Extension agents' views on the competencies required in the field of agricultural extension operations

The goal of this study was analyzing and determining the professional competencies of the extension agents responsible for the area, by descriptive correlation method. The statistical population of the study was the extension agents who were selected based on polarization (5 poles). A questionnaire was the main tool for collecting data, which measured the opinion of extension agents (in five provinces; Tehran, Khuzestan, Kermanshah, Fars and West Azerbaijan) in the field of professional competencies knowledge and familiarity based on the new conditions of extension system and expectations of the Ministry of Jihad Agriculture. Some educational and social characteristics of the extension agents were also assessed. The results showed that in the field of familiarity with the professional competencies, they had moderate to high knowledge, but they had relatively high knowledge in the field of agronomy, conducting needs assessments, organizing farm days, prioritizing needs and problems and guiding participants' observations. Extension agents were also unfamiliar with the areas of conflict management, nominal grouping, social networking, brainstorming, and fisheries. These should be the first priority of empowerment. Factor analysis showed that the variables related to professional competencies were classified based on the specific value into 7 factors (planning, implementation, evaluation, technical specialization, general, production specialized and communication-social), which in total explained about 62.200% of the total variance. The regression results show that the variables of education level, contact with city experts, contact with researchers and interest in the profession of extension agent significantly predict the competencies.