COMPARE AND CONTRAST THE PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS THE SAFE PRODUCTION BEHAVIOR BETWEEN COOPERATIVE MEMBERS AND NONCOOPERATIVE MEMBERS IN ANBUKHAIRENI RURAL MUNICIPALITY, NEPAL

Abstract

Nepal government has prioritized cooperative development for easy access to agricultural inputs, the adoption of improved technology, and the development of a sustainable market. A study was conducted to compare and contrast the perceptions towards the safe production behavior between cooperative members and non-cooperative members in Anbukhaireni Rural Municipality, Nepal Milijuli Krishi Utpadak Sahakari and Akala Krishi Sahakari were purposefully selected for the study. Ninety-one (91) cooperative members were randomly selected and ninety (90) non-cooperative members were selected through convienence sampling. A convergent parallel method was adopted, a face-to-face method of interview schedule followed by the mWater surveyor application was used for data collection. The five likert scale technique was used to indicate the extent of the perception of farmers’ towards various statements. The perception of the respondents was analyzed using chi-square test, and the Mann-Whitney U test. Probit regression was used to determine socio-economic factors affecting farmers participation in cooperatives. The cooperative members had the nearest market distance (z=-6.99, p<0.01) and were more involved in commercial farming (z=4.40, p<0.01). The probability of farmers’ participation was 12 % and 4.3 % higher for the farmers with gender as head of the household (z=2.52, p<0.05) and farmers who have received training related to cooperatives (z=2.09, p<0.05). In the perception study, the cooperative members agreed with the statements of input supply situation, saving/credit facility provided, technology adoption, and adoption on post-harvest operations as compared to non-cooperative members. The cooperative and non-cooperative members showed differences in the marketing behaviours with the point of sale (2=326.98, p<0.01), mode of transportation (2 = 250.65, p<0.01), and the price determination (2 =288.042, p<0.01).Therefore, training on the importance of agricultural cooperatives especially targeted to females, farmers with large farm sizes, and farmers whose farms are a bit farther from the market was suggested for safe agricultural production. Moreover, widespread development of the agricultural market (if not collection centers) should be made for sustainable agricultural production.