Knowledge Gap of the Haor Farmers in Boro Rice Cultivation
M. A. Islam *
Department of Agricultural Extension Education, Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet-3100, Bangladesh
M. E. M. Chowdhury
Department of Agricultural Extension Education, Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet-3100, Bangladesh
S. D. Baishakhy
Department of Agricultural Extension Education, Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet-3100, Bangladesh
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
This paper investigates haor farmers’ knowledge gap on different yield contributing aspects in boro rice production and to explore whether any relationship exists between the selected characteristics of the haor farmers with their knowledge gap. Necessary data were collected during 12 June to 28 August, 2016 using a structured interview schedule from 100 haor farmers covering six villages of Tahirpur Upazila under Sunamganj district. The results revealed that the knowledge gap of the haor farmers varied from 38% to 94% with a mean value of 58 and standard deviation was 11.5 while half (50%) of the respondents had at least 57% of medium to high level of knowledge gap which in turn hampered the adoption of modern boro rice cultivation practices and thereby lowering about 58% of the boro rice yield. The highest knowledge gap was reported in case of fertilizer and pest management, followed by knowledge gap in harvest and post-harvest management, climatic suitability in the haor areas for boro rice production, seedling raising, time of transplanting and spacing while the lowest knowledge gap to be counted for variety and its attributes. The socio-economic characteristics of the haor farmers like education, cosmopoliteness, farming experience and attitude towards modern boro rice cultivation practices had the significant association with their knowledge gap.
Keywords: Knowledge gap, boro rice, yields gap, haor farmers