Analysis of factors affecting for adoption of good agricultural practices in potato cultivation in Badulla district, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is an economically attractive crop and farmers tend to get a higher yield by adopting extensively wrong agricultural practices which are not recommended by the Department of Agriculture. From the selection of the seed tubers up to the post-harvest practices, it spends a higher cost which result no significant profit. In here, adoption of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) by potato farmers will be a sound solution to soil erosion problem in hill country and it will help to improve the productivity of potato industry in Sri Lanka. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to find out the adoption level of GAPs and socio economic factors affecting the adoption of GAPs by the potato farmers. The study drew a sample of 100 potato farmers from four different regions in Badulla district using stratified sampling technique and the collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression analysis. According to the results, only 27% of farmers had adopted well to GAPs. Further, good level of adoption of GAPs had increased the potato yield and income had reduced the average cost. The results of the multiple linear regression revealed that adoption of GAPs was significantly affected by education level of the farmer, farmer experience, tenure status of the land, awareness on GAPs, unit cost and unit income of potato cultivation.