The Optimal Use of Modern Agricultural Methods by Vegetable Crop Farmers in Nineveh Province, Iraq

Current research aims to know the perfect use modern of agricultural methods by vegetables farmers in general in Nineveh governorate, as well as the perfect way to use modern agricultural methods by vegetable farmers in association with research variables, to know the correlation between the perfect use of modern agricultural methods by vegetable farmers and independent variables of research. Research happened in Nineveh Governorate, Rabeaa and Hmedate Distract as place of research with their (400) farmers a simple random sample representing (20%) was taken, so final sample was (80) farmers. Survey questionnaire was made to collect data. Data collecting tool comprised two parts (the first part) including personal information of researchees. The second comprised (25) items regarding vegetable crops and used agricultural methods during stages of cultivation. Results showed that farmers using modern agricultural methods in cultivating vegetables is moderate tends to be low and research variables (age, years of experience in cultivating vegetables plays role developing ideas of vegetable farmers in using modern methods.


Introduction
Reaching economic development for developing countries specially in its first stages depends on agriculture [1].Agriculture is basic source that people depend on and highly effective if used well and managing resources (Generally speaking agricultural sector plays big role in building Iraq national economy, due to what it can provide regarding food work opportunities for population.Group of agricultural products including vegetables is one basic pillars and ingredients of that economy [2,3].Vegetables is an important food for humans increasing his health level.They contain many elements like (proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals ets.) [4].Vegetables play major role in flourishing of national economy, not to forget to mention role of vegetable farmers in developing national economy.Provide works for many workers in producing veritable such as shipping.Transportation, marketing, numerous agricultural processes, fertilizing, pesticides, processing vegetables field crops constitute major role in regional agricultural production regarding their high nutritional value, because they are key element in human daily life [5].Vegetables are a branch of gardening, a grass plant, some are annual and others planted twice a year and few of them are evergreen.Vegetables are cultivated in two ways: exposed and covered on large scales, calls for special care during cultivation, production, handling and storing.Important vegetables families include: eggplant, cereals and zucchinis [6][7][8][9].Process of delivering modern agricultural recommendations and technologies for vegetables farmers and persuade them to 1259 (2023) 012132 IOP Publishing doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1259/1/012132 2 use them in their fields and adopting affected by many factors, to mention but few activity and efficiency of agricultural guidance system that plays important role in delivering positive knowledge, skills and trends to farmers to make desired behavioral changes, improve agricultural methods and ways, improve their educational social and wellbeing level [10,11].Developing human resource can't be achieved unless teaching, knowledge, deliver updated inventions in agriculture to increase productivity, improve knowledge of farmers and update their ways in agriculture [12].Process of developing and updating agricultural sector in Iraq depends heavily upon familiarizing modern agricultural technics.Ways to achieve such a mission varying Iraqi country side.Spreading these modern agricultural methods and techniques, deliver them to farmers, to make farmers accept them and persuade them to use these methods will lead to adopting them leading to a better economic use of their resources, raising production levels personally and an agricultural rural development nationally [13,14].Low productivity of vegetables crops in Iraq is the results of many Factors like Iraq conditions.However, this decrease is an old problem mention in with modern agricultural techniques due to many factors like ignorance with modern agricultural techniques due to low level of providing useful scientific agricultural recommendations related the use of these techniques like processes and cultivation of vegetable crops from preparing soil, to harvest to marketing.Agricultural guidance aims at awakening farmers, help them to understand and apply agricultural updates that results in modernizing agriculture develop it, raise production and farmers income.It goes to improve farmers, living by doing effective activities that enrich their knowledge or correcting previous information, to help farmers to gain new agricultural skills.It is invaluable in achieving integrated rural development [9,15].Agricultural guidance seeks to change what farmers know to raise their economic and social level (Al-Rimawi) says that agricultural guidance is a key element in agricultural system.It deliver modern knowledge and information from research centers to farmers teach them how to use them.Agricultural guidance seeks to achieve agricultural development, It directs its programs and activities for rural people in general and vegetable farmers in particular to raise their agricultural production [16].In governorate of Nineveh, many regions plant vegetables of all kinds.Most of those farmers face some problems when planting these crops as well as production.Thus, the researchers wrote this research to know degree of adopting modern agricultural methods by vegetable farmers in Nineveh.

Aims of Research
 Know the perfect use of modern agricultural methods by vegetables farmers in general in Nineveh governorate / Iraq. Arrange research items according to means of answers of farmers of farmers. Know the perfect use of modern agricultural ways by vegetables farmers according to every research items. Know the correlation between perfect use of modern agricultural methods by vegetable farmers and independent research variable's (age, academic achievement, area of cultivated land, years of expert informing, years of expert in cultivating vegetable, farmers training sources of agricultural in information about vegetables (crops).

Society and Sample of Research
Research took place in Nineveh Governorate because it is known by cultivating any many crops such as vegetables.Rabeaa and Hmedat regions were chosen to collect data from 400 farmers a simple random sample represent (20%) was chosen.Final sample was (80) farmers.

Design Data Collecting Tool
A tool was designed to collect data from vegetable farmers.It comprised two parts:  First part: Personal variable of researchees (vegetable farmers): Age academic achievement, area of cultivated land, years of expert in farming years of expert in planting vegetable, farmer training in cultivating, source of agricultural information about vegetables crops.
 Second part: Includes (25) items about planting vegetables, used agricultural styles by vegetable farmers during cultivating process) divided on research field (fertilizing and control on insect disease , pesticides (8 items), selecting crop, and cultivating (6 items), harvesting (5 items), preparation of soil for cultivating (6 items).

Stability and Validity of Scale Research
In order to find them, questionnaire survey passed a panel of expert in agricultural guidance and vegetable crops to know if items suitable the items were academically and linguistically.Taken their opinions, some scale items were altered.

Collecting Data
After designing questionnaire form of collecting data in its final form.Data Collected from vegetable farmers in Rabeaa and Hmedat districts in Nineveh governorate.Collecting data began from 1/2/2023 until 1/3/2023.

Know Perfect Use of Modern Agricultural Methods by Vegetables Fact Generally Speaking in Nineveh Governorate in General
Results showed that highest number gained by vegetables farmers in Nineveh in general according to their use of modern methods in planting was (90), the least (46) with an average of (68).Farmers, were categorized into three types as shown in table (1).(1) shows that highest ratio of vegetable farmers was in medium (61-75) forming (43, 75%) meaning that level of perfect use of modern agricultural methods by vegetable farmers is moderate tends to get low.Reason maybe that vegetable farmers use modern agricultural methods moderately that tends to get low due to lack of interest of agricultural institutions taking care of farmers.

Arranging Research Fields (Perfect Use of Modern Agricultural Methods by Vegetable Farmers According to Ratio of Farmers' Answers on Domain Items
Table (2) shows that the highest domain according to ratio of vegetable farmers was (fertilizing, and control of disease and insect) meaning that vegetables farmer, apply modern agricultural methods in fertilizing and pesticides and the least was (choosing type and plant crop).Meaning that farmers suffer from shortage of information in choosing types of vegetables.
Table 2. Shows arranging research fields according to farmers' answers and ratio of answer.

No. Name of field % Number of items 1 Fertilizing and control on insect and disease 88 8 2
Harvesting and marketing 75 5 3 Prepare land for cultivation 60 6 4 Choose the crop and planting it 53 6

Know the Perfect Use of Modern Agricultural Methods by Veritable Farmers Regarding Every Research Item
Table (3) shows that items that came first (I plant cucumbers on desks according to agricultural guidance recommendations, I plant tomato in allocated soils only, I plant watermelon according recommendations.Ii is meaning that farmers do and apply these modern agriculture methods in cultivating crops vegetables.Table 3. Shows hierarchy of items of using of modern agricultural methods in planting vegetable crops, according to farmers answers items.4) shows that highest ratio of vegetable farmers was in middle category (39-52) with (40%).While the high category (53-66) representing (37,5%-), and low category (25-38) represented (22,5%).Results also showed there is moral correlation between perfect use of modern agricultural farmers and age variable, Pearson simple Conjunction factor (R) (0,04*) moral at (0.05) level.Meaning that farmer age relates to his use of modern agricultural methods in planting vegetables.

Academic Achievement
Vegetable farmers were categorized as shown in table (5).Table 5. Categorizing vegetable farmers according to academic achievement and its relation to their use of modern agricultural methods.(5) show that highest number of farmers was in middle school reaching (37,5%.).And the lowest ratio was in B.Sc. or more with (6,025).Results showed no moral.Correlation between the perfect use of modern agricultural methods and academic achievement.Rank Spearman Conjunction factor was (0,245) Immoral.Meaning that using modern agricultural methods by veritable farmers may not depend on academic achievement but on other variable.

Area of Cultivated Land
Results showed that the biggest area cultivated was (10) donams and the least was (2) with an average of (4) donams, vegetable farmers were categorize is regarding the cultivated lands into categories as shown in table (6).(5) show that highest ratio of researchees was in low Category (2-4) donums representing (75%).While the least was high (8-10) reaching (6,25%).Results showed no moral Correlation between the use of modern agricultural methods by vegetable farmers and area of cultivated land.Pearson simple Conjunction factor (0,216) immoral.

Years of Experience in Cultivating Vegetables Crops
Results showed that highest number of years of experience for vegetables farmers was (35) years and the least (9) with an average of (20) years.Farmers were categorized according to their years of experience as shown in table (7).Table 7. Categorizing veritable farmers according to their use of modern agricultural methods and its relation to their years of experience in cultivating of cultivating vegetables.(7) shows that highest rate of vegetables farmers lies in medium Category (18-26) representing (43,75%).Lowest ratio was in high category (27-35) representing (18,75%).Results showed also there is moral correlation between the use of modern agricultural methods by vegetable farmers and years of expert in planting vegetables.Pearson simple conjunction factor was (0.01*) moral at (0.05) meaning that years of experience for vegetables farmers increases with his use of modern agricultural methods.

Farmer Training on Cultivation
Farmers were categorized according to their former training on cultivation as shown in table (8).While trained category represented (25%).Results also showed no moral correlation between perfect use of modern agricultural methods by vegetable farmers and that of former training.Spearman Rank factor was (0.245) it is immoral.

Sources of Agricultural Information about Vegetables
Farmers were categorized according to their sources of agricultural information about vegetable crops as shown in table (9).Table (9) shows that highest number of farmers was in category of agricultural unit in the region representing (43,75%).While the least number was in category of Agricultural TV programs and category of Agriculture college with ratio (1.25%).Results also showed there is no correlation between level of using modern agricultural methods by vegetable farmers and variable of source of agricultural information, Spearman rank correlation factor reached (0.086) it is immoral.

Conclusions
Given the above mentioned results, we conclude:  Use of modern agricultural methods by vegetable farmers is moderate tends to low.We discover that vegetable farmers are weak in using modern methods in cultivating vegetable crops. Variable of (age, years of experience in cultivating vegetable crops) play a role in developing ideas of vegetable farmers in using modern agricultural methods. Vegetable crops (farmers have information about fertilizing and control for insect and disease of vegetables. The farmers have knowledge and information in the items (plant cucumber on desks according to the recommendations of guide.

Table 1 .
Categorizing of vegetable farmers according to their use of modern means in planting vegetables in general.

Table 4 .
Categorizing vegetable farmers according to age and its relation with their use of modern agricultural methods.

Table 6 .
Categorizing this veritable according to their use of modern agricultural methods and its relation to their Area of cultivated land.

Table 8 .
Categorizing farmers according to farmer training and it is relation to use of modern agricultural methods.

Table ( 8
) shows that highest number of farmers was in category of untrained, representing (75%).

Table 9 .
Categorizing farmers a according to their use of modern agricultural methods and its relation to their source of agricultural information about vegetable.