FARMERS’ PERCEPTION AND FACTORS INFLUENCING ADOPTION OF HOMESTEAD VEGETABLE FARMING IN MYMENSINGH DISTRICT

The present study focused on addressing the factors influencing the adoption of homestead vegetable farming by rural farmers in a selected region of Bangladesh. It also assessed the farmer’s perception of vegetable farming in their homestead areas. A total of 92 households were interviewed randomly through field survey method. Perception index, gross margin and net return analysis, Logit regression model were employed to analyze the collected data. Most of the household’s liquidity asset increased after involving in homestead vegetable farming which has been identified from perception index analysis. Vegetable cultivation in the homestead areas was profitable as the undiscounted benefit cost ratio for three selected vegetables was greater than one. The chances of farmers to practice homestead vegetable farming are increased with their level of education, farm size, household income, extension contact and availability of irrigation water. However, engagement in off-farm activities by farmers reduced the chance of involvement in homestead vegetable farming as the farmers had lesser time to devote in such activities. For encouraging farmers to practice homestead vegetable farming, both government and private institutions should play their role to provide regular extension service, training facilities and to ensure availability of irrigation water