The Challenges in Application of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) by Gardeners in Karaj County

The main purpose of this research was to identify the major challenges in applying the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices from the view of Karaj county gardeners. It was an applied type research and the main instrument to collect the information was questionnaire. The population of the study consisted of 75 gardeners (N=75) in 3 district of Karaj county in Alborz province (Asara، Eshtehard and Markazi)، because of small population a census was conducted and finally 68 questionnaires were analyzed. Validity of the instrument was established by panel of experts consisting of faculty members in agricultural Extension and Education Department، Science and Research Branch، Islamic Azad University and some specialists in the Ministry of Agriculture. A pretest was conducted with 20 farmers of Savojbolagh County to determine the Reliability of the questionnaire for the study. Computed Cronbach’s Alpha score was acceptable for different parts of questionnaire (0. 86-0. 94)، which indicated that the instrument was reliable. Factor analysis showed that five latent factors Economic; Individual Tendencies; Method-Tool; Service; and Educational-skills، explained 67. 028 percent of variance