Determinants of the Transfer of Sustainability Lear ning in Agricultural Sector of Iran

Abstract

Literature review indicates that systemic agricult ural human resource development interventions are rarely carried out in developing countries, and limited knowledge exists about how successful they are. Learning transfer is the generalization of material learned, such as skills acquired or knowledge gained in trai ning, back to the job. The main aim of this study was to analyze factors influencing susta inability learning transfer among farmers participating in Diffusion-Push Plans in Fa rs Province, Iran. A total number of 120 subjects were selected through stratified rando m sampling method. Results revealed that performance-outcomes expectations, perceived c ontent validity, transfer design, opportunity to use, supervisor support, years of ex perience in farming, and age had a significant effect on participants’ learning transf er. The formula developed in this study contributes to quantify learning transfer and provi des new opportunities for a deeper investigation of causal relationships among learnin g transfer factors using advanced statistical methods. Farmer training decision maker s and other actors in the extension system should pay particular attention to the facto rs reported here as critical to learning transfer. Keywords: Diffusion-Push Plans, Farmer training, Learning tra nsfer system inventory, Transfer of sustainability learning .