Technical knowledge and adoption of farming practices to farmer level extension communication of outgrower farmers of Sri Lankan sugar industry

Abstract

Low adoption of recommended farming practices has partly been responsible for low cane and sugar yield obtained by sugarcane farmers. The objective of this study was to investigate the role of extension communication at farmer level in relation to knowledge and adoption of farming practices by the outgrower farmers of Sri Lankan sugar industry. Primary data were collected from a stratified random sample of 60 farmers consisting of equal number of non-contract and contract farmers from Pelwatte Sugar Industry (PSI) area. Contract farmers were solely dependent on their Agricultural Assistants/Field Assistants (AA/ FA) for the information and services whereas non-contract farmers used other sources also. More attention had been given to marketing and input coordination activities and less attention to farmer education in the main methods of extension communication practised namely AA/FA’s field visits and farmer’s office visits. The majority of contract farmers attributed high credibility to the AA/FAs as well as higher rating for AA/FA’s role and for input services. The highest proportion of contract farmers had medium technical knowledge and adoption levels. But, knowledge and adoption of the majority of non-contract farmers were low and the median adoption and knowledge level of the non-contract group was also significantly lower than that of the contract group. The extension communication activities were significantly related to farmer’s knowledge and adoption. Farmers’ technical knowledge and adoption were also interrelated. However, in the non-contract situation where extension service were poor, a dominant role of personal factors in relation to knowledge and adoption was observed.