Analysis of the Barriers to Development of Conservation Agriculture in Iran

In Iran, conservation agriculture (CA) has become a national strategy for the agricultural sector to decrease soil erosion, combat the emerging water crisis, and to reduce the high cost associated with conventional agricultural production. The objective of this article was to identify the barriers which prevent the development of CA in Iran. The statistical population of the study was members of CA technical and technology committee, CA-based applied research and delivery hubs and CA executive experts from 9 leading provinces in the field of conservation agriculture that a sample of 264 experts was selected through purposive sampling method. The survey instrument was a questionnaire that designed based on the result of literature review and interviews with CA experts. The validity of the questionnaire was approved by a panel of experts. Additionally, Cronbach alpha reliability coefficients of the pilot study assessment were used to refine the questions for the final questionnaire (α= 0.90). According to results of EFA, the most Important barriers to CA development were low coordination between organizations, low knowledge of related factors, inappropriate subsidies policy, low fertility of soils and slight economic efficiency of products in the first years of the conservation agriculture.