Assessment of Isfahan Agricultural Management Organization, Iran, Expert's Attitude Regarding Usage of Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology، with the help of new tools، has the ability to change food and agricultural industries. It can use these tools for diagnosing of molecular behavior of diseases، rapid disease detection، and increasing the ability of plants to absorb nutrients. This technology has widespread use in various industries and sectors، and agriculture is one of the most important fields that will benefit greatly from using the achievements of nanotechnology. Regarding the importance of the application of this technology in agriculture، this study examined attitudes of Isfahan Agricultural Jihad Organization experts on using this technology in Iran in 2012. This study is a cross-sectional study using census sampling method on agricultural experts working in the Isfahan Agricultural Jihad Organization. A researcher-made questionnaire was used to collect data، and content validity and reliability of the questionnaire were approved. Data were analyzed using the Spearman correlation coefficient، Mann-Whitney test، Kruskal-Wallis test، and multiple regression analysis by using SPSS software version 19. Mean age of participants was 36. 5 years with an SD of 9. 4. There was no significant relationship between age and education level of experts، with their attitude. However، there was a significant inverse relationship between work experience and training on nanotechnology، with the experts’ attitude. From the experts’ viewpoint، with nanotechnology materials with improved properties، lower costs and more durability can be produced. Moreover، nanotechnology is a complementary and base to other technologies and not competing force. Experts had negative views on some cases such as «nanotechnology is a transient and weak technological wave» and «nanotechnology and its applications are largely imaginary and unrealistic».