Conservation Agriculture: Present Status and Cropping Pattern Adopted by the Farmer in Khulna Region

Abstract

Conservation agriculture (CA) based tillage technology permits direct seeding through the moderate level of crop residue. The main purposes of the study were to identify present status of agriculture along with the problem identification by farmers and also determine the present cropping pattern adopted by the farms under conservation agriculture. Data were collected from randomly selected 91 farmers of three upazilla in Khulna region with the help of personal interview method by using interview schedule during January 2017 to May 2018. Data were collected on fifteen selected categories of the farmers and problems confronting them. Most of the respondents have small to medium sized cultivable lands. Bean, cauliflower, cabbage, potato, Indian spinach, brinjal, tomato etc, were more extensively cultivated. Most farmers belong to medium practice of conservation agriculture while very few of them had low or high practice. To determine the present status of agriculture data were also collected based on the name of crop rotation, use of fertilizers and manures, intercultural operation adopted by the respondents, pest and disease infestation in the field under cultivation. Out of all independent variables, only extension media contact, level of education and organizational participation of the farmers showed positive significant relationship with conservation agriculture practice. Extension media contact and organizational participation influence the extent of CA practices at farmers’ field as confirmed by the backward linear regression model. The vital problems of conservation agriculture practices were lack of seed, high price of seed, lack of fertilizers, high price of fertilizer, impurity and high price of insecticides/ pesticides, lack of irrigation water, salinity, lack of CA knowledge.  To popularize the CA practices, Government should organize more training and demonstration activities on CA involving block level extension workers as well as farmers plus strengthening research-extension-farmers linkage.