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Purpose: This quantitative study sought to investigate the perceptions of teachers and students regarding competency-based education (CBE) principles at the College of Agriculture at Razi University. Design: This research is a comparative analysis of two groups. The first group consists of undergraduate and graduate students majoring in agriculture who are members and non-members of student cooperatives (n = 256). The second group consists of agricultural faculty members (n = 59). Findings: The results of this study show that students and teachers have different views with regard to the extent to which CBE principles are practiced in the College of Agriculture. Moreover, students with different learning patterns had different perceptions regarding the extent to which CBE is practiced, whereas teachers with different teaching patterns had the same perception of the application of CBE principles in the College of Agriculture. Practical implications: This study has practical implications for agricultural higher education in general and colleges of agriculture in particular. Colleges of agriculture across Iran could encourage their students to establish and engage in student cooperatives so that the ‘what’ and ‘how’ aspects of CBE are put into practice. Theoretical implications: This study has theoretical implications for CBE principles. For example, student cooperatives can be utilized by faculty members as one of the main strategies for developing CBE in agricultural colleges. Originality/value: This study is original in that it moves from theory to practice when considering CBE.

In this paper, we apply the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to examine entrepreneurial intentions among university students in Iran, a developing nation in which extensive governmental efforts to promote entrepreneurship have taken place over the last decade. We incorporate culturally driven social valuation of entrepreneurship into our model thus extending the theory. Findings show the entrepreneurial intentions among agriculture students in Iran to be quite limited. Results underline the importance of social valuation in shaping entrepreneurial intentions and support the applicability of the TPB in Iran—a factor driven economy. Practical implications for public policy and education are discussed.

Producing enough food to meet the needs of a growing population has always been the greatest concern of food policy-makers around the world. Given the increasing attention to organic farming (OF), we conducted this study to investigate the main opportunities and challenges of the food production system of small-scale farmers in developing countries with an emphasis on their livelihoods. The study showed that the most significant advantages of OF are environmental protection and a higher resilience to environmental changes, increasing farmers' income and reducing external input cost, enhancing social capacity and increasing employment opportunities. A s well as enhancing food security primarily by increasing the food purchasing power of local people. However, the main challenges of this food production system include lower yields in comparison to conventional systems, difficulties with soil nutrient management, certification and market barriers, and the educational and research needs of small-holders. The paper concludes that even though OF might present some significant challenges to small-scale farmers, it could/should still be considered as a part of the solution and means of improving their livelihoods. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Drought is a persistent, sluggish natural disaster in developing countries that has generated a financial burden and an unstable climate. Farmers should adopt early warning systems (EWS) in their strategies for monitoring drought to reduce its serious consequences. However, farmers in developing countries are reluctant to use EWS as their management strategies. Hence, the aim of this study was to investigate the decision of farmers to use climate knowledge through the model of farming activity in Kermanshah Township, Iran. A surveyor questionnaire was used to gather data from 370 wheat farmers using random sampling methods inmulti-stage clusters. Results revealed that the decision to use climate information is affected by personal factors, attitude towards climate information, objectives of using climate information, and external/physical farming factors. The result of this study has implications for drought management practitioners. To be specific, the results can aid policymakers to design early alert programs to minimize the risk of drought and thus move from conventional to climate smart agriculture. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Prolonged drought is considered as a creeping natural hazard, which has created a financial burden and unsustainable environment in Iran. Moreover, the effect of drought phenomenon in rural areas is more extensive, causing significant challenges to the rural economy in general and agricultural production in particular. A common strategy to manage drought is based on crisis management (ex-ante). However, for effective drought management, risk management seems to be more in line with drought early warning systems. This quantitative study used risk assessment, which is the function of two elements such as hazard (SPI and SDI indices) and vulnerability (exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity). This study aims to build the foundations for drought early warning systems in limited resource areas such as Kermanshah Township in the northwestern part of Iran. The population of this study comprised of wheat farmers in which 293 farmers were selected using multistage cluster sampling method. In the next step, the drought risk map for Kermanshah Township was developed, which revealed that the majority of villages are at intense environmental risk. The result of this study has implications for drought management practitioners. For example, the results can aid policymakers in the design of an early warning system in order to reduce risk and thus empower farmers toward resilient farming.

Purpose This study uses the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to predicts the level of technology acceptance by vocational agriculture teachers at the secondary levels in Iran. Design/methodology/approach In the literature review of appropriate models, the Technology Acceptance Model proved the most efficacious. A modified version of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) proposed by Davis, Warshaw, and Bagozzi (1989) was modified and expanded to include the variables of facilitating conditions, available resources, job relevance, computer self-efficacy, subjective norm, age, and computer anxiety and was implemented using structural equation modeling using data collected from 154 secondary-level vocational agriculture. Findings This study shows that the modified TAM model, explained 15% of the variance in information technology usage among vocational agriculture teachers. Furthermore, at the 5% level, relationships showed that perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, behavioral intention, subjective norms, computer self-efficacy and computer anxiety were all significant while age, and available resources showed significance at the 10% level. Practical implications The paper will assist policy-makers in recognizing what factors they can control to promote the adoption IT as well as identifying characteristics of educators that could inhibit such adoption. Theoretical implications The paper reveals the modified TAM model provides an adequate description of factors available to policy-makers for promoting the incorporation of IT as well as insights into how faculty members’ disposition toward the adoption of technology. The research provides useful insights into individual’s receptiveness toward the use of IT in classroom instruction, as well as extending the international scope of the modified TAM model with the inclusion of an Iranian study. Originality/values The paper provides recommendations on factors that could be used to increase the adoption of IT while other external variables describe the receptiveness of faculty members to the adoption of IT.

The production of genetically modified (GM) crops is growing around the world, and with it possible opportunities to combat food insecurity and hunger, as well as solutions to current problems facing conventional agriculture. In this regard the use of GMOs in food and agricultural applications has increased greatly over the past decade. However, the development of GM crops has been a matter of considerable interest and worldwide public controversy. This, in addition to skepticism, has stifled the use of this practice on a large scale in many areas, including Iran. It stands to reason that a greater understanding of this practice could be formed after a review of the existing expert opinions surrounding GM crops. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze the predictors that influence agricultural experts' attitudes toward the development of and policies related to GM crops. Using a descriptive correlational research method, questionnaire data was collected from 65 experts from the Agricultural Organization in the Gotvand district in Southwest Iran. Results indicated that agricultural experts were aware of the environmental benefits and possible risks associated with GM crops. The majority of participants agreed that GM crops could improve food security and accelerate rural development, and were proponents of labeling practices for GM crops. Finally, there was a positive correlation between the perception of benefits and attitudes towards GM crops.

Concern about the effects of climatic change on numerous aspects of human life in general and on agricultural production in particular is growing. The utility of HadCM3 as a tool in climate change predictions in cross cultural studies is scarce. Therefore, this study sought to investigate and predict climate change induced temperature and precipitation in Iran. The calibration and validation using the HadCM3 was performed during 1961–2001, using daily temperatures and precipitation. The data on temperature and precipitation from 1961 to 1990 were used for calibration, and, for model validation, data from 1991 to 2001 were used. Moreover, in order to downscale general circulation models to station scales, SDSM version 4.2 was utilized. The least difference between observed data and simulation data during calibration and validation showed that the parameter was precisely modeled for most of the year. Simulation under the A2 scenario was performed for three time periods (2020, 2050, and 2080). According to our simulated model, precipitation showed a decreasing trend whereas temperature showed an increasing trend. The result of this research paper makes a significant contribution to climate smart agriculture in Iran. For example, rural development practitioners can devise effective policies and programs in order to reduce the vulnerability of local communities to climate change impacts. Moreover, the result of this study can be used as an optimal model for land allocation in agriculture. Moreover, a shortage of rainfall and decreased temperatures also have implications for agricultural land allocation.

This study aimed to identify the main factors influencing urban green space performance. Therefore, a conceptual framework on the relations of multi-stakeholder involvement (MSI) and the performance was conducted by a mixed-method approach. The study covered all urban green space projects (UGSPs) published in international journals as its population which were obtained from three main databases: ISI Web of Knowledge, Scopus and Picarta. Using a few combinations of keywords, 29 relevant journals were identified, which included 42 UGSPs as the main units of analysis in this study. A content analysis was used to determine the contribution of MSI to the performance of urban green space. The main internal (state, private, society, planning/design, implementation, maintenance, input for management, and financial support) and external (regulation, good leadership and financial support) MSI indicators were further identified. The findings showed that the main indicators that significantly influence urban green space performance are 'state, society, implementation and regulation'. The study concluded that the state plays a critical role in the UGSPs' performance although it is not the only actor. The influential role of the state and society should also be considered since most of green space projects are non-profit oriented. 'Society' involvement also contributes to the performance and 'regulation' is also needed as a legal basis for green space development and management. To validate the conceptual framework and mixed-method approach developed here, it is recommended that more studies should be conducted to compare the relationship of the MSI and the UGSPs' performance in different categories.

The aim of this study was to identify difficulties and barriers to reporting clinically suspect situations, possibly caused by avian influenza (AI), and to explore possible incentives to reporting such situations, with the ultimate aim of facilitating early detection of AI outbreaks. Focus group sessions were held with policy-makers from the competent authority, representatives of veterinary practitioners and poultry farmers. Personal interviews with a group of poultry farmers and practitioners were held to ascertain the difficulties and barriers they perceived and their proposed solutions. An electronic questionnaire was put on the websites of a poultry farmer union and the Royal Dutch Veterinary Association to investigate perceptions and attitudes concerning AI-suspect situations in The Netherlands. Six themes emerged identifying factors that hinder the reporting of a clinically suspect situation: lack of knowledge and uncertainty about clinical signs of AI; guilt, shame and prejudice; negative opinion of control measures; dissatisfaction with post-reporting procedures; lack of trust in veterinary authorities; lack of transparency in reporting procedures and uncertainty about the notification process. Recommendations to facilitate early detection of AI are discussed.

The aim of this study was to identify limitations and incentives in reporting clinically suspect situations, possibly caused by classical swine fever (CSF), to veterinary authorities with the ultimate aim to facilitate early detection of CSF outbreaks. Focus group sessions were held with policy makers from the veterinary authorities, and representatives of veterinary practitioners and pig farmer unions. Personal interviews with a small group of pig farmers and practitioners were held to check limitations raised and solutions proposed during the focus group sessions. An electronic questionnaire was mailed to pig farmers and practitioners to investigate perceptions and attitudes with respect to clinically suspect situations possibly caused by CSF. After triangulating the responses of veterinary authorities, veterinary practitioners and farmers, six themes emerged across all groups: (1) lack of knowledge on the early signs of CSF; (2) guilt, shame and prejudice; (3) negative opinion on control measures; (4) dissatisfaction with post-reporting procedures; (5) lack of trust in government bodies; (6) uncertainty and lack of transparency of reporting procedures. The following solutions to facilitate early detection of CSF were put forward: (a) development of a clinical decision-support system for vets and farmers, in order to get faster diagnosis and detection of CSF; (b) possibility to submit blood samples directly to the reference laboratory to exclude CSF in a clinical situation with non-specific clinical signs, without isolation of the farm and free of charge for the individual farmer; (c) decrease social and economic consequences of reporting CSF, for example by improving the public opinion on first reports; (d) better schooling of veterinary officers to deal with emotions and insecurity of farmers in the process after reporting; (e) better communication of rules and regulations, where to report, what will happen next; (f) up-to-date website with information and visual material of the clinical signs of CSF.

According to the World Disaster Report (Walter, 2004), drought and famine have proven to be the deadliest disasters of the decade worldwide, accounting for at least 275,000 deaths since 1994. This was nearly half the total for all natural disasters. The agricultural sector has been found to experience the largest variety of economic impacts (Wilhite and Glantz, 1985). Little is currently known regarding farmers’ psychological responses and adaptation to drought. This exploratory study in southwest Iran assessed the perceptions and coping strategies of 360 randomly selected farmers from regions with different drought intensities in Fars province. Results indicate that farmers from all regions experience mainly threats to their resources rather than resource loss as a consequence of drought. Resource loss related to more emotion-focused coping, whereas when farmers perceived threats they were inclined to use less emotion-focused coping. No relationships were found between perceptions and problem or...

There is substantial research on psychological consequences of disasters. However, most disaster studies to date have focused on acute disasters, ignoring slow-onset chronic hazards, such as extreme climate conditions and pollution. Using a multilevel theoretical framework based on the Conservation of Resources theory (S. E. Hobfoll, The Ecology of Stress, Hemisphere, New York, 1988; Stress, Culture, and Community: The Psychology and Philosophy of Stress, Plenum, New York, 1998) and the “ecological analogy” (see e.g., S. E. Hobfoll and R. S Lilly, Journal of Community Psychology, 21:128–148, 1993; E. J. Trickett, Extreme Stress and Communities: Impact and Intervention, Kluwer, Boston, 1995), this critical review of the current literature is aimed at increasing our understanding of personal and community impacts of drought as a classic example of a natural, slow-onset disaster affecting large numbers of people worldwide. A gap in the current literature was identified concerning appraisal and coping at the individual level. These include psychological coping strategies and the role of resources other than economic resources in explaining vulnerability to negative consequences of drought, such as personal resources (e.g., knowledge, skills, self-sufficiency, mastery, control) and social resources (e.g., social support). Important differences were identified with fast-onset disasters. Most importantly, dealing with drought is generally an integrated part of life for people in drought prone areas. Therefore, individuals may not recognize that their problems are part of a community wide stressor, and raising community awareness during severe and long droughts that deplete community resources needs special attention. Implications for studying drought and effective intervention strategies are given.

There is a growing debate on whether agricultural land in urban fringes should be maintained or converted to other uses. While 'pro-ruralists' believe agricultural land conversion can threaten food security and cause rural-urban migration, 'pro-urbanists' find it a necessary change for transition from a primitive agricultural-based community to an advanced industrial-based society which has the capacity to create mass productions. New-Ruralists follow an agricultural-based development approach that promotes small-medium farming and acknowledges rural lifestyle while New-Urbanists give a priority to large industrial-based sectors and encourage urban lifestyle. Given the unlike concerns of different societies, the paper concludes that the approaches might have different priorities in the less developed, developing, and developed world.

Since two decades ago, when China's economic strength has made this most populated country as a leading global agricultural outsourcer, there have increasingly been hot debates on whether such outsourcing is destructive or constructive, especially for host countries. Some critics pessimistically call it ‘land grabs’ or ‘neo-colonialism’ that should be prevented while others optimistically appreciate it as a development opportunity that should be promoted. The first group interprets the outsourcing as a win–loss process while the second considers it as a win–win deal. This study tries to show the possible gains and losses of both outsourcers and host countries. Accordingly, this paper introduces four different situations; i.e. loss–loss; win–loss; loss–win; and win–win. The first situation is understood as a ‘red-deal’ which should urgently be stopped. The second and third situations are called ‘yellow-deal’ which should be adjusted to come up with the last situation which we call ‘green-deal’ that addresses the benefits of both outsourcers and outsourcees. The paper concludes that in order to understand the main impacts of such deals, we still need to create more evidence for each situation in the framework of a series of risk assessment studies on the bases of both “country-case” and “crop-case”.

Drought is regarded as a slow-onset natural disaster that causes inevitable damage to water resources and to farm life. Currently, crisis management is the basis of drought mitigation plans, however, thus far studies indicate that effective drought management strategies are based on risk management. As a primary tool in mitigating the impact of drought, vulnerability assessment can be used as a benchmark in drought mitigation plans and to enhance farmers ability to cope with drought. Moreover, literature pertaining to drought has focused extensively on its impact, only awarding limited attention to vulnerability assessment as a tool. Therefore, the main purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework for designing a vulnerability model in order to assess farmers level of vulnerability before, during and after the onset of drought. Use of this developed drought vulnerability model would aid disaster relief workers by enhancing the adaptive capacity of farmers when facing the impacts of drought. The paper starts with the definition of vulnerability and outlines different frameworks on vulnerability developed thus far. It then identifies various approaches of vulnerability assessment and finally offers the most appropriate model. The paper concludes that the introduced model can guide drought mitigation programs in countries that are impacted the most by drought.

Drought, as a natural and slow-onset phenomenon, creates numerous damages to agricultural communities. As a drought prone area in the Middle East, Iran has currently launched a crisis management approach to mitigate the harmful impacts of drought. However, thus far studies indicate that effective drought management strategies should be designed based upon vulnerability management which can increase farmers' ability to challenge the impacts. The purpose of this study was to assess drought vulnerability across three drought intensities (very high, extremely high, and critical) areas in Western Iran. Accordingly, a survey study was applied and 370 wheat farmers who all experienced drought during 2007–2009 were selected through a multi-stage stratified random sampling method. Face to face interviews were used to collect data on vulnerability indices from the farmers. Me-Bar and Valdez's vulnerability formula was applied to assess the vulnerability of wheat farmers during drought. Results revealed that the farmers' vulnerability is influenced mainly by economic, socio-cultural, psychological, technical, and infrastructural factors. The results also indicated that the farmers in Sarpole-Zahab township were most vulnerable compared to those in the Kermanshah township as the least vulnerable. Accordingly, some conclusions and recommendations are drawn for both policy-makers and practitioners who often must prioritize limited resources in the design vulnerability-reducing interventions.

Much has been published on the application of genetically modified (GM) crops in Africa, but agricultural performance has hardly been addressed. This paper discusses the main consequences of GM crops on agricultural performance in Ethiopia. Three main criteria of performance – productivity, equitability and sustainability – are evaluated in the context of the Ethiopian agricultural sector. We conclude that the application of GM crops can improve the agricultural productivity and sustainability, whereas equitability cannot be stimulated and might even exacerbate the gap between socioeconomic classes. Before introducing GM crops to Ethiopian agriculture, regulatory issues should be addressed, public research should be fostered, and more ex ante values and socioeconomic studies should be included.

This exploratory descriptive study examined the utility of the social cognitive theory in assessing generalized perceived self-efficacy of agricultural students at Razi University. Two hundred college students majoring in agricultural extension, plant science, animal science, water engineering, and crop science participated in the descriptive survey. Agricultural students were efficacious in handling challenging tasks in diverse situations. Male students were more efficacious than the female students. There were no significant differences in general self-efficacy scores across student classifications and majors. Implications of gender differences are discussed.