The Influence of Social Capital on Adoption of Rural Development Programs by Farmers in the Caspian Sea Region of Iran

The main purpose of this study was to measure social capital (consisting of structural and cognitive) of mainly rice producing farmers in the Caspian See region of Iran. The secondary purpose was to determine the influence of farmers' social capital on adoption of Rural Development Programs (RDPs). This was a descriptive-correlation and a causal-comparative survey study. The population of this study consisted of 5746 farmers and by a stratified proportional random sampling technique, 396 farmers were chosen as sample of the study. To measure structural and cognitive components of social capital variables, a self designed questionnaire was developed to gather needed data. Content validity of the instrument was established by a panel of experts. The finding indicated that, there was a statistically significant difference between adopters and non-adopters in regards to components of social capitals. The result of logistic regression showed that "exchange of information" with peoples or institution, "institutional trust", "social participation", and "formal relations network" were identified as the most discriminative factors (73% of population), affecting adoptions. Therefore, these social capital variables could act as important predicting factors determining adoption and utilization of RDPs programs.