IJBPAS, October, 2015, 4(10), Special Issue: 1151-1162 ISSN: 2277–4998 BARRIERS AND LIMITATIONS OF USING VERMICOMPOST BY GREENHOUSE OWNERS IN PAKDASHT COUNTY MASOUD SAEIDI MOGHADAM1, MEHDI MIRDAMADI2, MEHDI RASOULI3 1-Master Student of Agricultural Extension and Education, Varamin-Pishva Branch, Islamic Azad University, Varamin, Iran (
[email protected]) 2-Associate Professor of Agricultural Extension and Education, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran (
[email protected]) 3-Department of Agricultural Extension and Education, Varamin-Pishva Branch, Islamic Azad University, Varamin, Iran (
[email protected]) ABSTRACT The purpose of this survey research was to examine barriers and limitations of using vermicompost by greenhouse owners in Pakdasht County. The method of this study was descriptive-correlative type. The statistical population were all the greenhouse owners in Pakdasht County (N=860) which according to Cochran formula 160 subjects were selected by using stratified sampling method. Validity of questionnaire was confirmed by experts and specialists and reliability estimated through a pilot test with 30 questionnaires, Cronbach's alpha coefficients were calculated for different parts between 0.79 to 0.94.Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 19. The results of the Pearson correlation test showed that there was a negative and significant relationship in 99% level among educational-informational, technical and political barriers in using vermicompost. The results of stepwise multi-regression showed that educational-informational, technical and political barriers explained 65% changes of dependent variable variance (using vermicompost). Keywords: Barriers, Vermicompost, Greenhouse, Pakdasht County 1151 IJBPAS, October, 2015, 4(10), Special Issue Masoud Saeidi Moghadam et al Research Article INTRODUCTION In recent years, the use of natural compounds soil organic carbon and some plant nutrients of plant origin instead of chemical (Bulluck et al, 2002, Nardi et al., 2004, compounds and peat has increased.