Factors Influencing the Design of Agricultural Advisory Service Network in the West Azerbaijan Province

The major purpose of this study was to identify factors influencing the design of agricultural advisory service network in the West Azerbaijan province of Iran. The population of this research consisted of consultants who provided services to farmers. By using a Cochran formula, 306 respondents were selected. The results showed that consultants faced many obstacles such as lack of necessary facilities, illiteracy of farmers and lack of cooperation among related institutions and organizations. Results also showed that factors influencing effectiveness of network included economic, extension-educational, policy-making, sociocultural, managerial and infrastructure factors. These six factors accounted for 59 percent of the variance in the effectiveness of advisory services.