CHANGES IN STUDENTS' KNOWLEDGE LEVEL ABOUT AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION ON FACULTY OF AGRICULTURE, UNIVERSITY OF ZAGREB

Agricultural mechanization has had a major impact on increasing productivity in agriculture and is one of the most significant engineering achievements of the twentieth century. Agricultural mechanization replaced the "lack" of labor force in agriculture but also "liberated" part of the workforce that is able, directly or indirectly, to leave agriculture. Mechanization is more sophisticated and requires new knowledge and continuous training of users/farmers. The paper presents the results of research on knowledge of agricultural mechanization by students of Faculty of Agriculture in Zagreb. The aim of paper is to research results from 2013 and 2015 and to compare the knowledge of agricultural mechanization first-year students of selected undergraduate programs and to determine the change occurred in knowledge level using comparative analysis. The paper is based on the assumption that in the period 2015/2013 there was a change in the level of knowledge of first year students of the Faculty of Agriculture about agricultural machinery, but that knowledge is still on modest in average. For that purposes we used the identical questionnaire, and the results obtained from the research were analyzed using SPSS. The study included 361 respondents - first-year students of undergraduate studies listening module "Basis of agricultural economics "(141 in 2013 and 220 in 2015). Though most of respondents were women (64.58%), their share reduced from 68.8 to 61.8% compare with previous survey. In 2015 increased the share of respondents who are from urban areas (from 68.1 to 70.9%) and who have completed gymnasium (from 62.4 to 68.2%). Proportion of those who have completed secondary agriculture school slightly increased (from 5.7 to 6.4%). The study of agriculture is becoming less attractive for young people and there was reduced the share of respondents that she was the first choice of enrollment at the Faculty of agriculture (from 41.8 to 38.6%). Research in 2015 showed that 77.3% of respondents do not know how to manage any agricultural machine and that is increase of 5.7% compared to 2013. The most of them knows how to run a tractor, then motor cultivator and a rotary cultivator and no one knows to manage the harvester. In 2015, just over half (55%) of them knew that the furrowing is plowing to a depth of more than 50 cm, which is purpose of harvester (78.2%) and somewhat fewer who knew that roller presses are used in gathering hay (72.3%). However, students are familiar with the role of mechanization in agriculture, but also with the importance of cost-effective management, emphasizing the business connections of farmers due to reduced cost of mechanization in production. Respondents had divided opinions about the formal education need for machinery management. Similarly, as in the previous survey, the results showed that male respondents have a higher level of knowledge about agricultural mechanization and those who grew up in the countryside.