PRESENT STATUS AND PROBLEM CONFRONTATION OF FARM MECHANIZATION IN BANGLADESH
ABSTRACT
Mechanization is an important tool for profitable and competitive agriculture. Proper selection and utilization of machinery effortlessly would boost and optimize farm production. The study aimed to quantify the present status and problem confrontation of villages named Shovna, Khornia, and Tipna villages under Dumuria Upazila of Khulna district and Ashurkhai, Brommotor, Bakdokra villages under Saidpur Upazila of Nilphamari about farm mechanization and to explore the relationship between the selected characteristics of the respondents and their problems associated with farm mechanization. A validated and structured interview schedule was used to collect data from 150 farmers’ during December 2020. The farmers’ of the study area used 25 mechanized implements/ machinery at different stages of cultivation to a different extent. The farmers of the study area highly used sprayers (for controlling insect-pests and diseases) to the highest extent while they used moisture meter at the least extent. Besides those, the respondents used some farm machinery (such as diesel pumps, tractors, and power tillers). About three-fourths (75.33%) of the respondents belonged to the medium machinery use category, whereas about one-fourth (24.67%) of them belonged to the low use category. None of them belonged to the high-use category. The majority (51.3 %t) of the respondents belonged to the high problem confrontation category; on the other hand, about two-fifths (38.0%) and one-tenth (10.7%) of them confronted medium and very high problems respectively. Among nine selected characteristics of the farmers’ age, family size, and training experience showed a negative significant relationship with their problem confrontation while educational qualification had a significant
positive relationship with problem confrontation of the farmers.