ADOPTION OF COMMONLY USED INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT (IPM) PRACTICES BY THE BORO RICE GROWERS

Abstract

The focus of the present study was to determine the adoption of commonly used integrated pest management (IPM) practices by the boro rice growers and to explore the relationships between the adoption of commonly used IPM practices in boro rice cultivation and the twelve selected characteristics of the boro rice growers. Data were collected from 130 randomly selected respondents of the two selected villages of Dhontola union under Baliadangi upazila of Thakurgaon district. Data were collected by using an interview schedule from the respondents during 21 April to 6 May, 2015. Adoption of commonly used IPM practices was measured on the basis of average mean area adoption of 10 commonly used IPM practices in boro rice cultivation. The highest proportion (57.69 percent) of the respondents had medium adoption, while 42.31 percent had low adoption of commonly used IPM practices in boro rice cultivation. Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation co-efficient (r) was also computed to explore the relationships between the dependent and independent variables. The correlation analysis found that, training exposure, attitude towards harmful effects of chemical pesticide and contact with IPM club/FFS showed significant positive relationship with the adoption of commonly used IPM practices in boro rice cultivation. However, age, family agriculture workforce, annual family income, education, farm size, knowledge on pesticide application, awareness about environmental pollution, contact with pesticide dealers and cost of pesticide showed non significant relationship with the adoption of commonly used IPM practices in boro rice cultivation.