This research aimed mainly at identifying the level of information need of the respondents about the physiological damages that affect the pepper crop under the protected cultivation system in some villages of Badr Center in Al- Beheira Governorate. The questionnaire was based on a personal interview to collect research data from 108 respondents who were randomly selected from the 144 pepper growers in the protected cultivation system, in the three largest villages in the center in terms of the number of greenhouses planted with pepper, which are the villages of Al-Ma'arka, Ahmed Orabi, and Baghdad. The research studies were conducted in February and March 2023. The frequencies, percentages, the arithmetic mean, the standard deviation, the simple correlation coefficient, the correlation and multiple regression analysis models were used, the partial regression coefficient, the (T) test, and the (F) test.
The most important results were as follows:
- Half of the respondents, approximately 50.9%, had a level of total information need for the technical items of the physiological damages that affect the pepper crop, and nearly a third of the respondents, 32.4%, had a high degree of information need.
- Five independent variables, education, experience, knowledge attainment, exposure to agricultural information sources, and satisfaction with pepper cultivation yield, explained 62.7% of farmers' information need for physiological damages.
- Respondents rely on private agricultural engineers, pesticide shops, and friends for agricultural information. Key issues include high greenhouse construction costs, lack of wholesale markets, and insufficient guidance for pepper crop cultivation and production.