Assessment of farmers’ indigenous knowledge and attitude towards summer tomato cultivation in Mymensingh region of Bangladesh

Abstract

The purposes of the study were to investigate the assessment of farmers’ indigenous knowledge and attitude towards summer tomato cultivation in Mymensingh region of Bangladesh and also to explore the relationships between the selected characteristics of the farmers and use their indigenous knowledge. There is a wealth of knowledge at the disposal of farmers which they have been using generation after generation in Bangladesh. In the present study, Indigenous knowledge and attitude has been defined as the traditional knowledge of the farmers of Bangladesh in the production, protection and preservation of crops generated by their ancestors and internalized by the local people. Some identified indigenous knowledge and attitude in this study show colossal potential which has a direct positive influence on maintaining the ecosystem in Bangladesh. Micro- data from a farm-level survey conducted by the first author was the main source of data. Data were collected through personal interview from 101 randomly selected farmers growing summer tomato from the six villages under Sadar Upazila of Mymensingh district during 20th March to 25th April 2016. Appropriate scales were developed in order to measure the variables. With respect to indigenous knowledge, it was found that the majority (52.4 percent) of the farmers possessed high indigenous knowledge, while 42.6 percent of the farmers possessed medium indigenous knowledge and only 5 percent of the farmers had low indigenous knowledge on summer tomato cultivation. Regarding attitude, the study showed that about 49.5 percent of the farmers had favorable attitude, while 37.6 percent farmers had unfavorable attitude and 12.9 percent farmers showed neutral attitude towards summer tomato cultivation. Education, land possession, annual family income, extension contact of the farmers had positive significant relationship with farmers’ indigenous knowledge on summer tomato cultivation, while problem faced had negative relationship with their indigenous knowledge. Land possession of the farmers had positive significant relationship with their attitude towards summer tomato cultivation. Recommendations were forwarded to the extension personnel should provide regular visit to the farmers so that they can make effective communication with them for their summer cultivation.