Service delivery effectiveness of Farmers’ Information and Advice Centres in Dinajpur Sadar Upazila of Bangladesh

Abstract

The indispensability of information in agricultural development led to the setting up of Farmers’ Information and Advice Centres (FIACs) by the government of Bangladesh all over the country. The FIACs mainly provide information related to different agriculture sub-sectors like crop, fisheries and livestock with the overall aim of improving farmers’ livelihood. Hence, the effectiveness along with problems and suggestions for improvement of the FIACs’ services were examined in this study by surveying two FIACs of Dinajpur sadar upazila. The effectiveness of FIAC was determined on some selected farm (crop, fisheries and livestock) information based on three dimensions viz. information received, its understanding and application. Data were collected using interview schedule from a sample of 96 farmers selected by proportionate random sampling method. Descriptive statistics and Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (r) were used in the analysis. In terms of crop production sub-sector, all the respondents (100%) received, understood and applied ‘tomato seed production technology’ information, followed by ‘rice seed production and preservation technology’ (96.9%). Also, as for the livestock sub-sector, all the respondents (100%) received, understood and applied ‘beef fattening through UMS method’ information, followed by ‘livestock rearing’ (89.5%). Similarly, in case of fisheries sub-sector, all the respondents (100%) receive, understand and apply ‘Pangas (Pangasius pangasius) culture method’ information, followed by ‘preparation of an ideal pond’ (92.3%). In essence, the FIACs are quiet effective in their service delivery. Among the seven selected characteristics of the respondents, educational qualification, family income and perception on the service delivery efficiency of FIACs showed positive significant association with the effectiveness of the FIAC. However, the foremost problems mentioned by the respondents were FIACs staff inefficiency (83.33%) and lack of effective long term training program for both farmers and staff (73.84%). To address the identified problems, the respondents suggested recruitment of more staff (78.13%) and organizing more training programs for both staff and farmers (67.71 percent).