New Professionalism: Implications for Iranian Extension Agents Toward Environmentally Sound Agriculture

This study was focused on extension professionals' perception of the necessary attributes for extension agents to accomplish environmentally sound agriculture in new professionalism context. A sample of 87 respondents was selected through simple random sampling technique. A survey study was applied as a methodology of research work. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire that addressed to evaluate extension professionals’ responses with respect to the necessary attributes for extension agents to accomplish environmentally sound agriculture. For determining the validity of questionnaire, the face and content validity was used. Cronbach's alpha was used to measure reliability of the instrument, which was 0.90 and showed the instrument reliability. Descriptive findings revealed that “Ability to use new information and communication technologies”, “Ability to use participatory methods” and “Skills regarding negotiation, dialogue and conflict management” were the first to third attributes for extension agents toward sustainability, respectively. According to Factor Analysis, the implications for extension agents were categorized into two groups consisting: "Multi-functional attributes" and "Collective action attributes" that those factors explained 70.94% of the total variance of the research variables.