Identification of the Discrepancy between Farmers’ Practices and Good Agricultural Practices in Crop Husbandry

Abstract

Good agricultural practices (GAP) are important for producing safe food minimizing health risks. The study was conducted at Dumuria upazila of Khulna district in Bangladesh to identify the discrepancy between farmers’ practices and GAP. Data were collected from purposively selected 100 respondents. Majority (63%) of the farmers had medium knowledge of the practices under GAP and 82% of the farmers had a highly favorable attitude towards GAP. The practice index was calculated and obtained score of each practice was deducted from 100 for measuring the discrepancy. Farmers (93%) did occasional practice regarding planting materials and the 100% discrepancy was identified in ‘keeping a record of planting materials if obtained from another farm’, and 96.50% discrepancy in ‘keeping a record of seed quality’. Most (91%) of the farmers’ practices regarding fertilizers and soil additives were often, and 96.50% discrepancy was identified in ‘record keeping of the source, product name, date, the quantity obtained’. The farmers (80%) did the practices related to irrigation often and 96% discrepancy was identified in‘frequency of required water testing’. The respondents (92%) did the practices under ‘chemicals’ often and 99.50% discrepancy was identified in ‘keeping record of chemicals’, and in ‘keeping record of application for each crop’. In the case of harvesting and handling the produce 97% farmers did the practices often and 100% discrepancy was identified in ‘using shatter proof lights in packing house’, and 96% discrepancy in ‘training of workers in personal hygiene’. Farmers had severe problems regarding GAP (94%), and ‘not being able to understand the necessity of GAP’ ranked 1st. Farm size had a significant negative correlation with ‘fertilizers and soil additives’ related practices, ‘knowledge on GAP’ had a significant positive correlation with ‘chemicals’ and ‘harvesting and handling the produce’ related practices. GAP should be practiced for minimizing the discrepancies.