نظام نوین ترویج کشاورزی

The agricultural extension system has always needed transformation and structural adjustment from different dimensions; In order to achieve this goal, some reformative institutional approaches such as pluralism have been proposed. Therefore, the purpose of present mixed (qualitative-quantitative) study was to identify the components and imperatives of the pluralistic agricultural extension system in Iran which was performed using Delphi technique. The panel members included 20 people in the first round and 11 people in the second round who were selected purposefully based on their education level, research records, and having sufficient experience in the field of pluralistic agriculture extension. In order to analyze the data using SPSS software, statistical values including mean, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, and Kendall's correlation coefficient were calculated. After doing two rounds of the Delphi technique, 10 main components for a pluralistic agricultural extension system were identified that were including organizational structure, information sources, agricultural extension agents, financial resources, policies and strategies, communication methods and channels, audiences, organizational and management methods, content and topics, and approaches. Also, the implementation of the Delphi technique in the second round led to the identification of 24 different imperatives for the pluralistic agriculture extension system in Iran, which were identified using the qualitative content analysis technique with a summarization approach. Based on the conceptual fit and semantic proximity of the concepts, these imperatives were categorized into 10 general groups including attention to extensional approaches, development of facilities and support services, structural imperatives, reduction of government tenure, legal imperatives, comprehensive coverage of groups and audiences, persistent monitoring and evaluation, networking and coordination between actors, capacity building, and development of professional skills and targeted content creation for extensional programs. In general, paying attention to the components and imperatives identified in this research can in practice be a suitable guide for designing a desirable model of pluralist agriculture extension system and implementing such a system in the country.

Continuous evaluation and monitoring is a way of measuring project progress. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and monitor the plain management project based on agricultural parcels in the Kamin plain of Pasargad County, Iran. This descriptive-analytical research was based on survey technique. The statistical population of the study consisted of Pasargad plain’s farmers; out of them, 150 farmers sampled using Cochran formula. Data was collected using a researcher-made questionnaire. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a panel of experts and the reliability of the variables was calculated and confirmed by Cronbach's alpha coefficient (0.71 to 0.81). Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. The research findings showed that more than 54 % of the farmers have moderate and high familiarity with the plain parcel-based management Project. According to findings, local trusted farmers were the most important reference to familiarize farmers with the project. Furthermore, the results of the survey showed that although the total participation index was low, the highest participation rate belonged to the stage of project implementation. The results of the research also showed that overall satisfaction of farmers with parcel-based management Project is high. The most important finding of the research revealed that farmers have assessed the project to be effective. Informing the farmers about the tasks and objectives of the project, providing confidence to the experts, developing empowerment programs, and recognizing and respecting the position of the farmers in the decision-making and implementation process are some of the most significant practical recommendations.

Interaction with research institutes and centers is one of the components of the new agricultural extension system in Iran. In order to play an appropriate role of researchers in the agricultural knowledge network, senior extension-researchers and supportive researchers were defined as two main actors.Accordingly, the main purpose of this survey research was to evaluate effectiveness of senior extension-researchers in the new agricultural extension system of Iran. Statistical population of the study consisted of research network (N= 1908 pepole),out of whom 320 people determined as sample using Daniel's sampling formula and simple sampling technique. Data were collected through a questionnaire; validity of questionnaire was approved by a panel of experts and construct validity (AVE≥0.51). Reliability of the questionnaire was approved by calculating the Ordinal Theta (θ≥0.77) and composite reliability (CR≥0.77). The collected data were analyzed by SPSSwin22 and Smart PLS3 software. Results of prioritizing showed that, in the context dimension, “compatibility of senior extension-researchers’ objectives with policies of the agricultural sector”; in the input dimension, “technical ability of senior extension-researchers”; in the process dimension, “participating in E-learning courses as teacher”; and finally, in the product dimension, “applicability of the recommendations to target users” were in the highest ranks. Also, results of prioritizing effectiveness evaluation dimensions of senior extension-researchers indicated that "product" was in the highest rank and "input" was in the lowest rank. Besides the confirmation of indicators’ homogeneity and reliability, the results of confirmatory factor analysis confirmed that effectiveness evaluation model had four components (i.e. context, input, process and product).

The purpose of this study was to analyze the status of the New System of Agricultural Extension (NSAE) and the role of components in the challenges ahead. The research method was quantitative and Causal-comparative. The sample size based on Cochran's formula for extension's workers was 157 people with Including 60 people of managers in selected cities the total sample size was 217. Stratified random sampling method with proportional assignment was used. The main tool for data collection was a questionnaire.The value of ordinal theta for research variables was 0.88 . The SPSS22 and Lisrel8.7 software were used for data analysis. The highest and lowest success rates were related to extension activities and repair and equipping of agricultural jihad centers, respectively. By using of Factor Analysis the challenges of NSAE were divided into six categories, which include: education and research, development and support, planning and policy-making, communication, organization and management. In total, these six factors explained about 73.2% of the total variance of the challenges of NSAE. In order to test the accuracy of the factor structure of the observed variables; Confirmatory factor analysis was used and the indices of χ2/df and RMSEA were equal to 2.49 and 0.043 respectively which confirmed the good fit of the model. Path analysis method was used to test the causal model of the impact of the components in creating the challenges. As a result, about 94% of the variance of the challenges variable was explained by the variables of the component of AENA.

The agricultural extension system of Iran has faced various climatic, ecological, economic, and social challenges during the past two decades. In order to manage the chronic problems of agricultural extension in the country and improve its structure and organization, the New Agricultural Extension System (NAES) was designed and implemented. This survey study aimed to investigate the effects of the NAES on knowledge, information, and behavior of farmers in Fars Province. The study area included Jihad Agricultural Centers of Fars Province that were used as the pilots to study the impact of the NAES which included 95 parcels of 14 Jihad Agricultural Centers. The sample size (n=260) was determined based on the table of Krejcie and Morgan. The data was collected through a questionnaire and a multi-stage random sampling method was employed to select the samples. A panel of experts confirmed the face validity of the questionnaire. Also, a pilot study was performed to evaluate the reliability of the instrument. The results revealed that farmers were relatively satisfied with the services provided by the NAES. Also, comparison of farmers' knowledge and information before and after implementation of NAES indicated significant increases in awareness of technical, infrastructural, general, and supportive services. However, the study ascertained that the level of farmers’ usage of the extension services was moderate.

Agricultural extension approach of Iran needs to be changed in order to achieve agricultural rural development; therefore, the Agricultural Extension New Approach (AENA) was implemented in some provinces of the country since 2015. Future threats and opportunities should be considered in agricultural policies in order to provide better services by agricultural extension approach. Assessment of AENA of Iran in five provinces of Fars, Kermanshah, Ardabil, Golestan and West Azerbaijan as the pioneers in implementing of this new approach was the main purpose of this study. This qualitative research extracted strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of AENA using SWOT as well as weighting and ranking of them by agricultural extension and education experts. Afterwards, the study provides appropriate strategies by confluence of SWOT in order to the AENA improvement. According to the results, defensive strategy was the first priority of agricultural extension policymakers in terms of the three domains of AENA including agricultural area zoning, equipment and organizing of service centers as well as knowledge management. Thus, it tries to present appropriate strategies for weaknesses decrease and threats elimination.

Iran’s agricultural extension system, as one of the main component of agricultural development, has faced different challenges during the past two decades, which has caused the system to be criticized by the authorities, employers and villagers. In order to solve the problems of this system, it was proposed to reform the structure of the agricultural extension system in the framework of a new extension approach with the aim of revitalizing extension services and appropriate transfer of research and technology. However, after about four years from the implementation of this project, the results of various studies indicate a large gap between the current situation and the desired situation. Hence, the purpose of this research is to identify the main challenges and requirements of the Iranian agricultural extension and the pathology of the new agricultural extension system, which has been carried out in two stages using a qualitative approach. The first phase, using the Delphi technique, identifies the challenges and requirements of the Iranian agricultural extension system. The statistical population of this stage consists of faculty members of the field of agricultural extension in all over the country (N1= 138), experts of agricultural extension of cities and experts in the area in five provinces of Mazandaran, Fars, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad, Esfahan and Alborz (N2= 1300). Also, managers and experts of the agricultural research organization at the headquarters of the organization (N3= 10) have been selected using a purposeful sampling method. The results of this phase identified 33 main challenges in the form of 6 categories and 17 requirements for the agricultural extension system. The second stage of the research was carried out using the phenomenological method. At this stage, the experience of the experts of the system of extension on the achievements of the new system and the challenges facing this system was evaluated. The results of this phase revealed that this system was successful in knowledge management, communication and staff empowerment, but was weak in the fields of infrastructure and human resources.