Determining extension challenges of agricultural biotechnology from experts' perception.

摘要

Agricultural biotechnology has the potential role to meet growing food demands while protecting the environment for future generations. The role of extension traditionally has been to provide research-based information to clientele on agricultural issues. Unfortunately, in implementation, agricultural biotechnology extension can be faced with several challenges. This paper reviews such challenges. The research population included all the experts in agricultural biotechnology research center and Qazvin jihad organization (N=100). The initial and follow-up mailing generated 90 useable responses from experts resulting in a response rate of 90%. Using factor analysis, the challenges have been classified into five factors named Economical, Human Resources, Communication, Political, and Cultural. This study identified the economical challenge as the most important factor in agricultural biotechnology extension.