ﺑﺮرﺳﻲ وﺿﻌﻴﺖ ﻋﻠﻮم زراﻋﺖ و اﺻﻼح ﻧﺒﺎﺗﺎت ﻛﺸﻮر ﻃﻲ ﺳﺎلﻫﺎی 89-1387

Crop Science Society of Iran started the audit of crop sciences in Iran since May 2011. Several questionnaires were designed based on the indexes that were approved by the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology of Iran. The questionnaires were developed as to collect information related to the number of research and educational staffs, students (undergraduate and post graduate; B.Sc., M.Sc. and Ph.D.), research articles, books, research achievements, innovations and discoveries, new technologies during the period of 2008 to 2010. It also contained fundamental indexes (number of educational and research facilities, research stations etc.) of universities and agricultural research institutes as well as general indexes for agricultural secondary schools. Results showed that the majority of the faculty members were assistant professors in the public universities, but in the Azad universities, agricultural research institutes and provincial agricultural research centers the majority were instructors and research officers. Changes in staffing pyramid of agricultural research institutes and provincial agricultural research centers during the period of the study showed that the lower number of Professor, and higher number of Associate Professor. In provincial agricultural research centers, the percentage of research officers increased and that of the technicians decreased. It is expected that, in the future, the agricultural research centers will face shortage of technicians. Results also showed that the total number of secondary school students in second and third grades had declining trend and dropped by 12 percent. The ratio of female to male student was 33% girls vs. 66% boys and the ratio of rural to urban students was 5 percent to 95 percent and continued to decline. Students of agronomy accounted 16 percent of the total students of Kar-va-Dansh in the agricultural fields. Results indicated that the ratio of graduate students to the total number of students in public universities has increased significantly. Therefore, in 2010 about 40 percent of university students were enrolled in post graduate studies. The ratio of graduate students to the total number of students in Azad university branches was less than that in public universities. However, this ratio has increased from about 20 percent in 2008 to 35% in 2010. Undergraduate students of Azad universities showed a significant decline. The ratio of female to male students at public universities showed that the number of female students was higher. However, in many Azad university branches, the number of female students was less than male students. Crop science journals are in good condition as form the 48 journals surveyed, 31 rated as scientific and research journals, 38 were rated ISC. Eleven journals are published two issues per year, two journals are published bimonthly and other journals (35 journals) are quarterly published. Of the 48 cases of reviewed journal, 18 journals belonged to public universities, 17 journals to Azad universities, 8 journals to the Ministry of Jihad–e–Agriculture and affiliated research institutions, and two of three journals by scientific societies are jointly published with the universities. The total number of articles published in these journals, within three years (2008-2010), was 4311 with 1798 articles (42%) focused on agronomy and crop breeding. Iranian researchers published scientific papers in 92 prestigious international journals in English and this had good growth rate during the period of the study (139 articles in 2008 to 224 articles in 2010). Comparison of three countries, Australia, Turkey and Egypt showed that Australia with 25 research institutes had the highest number of research institutes associated with crop sciences, followed by Turkey with 18, Egypt and Iran with 16 and 8 institutions, respectively. Changes in wheat production in Australia, Turkey, Egypt and Pakistan over the last 50 years followed similar trend as changes of wheat production in Iran. During this period, yield of wheat increased about three times and wheat production in Iran increased more than fivefold which reflects the impact of research and education of crop sciences on wheat production in recent years. Results of the ISI scientific papers per hundred researchers, lecturers and students showed that Australia with 13 scientific papers had higher rank than that of Turkey and Iran with 5 and 8 scientific papers, respectively. However, the number of scientific papers published in ISI journals in these countries showed the superiority of Iran (474 articles) over both Australia (381 articles) and Turkey (285 articles). Results of assessments of crop science status in Iran by scientists, experts and stakeholders of agronomy and crop breeding showed an intermediate to a weak impact for the national system of agricultural research and education regarding the investment in research, technology, delivery and support systems. In conclusion, the most important economic-national approach is to provide a framework, in which incorporation of all educational, research, social and economic components could ensure the success of this approach.