Assessment of Small Scale Farmers’ Skills Regarding Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in District Sargodha-Pakistan

Abstract

Asurvey study was conducted to assess the knowledge/awareness level in IPM technology among farmers. Fourvillages were randomly selected from Sargodha district fordata collection. Thirteen farmers from each village wereselected randomly and sample size was 52 respondents. Morethan 92% of respondents have no advisory services eitherfrom public or private sector. The findings imply that respondentsneed knowledge for all levels of competence in IPM technology.They need to get high-level of competence for application ofthis technology in the field. In addition, they have littleexposure to long-term training opportunities due to loweducation level for applications of this technology. More than77% of respondents think that government agricultural policiesand no access to information sources regarding integrated pestmanagement at grass-root level are main constraints. Thefindings from correlation and regression analyses indicate thatage and knowledge/awareness level are negatively correlated.It may be concluded that elder respondents have less adaptabilityto new ideas and techniques as compared to young respondents.However, training and information, education, and experienceplay a significant role in enhancing the knowledge/awarenesslevel of respondents in IPM technology.

Keywords

• Pest Management
• Training
• Information
• Knowledge
• Awareness