Assessing Market-Oriented Extension Needs of Poultry Organizations from the Perspective of Laying Hen Poultry Farmers in the Qom Province, Iran

Farmers’ market oriented capacity is one their main capabilities for increased productivity in the value chain process of their production. The purpose of this descriptive-correlational research is to assess extension needs of poultry organizations, including unions and cooperatives, in terms of market-oriented capacities from the perspective of laying hen farmers. Using the statistics of the Jihad-e-Agriculture Organization, the Poultry Farmer Union and the Laying Hen Cooperative of the Qom Province, a population of 125 laying hen farm was identified in this province, of which a sample of 91 laying hen farmers (owning 105 farms) was randomly selected using the simple randomized sampling technique. The study utilized a survey methodology in the autumn 2012, through a structured interview technique and using a questionnaire, validated in terms of validity and reliability techniques. The Borich model was utilized to assess the needs. These organizations should have required capabilities and improve them as follows: to establish local markets, to determine the level of production for the next round, to process products, to provide infrastructure for distributing products to the target market, to buy poultry products with a guaranteed purchase price (higher than dealers’ purchase price), and to pressure the import and export policies. They also needs other important qualification for their capacity building such as providing finance and infrastructure for preservation and storage of produced eggs, facilitating finance for producers to buy inputs, providing skilled manpower in the market process, taking decisions with the executive capability, launching export terminals, collaborating and negotiating with government agencies to set guaranteed purchase prices, and providing facilities for packing, marking and classifying products.