The cognitive training needs of wheat farmers in Al-Mahawil district, Babylon province, and their relationship to some variables

• Majid Ali Kitan Al-Jubouri

  Author

This research aims To assess the training needs of wheat farmers in general, specifically in the Al-Mahawil district.To assess the training needs of wheat farmers in each of the following areas: land preparation, planting methods, fertilization, irrigation, pest control, and harvesting.To determine the correlation between training needs and the following independent variables: wheat cultivation area, type of land tenure, contribution to income, experience in cultivating the crop, agricultural inputs, sources of agricultural information, prior training, and participation. (With extension activities, average agricultural production). Diagnosing the most important problems facing wheat farmers in Al-Mahawil District, Babylon Province.to assess the training needs of wheat farmers in all aspects of its cultivation and to determine the correlation between these training needs and each of the independent variables (area cultivated with wheat, type of landholding, contribution to income, experience in cultivating the crop, participation in extension activities, sources of agricultural information, agricultural inputs, prior training, and average agricultural production). Data was collected through personal interviews using a questionnaire specifically designed to assess training needs. The first part of the questionnaire included personal, social, and economic data, while the second part comprised 42 items to measure the training needs of wheat farmers. Face and content validity were established, and reliability was calculated using the split-half method, yielding a coefficient of 0.706. After data entry and classification, the data were statistically analyzed using several statistical methods. The results showed that 68.83% of wheat farmers in Al-Mahawil have an average level of knowledge in wheat cultivation and an average training need of 43.01, indicating a moderate to high level of training requirement. The ranking of wheat cultivation areas according to training needs was as follows: fertilization, pest control, irrigation, sowing, harvesting, land preparation and soil suitability, and planting method. The results also revealed a significant correlation between wheat farmers' training needs and the type of agricultural holding, income contribution, information sources, and participation in extension activities. However, no significant correlation was found with cultivated area, years of farming experience, agricultural inputs, prior training, or average agricultural production. Based on these results, several conclusions were drawn and recommendations were proposed.

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