Studies on Policy Option for Quality Seed Production and ... - NFPCSP

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONThe study comprised the analysis and interpretation of data obtained by interviewing 150 farmers foreach of rice, wheat and maize belonging to small, medium and large categories in three locations ofBangladesh. Altogether 1350 interview schedules were examined and the analyzed data are presentedhere in Tables and Graphs with relevant statistics. The results on PRA and FGD and data on laboratoryanalyses of the homegrown seed samples procured from the farmers prior to planting are alsoincorporated here and discussed.4.1 STUDY ON RICE CROP4.1.1 Socio-economic scenario of rice farmersSocioeconomic status is an economic and at the same time a social standard/measure of a person's workexperience and position in society relative to others, based on income, education, and occupation. Thesocio-economic factors influence farmers’ decisions as to which crop/variety is to be grown, whichenterprise is to be run and so on. There are some socio economic factors, which have influences evenon the particular crop production practice are to be followed, which might have significant impact oncrop yield and productivity. Farm size, farmers` education level, technical knowledge of the farmers,training and farming experience etc. may have positive relationship with crop yield. And the factors likefarmers low income, lack of personal and interpersonal communication skill, less exposure to mediaetc. might have negative relationship with crop yield and productivity (Baksh and Rabbani, 2001).The socio-economic profile of rice growing farmers in the surveyed areas as indicated in Table 4.1.1through Annexes 2-4 expresses that the farming experience of large farmers was the highest followedby medium farmers but the small farmer category had the lowest experience almost in all the studyareas. In the case of linkage with NGO, the small farmers had more linkage (63, 44 and 42% inRajshahi, Rangpur and Jessore, respectively) followed by medium farmers because of their highdemands for agricultural credit, inputs and training. The larger farmers had the lowest linkage (23, 18and 12% in Rajshahi, Rangpur and Jessore, respectively) with the NGOs. The annual income and itsshare from seed portion were highest for large farmers followed by medium farmers while the valuewas the lowest for the small farmers. Considering 3 sites, the farmers’ linkage with NGOs was thehighest (44.33%) in Rajshahi compared to Rangpur (33.33%). The aver age share of seed income was3.12%.It is well established that different socio-economic factors like education level, farming experience,farm size, linking with GO/NGOs, annual income etc. play a significant role in the adoption process ofmodern agricultural technologies among the farmers. The farmers who have the higher socio-economicstatus could easily adopt the modern technologies or take any risk of the new technologies for upscaling their agricultural production. On the other hand, the farmers of poor socio-economic group aretraditionally reluctant to adopt these technologies due to their limited resources and lower educationlevel. Moreover, the success of modern agriculture is dependent on the farmers’ knowledge and