Influence of farmers' characteristics on knowledge gap of recommended sugarcane production technology in khyber pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Abstract

This study was conducted in Mardan and Dera Ismail Khan (D.I. Khan) districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan during 2018. The main objective of the study was to find the influences of farmers' characteristics on knowledge gap of sugarcane recommended production management practices in the research area. Data were collected personally through face to face interview schedule from 285 sample respondents randomly selected from eight villages of the eight selected union councils. The empirical results indicated that farmers of district Mardan had 41 percent knowledge gap with cane yield 58387 kgs/hectare and sample farmers of district Dera Ismail Khan had 33 percent knowledge gap with 82184 kgs/hectare. The results showed that in both districts sugarcane farmers had medium knowledge gap (37%) with cane yield 70912 kgs/hectare. Findings revealed that one-year improvement in the education level of the farmers would bring likely 58 percent decrease in the knowledge gap. Similarly, a year increase in the cane farming experience of the farmers would likely bring 6 percent reduction in the knowledge gap of the farmers. The results further explained that land owners had more knowledge gap than that of tenant farmers while contact with the agriculture extension department reduces the knowledge gap of sugarcane recommended management practices. The results further show that the coefficient value of knowledge gap of district Mardan farmers is high than the farmers of district D.I. Khan research area. The study suggested that government should provide proper education facilities to the farming community for reducing illiteracy. Agricultural extension department should provide training and special information about sugarcane recommended management practices in the research area.