Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Department of Agricultural Extension and Education, Faculty of Agriculture, Bu-Ali Sina University
2 Department of Agricultural Extension and Education, Faculty of Agricultture, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran.
3 Dep. of Agricultural Extension and Education, Faculty of Agriculture, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran
10.22092/jaear.2026.371158.2082
Abstract
Considering the negative consequences of excessive use of chemical inputs in conventional agriculture and the importance of preserving human and environmental health, the production of green products is one of the main solutions for sustainable agriculture. The agricultural knowledge and innovation system, by developing innovation capacities, provides an opportunity to increase farmers' resilience to environmental changes, strengthen the agricultural sector as the most important sector in increasing agricultural production and ensuring food security. Considering the importance of the subject, the present study was conducted with the aim of identifying the challenges and obstacles of the agricultural knowledge and innovation system in the production of green products in Hamedan province. The present study is an applied research and in terms of methodology, has used a mixed research (qualitative-quantitative). In this study, in order to identify the challenges and obstacles of the agricultural knowledge and innovation system in Hamedan province, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 23 experts in the field of agriculture, including experts, professors, extension agents, and managers. The experts were purposefully selected using snowball sampling, and the interviews continued until theoretical saturation was reached. The data were analyzed using conventional content analysis and MAXQDA software. The main and sub-categories and concepts were extracted directly from the data. In the second step, the fuzzy Delphi method was used to discover the relationships between the extracted factors. The results showed that the main obstacles and challenges of the agricultural knowledge and innovation system in the production of green products in Hamedan province are: structural and institutional obstacles (0.759), economic obstacles (0.735), technological obstacles (0.731), educational and awareness obstacles (0.722), social and cultural obstacles (0.721), and information and communication obstacles (0.715). The relationships of each component with its sub-components were also determined.
Keywords
- Knowledge and innovation system
- sustainable agriculture
- extension and education
- production of green products
Main Subjects
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