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Marketing Problems of Potato Farmers in Munshigonj District of Bangladesh

Sifat Jahan
Department of Agricultural Extension and Information System, Faculty of Agriculture, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka-1207, Bangladesh.

Mohammad Abul Hossain
Department of Agricultural Extension and Information System, Faculty of Agriculture, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka-1207, Bangladesh.

Md. Ahsan Habib
Department of Agricultural Extension and Information System, Faculty of Agriculture, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka-1207, Bangladesh.

Shamima Akter Rimi
Department of Agricultural Extension and Information System, Faculty of Agriculture, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka-1207, Bangladesh.

Md. Saiful Islam
Department of Agricultural Extension and Information System, Faculty of Agriculture, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka-1207, Bangladesh.

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

The study was conducted in the Lohajang upazilla under Munshigonj district. The main purposes of the study were i) to describe the selected characteristics of the potato farmers; ii). to determine the extent of marketing problems faced by the farmers and iii). to explore relationship between selected characteristics of the farmers and their marketing problems. From the findings it was revealed that about one half of the respondents were middle aged and another half was young (41.9%) and old (8.6%). The highest proportion (73.3%) achieved education ranging from primary to above secondary. Rest of the respondents had no school education. All the respondents had organizational participation. More than two-third had medium to high organizational participation. Potato growers of Lohajang were not so much financially sound as the result showed that only (6.7 %) had high capability and the overwhelming majority (58.1% & 35.2%) were under low to medium category. Regarding knowledge, one half of the respondents had low knowledge and the other half had medium to high knowledge. Distance of market place showed not much problems because (81%) of the respondents stayed within 2 km of market place. Among the respondents, the highest (52.4%) proportion had medium storage facilities, while (23.8 %) potato growers had low and high storage facilities. Among the respondents the highest (49.5 %) potato growers faced medium problem in potato marketing. Regarding the relationship between the selected dependent and independent variable, it was observed that age and distance of market place had significant positive relationships with marketing problems of potato growers. Educational level, financial capabilities, extent of use of quality control, availability of marketing information and storage facilities had significant negative relationships with marketing problems of potato growers. On the other hand, organizational participation had no relationship with marketing problems of potato growers.

Keywords: Marketing problems, Munshigonj, Bangladesh

Location: Lohajang upazilla under Munshigonj district.

Start Date: 00-04-2008

End Date: 00-05-2008

Program Area: Postharvest and Agro-processing

Non-commodity: Market analysis

Objectives:

To know the characteristics of the potato farmers and their marketing problems.

Methodology:

Location of the study- The study was conducted in the Lohajang upazilla under the Munshigonj district. This upazilla is situated 50 km east/west from Munshigonj districts headquarters. Among the 9 union of Lohajang upazilla Kalma union was selected purposively as the locale of the study area. Then three (3) villages namely Douhuri, Gorakandha and Noapara from Kalma Union have been selected purposively as a study areas. All potato growers of Kalma union under Lohajang upazilla constituted the population of the study. An update list of 525 potato growers from the selected villages was prepared with the help of Sub- Assistant Agriculture officer. Twenty (20%) percent of the population were randomly selected as the sample of the study by using random number table. Thus, 105 farmers constituted the sample of the study. A reserve list of ten farmers was also prepared by the same method so that the respondents of this list could be used for interview if the respondents included in the original sample were not available at the time of data collection. Data collection was started on 12 April 2008 and completed on 20 May, 2008. Measurement of independent variables- The age of a respondent was measured by the period of time from his/her birth to the time of interview and it was measured in terms of complete years on the basis of his/her response. A score of one (1) was assigned for each year age. Education was measured in terms of grades (class) passed by the respondent. If a respondent received education outside the school, their education was assessed in terms of education of the school, i. e. one (1) score was given for one year of schooling. Each illiterate person was given a score of zero. The respondent who did not know how to read or write but able to sign only was given a score of 0.5 Organizational participation of a respondent was measured by computing an organizational participation score according to his/her nature and duration of participation in nine (9) selected different organizations up to the time of interview. The organizational participation score was evaluated for each respondent on the basis of his/her membership with those organizations. The following scale was used for computing the organizational participation score. The nature of participation was no participation, participation as an ordinary member, participation as executive member and participation as secretary/president. The score was 0, 1, 2 and 3 respectively. The organizational participation score of a respondent was determined by adding together the scores obtained from each of the nine types of participation. Financial capabilities- Financial capabilities of the potato growers were measured by adding a. financial capabilities from the crop, b. financial capabilities from domestic animals and fisheries and financial capabilities from non-agricultural sources. Financial capabilities from crop were measured by adding all of the total value of their field crops including cereals, vegetable fruits etc. On the other hand, financial capabilities from domestic animals and fisheries were measured by adding return from livestock and fisheries product and byproduct. Financial capabilities from other sources were measured by adding return from service, business, day labour and others if any. By adding all of the source's income financial capabilities of the respondents were measured and it was expressed in thousand taka. A score of one was assigned for each thousand taka. The extent of use of quality control- The extent of use of quality control of a respondent was measured by computing a score on the basis of potato growers' responses to seven questions. The score obtained by a respondent for responses to all the seven questions was added together to compute the total score of the extent of use of quality control. Each question was assigned a score of three. Therefore, seven questions carried a total score of 21. For correct responses to a question, a respondent could get a score of three. While for wrong response to a question she could get a score of zero (0). For partial correct responses, scores were assigned accordingly. The sum of total scores for all the 7 questions made the quality control knowledge score of a respondent. Distance of the marketplace- Distance of the marketplace was measured by asking the question “what is the distance of marketplace from your farm or home”. The respondents replied based on their idea. From their responses as the distance of the marketplace was categorized as short, medium and high distance. Up to 1.5 km was expressed as low distance; 1.6 to 2.0 km was expressed as medium distance and above 2.0 km was expressed as high distance. Availability of marketing information- Availability of marketing information of the respondent was measured by computing a score on the basis of potato growers? reply to six questions. The score obtained by a respondent for responses of the entire six questions were added together to compute their availability of marketing information scores. Each question had assigned 3, 2, 0 scores for regularly, occasionally and not at all, respectively. The sum of total scores for all the six questions made the marketing information score of a respondent. Storage facilities- Storage facilities of potato growers were identified as field store, at home, and cold store. It was measured on the basis of time period i.e. long potato growers kept their potato in those storage facilities. The time period was categorized into three short time periods, medium time periods and the long time periods and in some cases no time period which was assigned score as 0, 1, 2 and 3 respectively. However, for no time period, a zero scores was assigned. Measurement of the dependent variable- Marketing problems of the potato growers was the only dependent variable of this study. Marketing problems of the potato growers was measured on the basis of nine problems. Each problem was categorized into severe, medium and low score assigned against each of them was 3, 2 and 1, respectively. However, no problem was assigned a score of zero. Marketing problems of potato growers score of a respondent was determined by summing up the weights of their responses to all the 9 statements. Data analysis- Data collected from the respondents were compiled, coded, tabulated and analyzed in accordance with the objectives of the study. Various statistical measures such as frequency counts, percentage distribution, average, and standard deviation were used in describing data. SPSS (version 11.5) computer program was used for analyzing the data. For determining the association of the selected characteristics of the potato growers with the marketing problem, Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used. Five percent (0.05) level of probability was used as the basis for rejecting any null hypothesis.

Source of Information: Res. Agric., Livest. Fish.8(1): 33-40, April 2021

Article Link (Online Journal): DOI: https://doi.org/10.3329/ralf.v8i1.53265

Funding Source:

1.

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

Overwhelming (79.1 percent) of the respondents faced medium to the high-level problem in potato marketing, therefore, it may be concluded that the marketing problem of potato growers is a serious issue to be addressed to maximize potato production. Based on the findings of the study the following conclusions have been drawn: Among the respondent's middle-aged potato growers constitute the highest proportion (49.5 percent). Therefore, it may be concluded that most of the potato growers of the study area were middle-aged. The highest (45.7 percent) of potato growers were under the group of primary education. Therefore, it may be concluded that the education level of the potato growers was not yet at a satisfactory level. Among the total respondents? medium-level organizational participation constitutes the highest proportion (56.2 percent). There is scope to increase organizational participation in order to improve the overall orientation of the potato growers. Among the potato growers, low financial capabilities constituted the highest proportion (58.1 percent), therefore, it may be concluded that the financial capabilities of the respondents' potato growers were not at a satisfactory level. The extent of use of quality control score of the potato growers was over 50.5 percent under the low use category. Therefore, it may be concluded that the respondent farmers did not use the quality control measures on a high-quality level. Among the respondents, potato growers about 56.2% stayed a short distance from the marketplace. Therefore, it may be concluded that the marketing system was readily available to most potato growers. The highest portion (62.9 percent) of the potato growers were in the low-level market information group. Therefore, it may be concluded that adequate marketing information was not available to most of the potato growers. Among the respondents of potato growers, the highest (52.4 percent) proportion had medium storage facilities. Therefore, it may be concluded that storage facilities were more or less satisfactory to the respondent's potato growers. Age and distance of marketplace showed a significant positive relationship between marketing problems. Therefore, it may be concluded that aged growers and farmers having a high distance of market place face more problem. Education level, financial capabilities, the extent of use of quality control, availability of marketing information and storage facilities showed a negative relationship between marketing problems of potato growers, Therefore, it may be concluded that these characteristics need to be improved for the potato growers so that they confront minimum marketing problems.

Knowledge Management: Journal