IRANIAN AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION AND EDUCATION JOURNAL
Year:2008 | Volume:4 | Issue:1|Papers Count:11

In the recent years Governmental Extension System (GES) has been criticized for many reasons such as: High rocketing costs, limitation of Extension resources for developing operational activities, un sufficient technical know - how and well trained personnel and un-sufficient contacts with the farmers because of limitations in the number of extension agents. The above mentioned factors have caused approaching to Private Extension System (PES) in many parts of the world. There is a need to develop new methods and approaches in order to use the potentials of the Private Extension System in areas which are not profitable. The aim of this research was to compare the potentials of the GES and PES regarding water, soil and land green coverage for the purpose of preventing desertification and to introduce a preferable theoretical system. In this surveying research a questionnaire along with AHP technique has been used. The population of the study has been the Markazi province's natural resources experts. The reliability and validity of the questions were acceptable. The results of this study based on AHP technique an the opinions of the natural resources' experts show that Governmental Extension System for preventing desertification has been preferred. Also in many cases Private Extension system.have positive role in combating with desertification.

One of the major farming activity is the harvest phase. Each year, the major waste in several agricultural important crops is due to the application of unefficient harvesting tools. Yield Monitoring is one of the most important technology of precision agriculture in harvest activities. The purpose of this research was to study the attitude and intention of agricultural specialists in Jihad-e-Keshavarzi organizations of Fars and Khuzestan provinces toward application of yield monitoring technologies. A survey was conducted using a stratified random sample to collect data from 249 research subject among the personnel. The results of structural equation modeling showed that the specialists of Fars and Khuzestan provinces have intention to apply the yield monitoring technologies. The variables observability, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of yield monitoring technologies influcing intention of application these technologies. Also, attitude toward yield monitoring, has direct effect on intention. Based on the results, suggestions are presented for application of these technologies in Iran.

It is a must for policy makers to have a good understanding and evaluation of academic activities to be able to develop suitable programs. In this regard, scientometric has played a valuable role in providing the required data, especially the quality as well as the quantity of published articles. This research project aimed to investigate the trend and progress of Iranian scientific articles indexed by SCI (ISI) and CAB abstract databases from 2002 to 2006 in agriculture and natural resources fields, and comparing Iranian articles with 9 selected countries. Reasons for selecting this two databases are that SCI (ISI) with indexing about 4400 journals and calculating citations, has acquisitioned fame in basic sciences especially in chemistry science, and CAB Abstract among 7 prominent databases have most covering of primary agricultural and natural resources journals and moreover indexed scientific journals with English abstract (such as Iranian journals), also indexes about 9000 specialized journals of agriculture and natural resources.Based on the research findings, Iran scientific articles in most fields of agriculture and natural resources have showed considerable growth during 2002 to 2006 years. Soil and Water field has showed the highest growth rate in CAB database with 154 percent average annual growth rate and after that Forestry and Environment, Agricultural Engineering, Food Science and Technology, Agricultural Extension and Education, Agricultural Machinery, and Fisheries, respectively with 108, 96, 77, 71, 68, and 54 percent annual growth rate showed the highest ranks. Total articles of Iran from agriculture and natural resources disciplines in SCI and CAB Abstract’s databases had respectively 30 and 34 percent average annual growth rate. Iran, among 10 selected countries, ranks 8 at SCI and 4 at CAB databases for its amount of published articles, in year 2006.

The purpose of this study was to investigate dairy farmers' technical knowledge toward improving the quality of milk. The methodological approach of this study was descriptive-correlational. The statistical population consisted of traditional dairy farmers (N=6200) in Golpayegan township from Iran between 2005-2006 years. The subject were selected randomly through proportional stratified sampling (n=130). Data was gathered via the use of questionnaire. A reliability analysis of questionnaire was conducted and Alpha value was reported 0.74. The results of the study showed that among the individual characteristics, there was a positive and significant relationship between age, sex, education level and dairy farming experience with technical knowledge. Also, the results indicated that among the extension variables there was positive and significant relationship between participating in educational programs and use of extension publications with technical knowledge about quality of milk.

In this survey by using discrepancy measuring method, the technical knowledge was compared with optimum level along with applied level of technical knowledge among 198 wheat producer from four wheat cultivated regions. The data was collected by questionnaire that its reliability was measured by Cronbach's Alpha (0.82). The educational needs were determined based on the level of the technical knowledge. The extensional needs were determined by the amount of using technical knowledge. The total scores of each one of the technical features were used to rank and prioritize the needs. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data by using SPSS software. The findings showed that for the total score of fourteen technical features there is significant difference between the level of technical knowledge and the level of technical application, and for twelve of technical features there is a significant difference between the level of technical knowledge and their application, These features including: depth and date of tillage, sowing date, disc usage, seed preparation, sowing date fertilizers usage, pest and diseases, seed rate, weed control, planting method and irrigation. For these indicators the formers' performance is less than the level of their technical knowledge. The educational needs in order of priorities are: rotation, seed rate, weed control, seed treatment, irrigation, pest and diseases, optimum usage of fertilizers.Based on the amount of technical knowledge application, the priorities extensional needs are: seed rate, fertilizer usage, weed control, rotation, irrigation duration, seed treatment, pest and disease control.

The purpose of this descriptive-correlation study was to investigate personal and social factors influencing rural participation of Hone Jan's Zar Cheshmeh catchments in watershed management projects. A close-ended questionnaire was used to gather respondents' opinions and its face validity was established by using a panel of experts consisting of senior faculty members in agriculture extension and education, irrigation and natural resources. Cronbach's alpha, an internal consistency measure, was used to estimate the reliability, and was found to be in acceptable range from 0.81 to 0.87. The target population of this study consisted of all rural people who lived in Hone Jan's Zar Cheshmeh catchments (N=4989) out of which, according to Cochran's table, a number of 131 people were selected using statistical sampling in a simple randomization method. Finally, 127 questionnaires were gathered and analyzed (n=127). The results of Spearman test showed that there was a statistically significant positive relationship between age, social participation, social statues, the tendency for collective works, attitude toward participation, innovativeness, and social trust with their participation in watershed management projects. The results of the multivariate regression revealed that 75.7 percent of variability in rural participation in watershed management projects stems from age, social participation, attitude toward participation, innovativeness, and social trust.

In regard to the increasing costs and limitations on the available resources, one of the policy options in the resent years to minimize the constraints of the public extension, has been the privatization of agricultural extension services. In Iranian context, considering the diverse needs of the commercial farmers and inadequacies of the public extensions' services for the small farmers, there is a necessity for searching suitable programs and practices related to private extension. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate and prioritize programs and practices of supplying private extension services to farmers, as perceived by Iranian agricultural extension specialists. A survey research was conducted using a questionnaire which its face validity was confirmed by a panel of related agricultural extension experts and its reliability was established through the administrating of 40 instruments among the extension specialists of the Ministry of Agricultural Jihad (MAJ) and calculating the Croubach's alpha (a=.89). The target population of the study encompassed 125 agricultural extension specialists of MAl The gathered data were analyzed using SPSS-win software. The dependant variable was the perception of the agricultural extension specialist regarding the appropriateness of the selected practices of private extension. Based on the findings, the priority of the most important practices for supplying private extension services from the view point of the extension specialists were: farmers' extension organizations, private consultants, and allocating subsides to the farmers. Also, there was a significant difference between the Pb.D and M.Sc. respondents as to their perceptions on the appropriateness of the three above-mentioned private extension practices.

Enhancing opportunities for experiential and practical learning, such as internship course, seems an appropriate mechanism for improving quality of agricultural education. This research was done with aim to identify strengths and weaknesses of internship courses in agricultural faculty at Tehran University, based on students' viewpoints. Methodologically, this research carried out by survey method. The population of this study consisted of all agricultural students of Tehran University which passed internship course during 2004-2005 academic year (N=150) who provided require data.According to findings of this research, the most important strengths of internship courses were indicated as developing practical skills and linking theory to practice in agricultural education, access to experienced and skillful persons and getting new experiences (as opportunity for experiential learning), developing carrier perspectives of students related to their majors; and improving social and communication skills of students. Also, main problematic issues of internship courses were explained as not fully involvement at cooperation organizations, coordination of agricultural education faculties and departments, lack of facilities and welfare services, and lack of any mechanism for payment to students during internship course.