Identifying the barriers and challenges of flower and ornamental plants industry development in Alborz province

The flower and ornamental plants industry, play an important role in the agricultural economy of Iran and many countries of the world; nevertheless, this industry is facing many barriers and challenges. Alborz province has an appropriate capacity for the development of flower and ornamental plants industry; accordingly, the main purpose of this descriptive - survey research was to identify the barriers and challenges of flower and ornamental plants industry development in Alborz province. The statistical population of study consisted of flower and ornamental plants growers in Alborz province (N=1260), out of whom 135 people determined as sample using Cochran's sampling formula and simple sampling technique. A questionnaire was the main tool of study. Validity of the questionnaire was approved by a panel of experts and construct validity using AVE Index. In order to measure the reliability of the questionnaire, Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability (CR) were calculated. The data were analyzed by SPSS22 and Smart PLS software. Prioritizing of barriers and challenges showed that, “high price of the product” and “policy making, planning and supportive” were in the highest ranks and “human resources” and “research, education and extension” were in the lowest ranks. The results of confirmatory factor analysis indicated that, barriers and challenges’ measurement model consist of 10 main elements: “high price of the product”, “infrastructure / technology”, “production quality”, “financial”, “human resources”, “research, education and extension”, “marketing and sales”, “consumers”, “export” and “policy making, planning and supportive” was homogeneous and the reliability of the indicators was approved. Accordingly, it is recommended to identifying and solving barriers and challenges through a comprehensive and holistic approach.