Strategic Analysis of Sorghum Extension in Dairy Farms of Tehran Province: Applying SWOT Technique

Drought-tolerant fodders extension, including sorghum, is of great importance to the Iranian Ministry of Agriculture. Regarding, the limited adoption of fodder sorghum in Iran, this research was conducted to develop strategies for improving fodder sorghum consumption in Tehran province. The statistical population of the qualitative phase was the key informants of sorghum, 18 of whom were selected for in-depth interviews using the purposeful snowball sampling method. Grounded theory was applied to extract strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Two questionnaires were prepared to measure the importance and intensity of external and internal factors, by 10 and 6 experts, respectively. Analyzing the external and internal environment, 21 strategies including eight (SO) strategies, four (WO) strategies, six (ST) strategies, and three (WT) strategies were extracted. Analysis of the strategic space showed (ST) strategies for adopting sorghum among dairy farmers in Tehran province had a higher priority. These strategies were "increasing the information of experts and farmers about the possibility of using sorghum Speedfeed variety in specific cattle or as a percentage of the ration in industrial cattle"; "increasing the information of experts and farmers about sorghum agronomic strengths"; "using sorghum in the ratio of cattle breeds with lower milk yield special milk quality such as Jersey or Simmental or native cattle"; "promoting agronomic strengths of sorghum, especially among farmers owning agricultural land"; "promoting agronomic strengths of sorghum by establishing model sites in dairy farms owning arable land" and "explaining the importance and strengths of sorghum for officials and decision-makers".