Farmers' competence and training needs on pest management practices: Participation in extension workshops

A survey of farmers in Karaj, Iran explored impacts of extension workshops on farmers' level of competence on pest management practices and identified farmers' needs for pest management training. Three groups of farmers, each one consisting of 30 individuals, were included in the study. Group A included farmers who had recently participated in a local workshop for pest management, group B included farmers who had never participated in a similar workshop, but they were from the same town with farmers of group A (workshop participants) and had close contact with farmers of group A, and group C (control group) consisted of farmers who had never attended a similar workshop and were outside of this community. Training needs were assessed using the Borich Needs Assessment Model. The top three training needs for group A were on a) identification of pesticide application frequency, method of application, and amount, b) pesticide record keeping, and c) knowledge on pesticide selection. The top three training needs for group B were on a) awareness of different pesticide products, b) identification of pesticide application frequency, method of application, and amount, and c) identification of various types of insect damage. The top three training needs for farmers of group C were on a) knowledge of chemical/cultural/biological pest control options, b) biological control of pests, and c) differentiation among fungal, viral, and bacterial diseases. Group A showed the highest level of competence for all three areas of pest management practices (pest identification, pesticide management, and IPM principles), whereas little spread of the acquired knowledge was observed from group A to other community members.