6. Problem Confrontation of Vegetable Growers in Production and Marketing of Vegetables: Evidence from Northern Region of Bangladesh

Abstract

The main purpose of the study was to explore the problem confrontation of vegetable growers in production and marketing of vegetables in the selected areas of Bogra district of Bangladesh. The study also aims to explore the relationships between the selected socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents and their problem confrontation in case of production and marketing of commonly cultivated vegetables. Data were gathered from 100 randomly sampled vegetable growers of Atmul and Mokamtola union under Shibganj upazila (Sub-district) during the period of 25 January to 20 February, 2020 by combining a mix of different methods such as survey, group discussion and Key Informant Interview (KII) method. Ten selected socio-demographic characteristics of vegetable growers namely age, education, household size, farm size, annual family income, farming experience, organizational participation, training experience, access to credit and extension media contact were considered to investigate the relationships with the problem confrontation of vegetable growers in case of production and marketing of most commonly cultivated vegetables. Most of the vegetable growers (77%) had faced medium level of problems compared to 19% of the respondents had faced high level of problems while only 4% of the respondents had faced low level of problems in case of production and marketing of vegetables. Correlation analyses indicated that socio-demographic attributes of the respondents namely household size, farm size, annual family income, access to credit and training experience had significant contributions towards problem confrontation of vegetable growers in production and marketing of vegetables. It is evident that vegetable growers faced range of problems in case of production and marketing of commonly grown vegetables. This research gears towards realization of problem confrontation scenario of vegetable growers and to take proper initiatives by the policy makers of agriculture sector to improve the productivity of vegetables in Bangladesh.