Attitude of Vegetable Farmers in Galle District in Sri Lanka Towards Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)

S. Malkanthi, A. Thenuwara, W. Weerasinghe
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Abstract

Summary Vegetable farmers are facing a number of challenges including price fluctuations, production and marketing problems, low level of income etc. One strategy to overcome these problems is adoption of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) in vegetable production. However, there is limited information regarding farmers’ awareness of GAP and its applications under the circumstances of farming in the country. Therefore, assessing farmers’ attitude is a timely requirement for directing farmers towards good agricultural practices. Thus, the objectives of the research were to assess the level of awareness of GAP program, relationship between socio-economic factors and awareness of GAP, farmers’ attitudes towards GAP program, factors affecting the willingness to adopt GAP program and the potentials and constraints in implementing GAP program in Galle District. A sample of 100 vegetable farmers in the district was selected through a multi-stage simple random sampling technique. Data were collected from March to July 2018, through a self-administered questionnaire survey and analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square test. The results revealed that the majority of vegetable farmers in the district were middle-aged males who had studied up to GCE ordinary level and they received a monthly income of 24000 LKR. Their age, gender, educational level and experience were significantly associated with the level of awareness of GAP program. However, despite their positive attitude towards GAP, most farmers were unwilling to take a risk to adopt GAP due to many issues such as lack of required inputs, capital, required field conditions, information and technical know-how. There are several potentials and also many constraints for implementing GAP in the district. Therefore, providing firstly better theoretical knowledge and then providing the main requirements will motivate more farmers to adopt GAP in their vegetable production procedures. Research studies related to application of GAP by Sri Lankan farmers are still at a lower level. This research thus will be useful for different stakeholders related to adoption of GAP in Sri Lanka.
斯里兰卡加勒地区菜农对良好农业规范(GAP)的态度
菜农面临着价格波动、产销问题、收入水平低等诸多挑战。克服这些问题的一个策略是在蔬菜生产中采用良好农业规范(GAP)。然而,关于农民对GAP的认识及其在该国农业情况下的应用的信息有限。因此,评估农民的态度是指导农民采用良好农业规范的及时要求。因此,本研究旨在评估加勒地区对GAP计划的认知程度、社会经济因素与GAP计划认知的关系、农民对GAP计划的态度、影响GAP计划实施意愿的因素以及实施GAP计划的潜力和制约因素。采用多阶段简单随机抽样的方法,选取全区100名菜农为样本。数据收集时间为2018年3月至7月,采用自填问卷调查,采用描述性统计和卡方检验进行分析。结果显示,该地区的大多数菜农是中年男性,他们的学业达到普通中等教育水平,月收入为24000斯里兰卡卢比。他们的年龄、性别、受教育程度和经历与GAP计划的认知水平显著相关。然而,尽管他们对GAP持积极态度,但由于缺乏所需的投入、资金、所需的田间条件、信息和技术诀窍等诸多问题,大多数农民不愿意冒险采用GAP。在该地区实施GAP既有若干潜力,也有许多制约因素。因此,首先提供更好的理论知识,然后提供主要要求,将激励更多的农民在蔬菜生产过程中采用GAP。与斯里兰卡农民应用GAP有关的研究仍处于较低水平。因此,这项研究将对与斯里兰卡采用GAP有关的不同利益相关者有用。
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