainability of horticultural private extension services (SHPES) and the continuous flow of their activities from the perspective of public sector experts. The study sample consisted of 148 public sector experts who were selected through stratified random sampling. A questionnaire was utilized for data collection. Validity was confirmed by face validity, convergent validity, and content validity. The results showed that infrastructure, educational extension, and economic factors had the most positive and significant effects on the SHPES and the continuity of their activities. The result of the calculated goodness-of-fit index (0.718) revealed that the model provided an excellent fit for the data. Also, the structures and factors explained 78% of the variance of the SHPES. The present study showed how management, economic, socio-cultural, policy, infrastructure, and educational factors influence SHPES.