Afsaneh Salmani, Roya Eshraghi and Alireza Poursaeed
Abstract
Iran is located in one of the worlds arid and semi-arid areas with an average annual precipitation of less than one-third of the world average and is always prone to drought. In this regard, the main purpose of this study was to examine the effects of drought on the agriculture sector from the perspective of agricultural extension. The survey would include all the agricultural extension Experts in Kermanshah Township (N=168), where due to the limited size of the community, they were studied by census sampling method. The main research instrument was a questionnaire, with the validity being confirmed by expert panel and reliability by calculating Cronbachs alpha coefficient (α> 0.70). The results of exploratory factor analysis revealed that the effects of drought on agriculture are divided into the three economic, social and environmental categories. The results also showed that from the perspective of extension Experts, the most significant effects of drought on agriculture were salinization of agricultural water, disorder in culturalethical systems and lowered negotiating cap township of farmers. Our findings could provide practical recommendations for the policy- makers and managers of agriculture sector.