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Farmers Attitude Towards Organic Farming: a Case Study in Chapainawabganj District

Mithun Kumar Ghosh
Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, EXIM Bank Agricultural University Bangladesh, Bangladesh.

Mehedi Hashan Sohel
Department of Soil Science, EXIM Bank Agricultural University Bangladesh, Bangladesh.

Nazmin Ara
Faculty of Agriculture, EXIM Bank Agricultural University Bangladesh.

Fatima Tuj Zahara
Faculty of Agriculture, EXIM Bank Agricultural University Bangladesh, Bangladesh.

Sajid Bin Nur
Faculty of Agriculture, EXIM Bank Agricultural University Bangladesh, Bangladesh.

Md. Mahamudul Hasan
Faculty of Agriculture, EXIM Bank Agricultural University Bangladesh, Bangladesh.

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

The main purpose of the study was to evaluate farmers' socio-economic status, attitude and relationship among them towards organic farming. The study was conducted in five Upazilas of Chapainawabganj district in Bangladesh. A simple random sampling technique was used to select 40 respondents. The attitude of respondents toward organic farming was measured with twenty statements using five-point Likert-type scales. To explore the relationship between the concerned variables correlation coefficient (r) was computed. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the variables. The majority of the respondents were male (90%), the average age was 44 years. 45% of respondents were illiterate, had an average of 4 years of farming experience. The majority of the respondents (80%) had a positive attitude towards organic farming. Relatives and Extension Agents were found as the main information source of organic farming for most of the respondents. Cosmopoliteness and Extension contact had a positive and significant relationship with their attitude (.461 and .377 respectively). It was concluded that farmers were knowledgeable about organic farming and also had favourable attitude toward its practices. Efforts should therefore be made to promote and increase the practice of organic farming. By promoting organic farming practice, farm income is increased than conventional farming.

Keywords: Organic farming; Correlation; Cosmopoliteness; Extension; Attitudes

Location: Chapainawabganj district

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Socio-economic and Policy

Non-commodity: Socio-economic status

Objectives:

To determine the socio-economic status of the respondents in the study area; To know the attitude of farmers on organic farming; To examine the relationship between the socio-economic status and attitudes of farmers towards organic farming.

Methodology:

The locale of the study was the Chapainawabgonj District of Rajshahi Division. Chapainawabganj is situated between the latitude 24'22 to 24'57 and longitude 87'23 to 88'23. Chapainawabgonj Sadar Upazila, Nachole Upazila, Gomostapur Upazila, and Sibgonj Upazila were purposively selected for the study because of the noticeable practice of organic farming. A list of all organic farmers was collected from the Upazila Agricultural Extension Office, NGO’s and with the help of Sub Assistant Agriculture Officers (SAAOs). From the list, 40 farmers were selected using a simple random sampling technique. Data were collected through a structured interview. Farmers’ attitude towards organic Farming was the dependent variable of the study. For measuring the attitude of the respondents, a 5 point Likert scale [18] was used. There were 20 statements including both positive and negative to avoid the biasness of the respondents. Each respondent was asked to indicate his extent of agreement or disagreements against each statement along a 5 point scale of strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, and strongly disagree. Weights assigned to these responses were 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 respectively for positive statements and reversely for negative statements. The total score of a respondent was determined by summing up the weights for responses against all 20 statements. Based on the computed scores the respondents were classified into three categories according to Salawat i.e., unfavorable attitude (up to 62 scores), moderately favorable attitude (63 to 73 scores), and highly favorable attitude (above 74 scores). The independent variables of this study were farmers’ sex, age, education, marital status, family size, annual income, farming experience, land ownership, area, Cosmopoliteness, extension contact, and information source. All of these variables were measured as required. Statistical tests like frequency counts, percentage, mean, standard deviation were used for analysis and interpretation of data. Correlation coefficients were used for hypothesis testing and 5% level probabilities were used as the basis for exploring the relationship between the concerned variables throughout the study.

Source of Information: Asian Journal of Advances in Agricultural Research- 10(2): 1-7, 2019

Article Link (Online Journal): DOI: 10.9734/AJAAR/2019/v10i230026

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

After completing this study, it concluded that most of the farmers were male, between age 51 to 57 years, having a medium family size, small farm holding with the leased area and had primary level of education with medium annual income and medium farming experience, and the information source from relatives and extension agents. Most of them had medium extension contact and medium cosmopoliteness. Most of the respondents had a moderately favorable attitude towards organic farming. The result was found that farmers had a moderate attitude towards organic farming. This might be due to the fact that a considerable proportion of the farmers had not enough training exposure, moderate use of a source of information, and low extension contact. The coefficient of correlation test indicated that Cosmopoliteness and extension contact showed a positive significant relationship with the attitude of the farmers towards organic farming that means the higher the above-mentioned characteristics of the respondents, the higher was their attitude towards organic farming.

Knowledge Management: Journal