Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Institute of Agricultural Education and Extension, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran
2 Imam Khomeini Higher Education Center, Agricultural Research, Education, Extension and Research Organization, Karaj, Iran
Abstract
Keywords
Main Subjects
Extended Abstract
Objectives
Fodder is an inevitable input in livestock feed. On the other hand, considering the water scarcity, drought, and climate changes, the production of fodder, especially water-intensive crops such as alfalfa and fodder corn in Iran and other arid and semi-arid regions, is a challenge. Accordingly, fodder crops production with less water consumption, appropriate for the water resources and climate conditions of the country, is on the agenda for the Iranian Ministry of Agriculture- Jahad (Ministry of Agriculture). According to the mega plan to promote fodder and livestock and poultry feed self-sufficiency, replacing sorghum, as fodder has been one of the main strategies. Tehran province has a prominent position, especially, in Iran industrial cattle breeding. In this regard, 24.79 percent (2337000) of cows and calves in industrial cattle farms are grown in this province which brings this province in the first place in 2019. While Tehran is one of the target provinces for developing cultivating fodder sorghum in the country, which must reach the cultivated area of five thousand hectares in a five-year plan, the cultivation and consumption of fodder sorghum is very limited in it. Therefore, considering the importance of fodder sorghum in providing fodder, its very limited consumption in the Tehran province dairy farms, and the existent gap in the literature pertaining to the adoption of fodder sorghum especially in its consumption in dairy farms, this research was conducted to provide strategies for the development of fodder sorghum consumption in industrial cattle farms in Tehran province.
Methods
In this research, the SWOT analysis method was used to develop strategies for the fodder sorghum extension in Tehran province. To extract strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, 18 key informants were selected for in-depth interviews using the purposeful snowball sampling method. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed by applying the grounded theory method, especially the constant comparison technique, in the Nvivo 12 software environment. Extracted strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats formed two questionnaires to determine the importance and intensity of external and internal factors in two rounds by ten and six key informants, respectively. Questionnaires consisted of five main parts, including personal and professional characteristics, Weaknesses of forage sorghum (5 items), Strengths of forage sorghum (19 items), threats to increase adoption of forage sorghum (31 items), and opportunities to increase adoption of sorghum (10 items). The importance and intensity of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats were measured using a five-point Likert scale (very low=, low= 2, medium= 3, high= 4and very high= 5) and a four-point Likert scale (very low=, low= 2, high= 3 and very high= 4), respectively. A panel of experts, including agricultural extension and education, animal science, veterinary, and agronomy researchers, approved questionnaires face validity.
Results
The possibility of growing sorghum in areas or farms where it is not possible to plant corn", "the unsuitability of sorghum for feeding dairy cows with a production of more than 35 kg of milk per day", "the development of high-quality varieties at the international level, such as BMR varieties with almost the same silage quality as corn " and "predominance of corn in the country's silage market" were respectively the most important strength, weakness, opportunity and threat to increase sorghum consumption. Finally, 21 strategies were extracted, including eight SO (strengths-opportunities) strategies, four WO (weaknesses-opportunities) strategies, six ST (strengths-threats) strategies, and three WT (weaknesses-threats) strategies. In the internal environment, the weighted score of strengths and weaknesses were 2.55 and 0.44, respectively and in the external environment, the weighted score of opportunities and threats were 0.83 and 2.21, respectively. Thus, strengths-threats had more priority in increasing fodder sorghum in Tehran province. These strategies were "increasing the information of experts and farmers about the possibility of using sorghum Speedfeed variety in specific cattle or as a percentage of the ratio in industrial dairy farms (high production cattle)"; "increasing the information of experts and farmers about sorghum agronomic strengths"; "using sorghum in the ratio of cattle breeds with lower milk yield such as Simmental or native cattle"; "promoting agronomic strengths of sorghum, especially among dairy farmers owning agricultural land"; "promoting agronomic strengths of sorghum by establishing model sites in dairy farms owning arable land" and "explaining the importance and strengths of sorghum for officials and decision-makers".
Discussion
To promote sorghum fodder, the focus should be on competitive (strengths-threats) strategies. That is to reduce or control the external threats through strengths. This issue is largely dependent on the appropriate extension of fodder sorghum's strengths among key actors such as experts, officials, and dairy farmers with arable land. The second strategy is of great importance because of the formation of a vicious circle due to the lack of effective demand and supply for fodder sorghum. Thus, the extension of sorghum's agronomic strengths, especially among dairy farmers who cultivate fodder can accelerate the adoption of forage sorghum in the early stages of its extension. In this regard, it is recommended to use appropriate extension methods such as creating model dairy farms in some of these dairy farms to facilitate sorghum adoption by other dairy farmers.
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