canola growers’ educational needs assessment in zebarkhan county of neyshabour indigenous and scientific knowledge integration

in the recent years, increasing demand for products such as protein-rich meals and oilseeds has caused the food basket to shift towards the proteins and fats consumption. this change has been happening in iran too. shortage in oilseed productions has been a serious problem in iran. to overcome the problem, the government planed some programs to encourage oilseed productions. beside government’s programs to encourage oilseed productions, educational programs are required. the educational programs should be organized based on the farmers’ educational needs. to achieve the goal, an accurate educational model is required. this study attempted at assessing canola growers’ educational needs in zebarkhan county of neyshabour, using ortiz's model. the survey was based on a structured questionnaire. to select the study interviewees, simple classified random sampling was used and eventually 60 farmers completed the study questionnaires. the results showed that canola grower's education needs differ between two canola growers groups. those farmers who ceased canola cultivation needed 50% more training than those who continued canola production in the study year.. the practical programs were not effective and appropriate for farmers. as a result of that, farmers who ceased canola cultivation were not interested in re-cultivating the plant. due that the canola cultivation is manageable, continuous studies on scientific and indigenous knowledge integration is suggested.