Womens participation in rice mills in Sherpur sadar upazila of Bangladesh

The main purpose of this study was to determine womens participation in rice mills of Sherpur sadar upazila of Bangladesh. Ninety respondents were selected using cluster random sampling method. The researchers personally collected data from August to September 2012. Aimed at explaining the assessment of the present status of women worker of rice mills and explored the relationship between their selected characteristics and extent of participation. Majority of the respondents had long experience in working in the rice mill and almost everybody had participation around the year. Women were mostly involved in drying and on an average spent time for helping in husking machine operating (3.02 hours) followed by final drying of paddy (2.05 hours), drying the paddy before boiling (1.25 hours), piling the paddy (1.12 hours), cleaning the threshing floor (1.05 hours), packing the rice (1.02 hours) per day. They worked about 8-10 hours per day. Results show that the women workers performance decreased with the increase of their age. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/ijarit.v4i1.21089 Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 4 (1): 36-39, June, 201

Growers’ knowledge on spices cultivation in Shibganj upazila under Bogura district

The main objective guided the present study was to evaluate the knowledge of the growers on spices cultivation practice in Shibganj upazila under Bogura district. Three unions of the upazila were purposively selected based on the vicinity to the Spices Research Center, Bogura. Data were collected from selected growers using predesigned structured interview schedule. Eleven selected characteristics of the growers were considered as independent variables. As dependent variable, knowledge on spices cultivation practice was calculated by construction of a scale containing thirteen relevant questions. Coefficient of correlation was employed to determine the relationship between the selected characteristics of the growers and their knowledge on spices cultivation practice. Majority (67.8%) of the growers were middle aged, the highest portion (61.1%) of them belonged to primary level education. Major proportion (60.0%) of them had small family size, almost all of them (98.9%) possessed small to medium farm size, and huge majority (87.8%) of them earned up to BDT 240000 annually. About three-fourth (73.3%) of the farmers had medium extension contact, half of them (50.0%) had poor training experience while 40.0 percent of them had medium innovativeness. Great majority (85.5%) of the farmers had small to medium spices cultivation area (up to 0.6 ha) while almost three-fourth (72.2%) of them had medium to long durational (11 to above 20 years) practice of spices cultivation. Majority (65.6%) of them had moderate knowledge on spices cultivation technology compared to more than onefourth (26.7%) having high knowledge and only 7.7 percent had low knowledge on the same. None of the selected characteristics showed significant relationship with the knowledge on spices cultivation practice. Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. Tech. 10(1): 102-107, June 202

Knowledge and perception of extension workers towards ict utilization in agricultural extension service delivery in Gazipur district of Bangladesh

The primary purpose of the study was to assess the extent of knowledge and perception of extension workers towards ICT utilization and to determine the relationship between the selected characteristics of the respondents and knowledge and perception of extension workers towards ICT utilization in extension service delivery. The study was conducted in Gazipur district and comprised proportionate random sample of 90 extension workers from five upazila of Gazipur district. A pre-tested interview schedule was used to collect data from the respondents. To measure the knowledge on ICT utilization 35 statements were selected regarding 7 ICT with five possible answer of each tools and a score of one was given to the right answer and zero to the wrong answer alternatively to measure the perception of the respondents rated each of 10 statements ICT utilization in agriculture on a 5-point Likert type scale and the total of these ratings formed perception index. The result of the study showed that out of seven ICT tools the knowledge of extension workers was highest in case of MS Word this was followed by internet/ web service and the lowest knowledge was found in case of Geographical Information System. It is observed that an overwhelming majority (88.9%) of agricultural extension workers in the study area had low to medium knowledge towards ICT utilization. Findings reveal that the respondents had top most perception on the ICT utilization in respect of Extension work can be greatly enhanced by ICT followed by on The benefits of ICT use outweigh the financial burden involved. The result also indicated that more than fourth-fifth (84.4%) of the respondents had medium to high perception towards ICT utilization. There were significant relationship between service experience and use of the information sources of the respondents with their knowledge towards ICT utilization conversely innovativeness, cosmopoliteness and job satisfaction of the respondents showed positive significant relationship with their perception towards ICT utilization. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/ijarit.v4i2.22647 Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 4 (2): 46-52, December, 201

Status of compost usage and its performance on vegetable production in Monga areas of Bangladesh

The present study was carried out to assess the existing status of compost usage on vegetable production and determine the overall effect of household waste compost (HWC) on growth and yield of vegetables and enhancement of soil fertility in the monga areas of Bangladesh. A field survey was conducted on 152 sampled farmers during 2010 to 2011. Questionnaire containing both closed and open-ended questions were used to assess existing production practices of vegetables using compost in both homestead and field conditions. Three field trials at Badargonj and Kawnia upazilas of Rangpur district were conducted taking four treatments i.e. control, recommended doses (RD) of fertilizers, HWC at the rate of 10 tha-1, and HWC 10 t ha-1 plus RD as IPNS based with Lal shak, Palong shak, Pui shak and Tomato. Base line survey results indicated inadequate knowledge of the farmers on use and preparation of the household waste compost. Yield data of all vegetables i.e. Tomato, Lal shak, Palong shak and Pui shak indicated that the combined application of nutrients using organic and inorganic sources were significantly better than that of solitary application of inorganic fertilizers. The potential of household waste compost applied @ 10 t ha-1 along with inorganic fertilizers applied was found highly satisfactory in producing Tomato, where yield was recorded 75 t ha-1 in the study area. The fresh yield of Palong shak was found 16 t ha-1 when recommended doses of inorganic fertilizers were applied, but it was about 19 t ha-1 under combined application of HWC @ 10 t ha-1 and inorganic fertilizers following IPNS concept. The fresh yield of Pui shak was found about 49 t ha-1 under combined application of organic and inorganic nutrients. Considering the availability and costs of different composts, it is evinced that HWC contained good amount of NPK which indicates its potentiality to be used as a soil amendment, improving soil fertility and crop productivity. It can be an alternative to chemical fertilizer to increase soil microbial populations and enzyme activities and to promote the soil nutrient for horticultural crops in the unfertile areas especially in the monga areas of Bangladesh. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/ijarit.v4i2.22640 Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 4 (2): 22-28, December, 201

Knowledge and perception of extension workers towards ict utilization in agricultural extension service delivery in Gazipur district of Bangladesh

The primary purpose of the study was to assess the extent of knowledge and perception of extension workers towards ICT utilization and to determine the relationship between the selected characteristics of the respondents and knowledge and perception of extension workers towards ICT utilization in extension service delivery. The study was conducted in Gazipur district and comprised proportionate random sample of 90 extension workers from five upazila of Gazipur district. A pre-tested interview schedule was used to collect data from the respondents. To measure the knowledge on ICT utilization 35 statements were selected regarding 7 ICT with five possible answer of each tools and a score of one was given to the right answer and zero to the wrong answer alternatively to measure the perception of the respondents rated each of 10 statements ICT utilization in agriculture on a 5-point Likert type scale and the total of these ratings formed perception index. The result of the study showed that out of seven ICT tools the knowledge of extension workers was highest in case of MS Word this was followed by internet/ web service and the lowest knowledge was found in case of Geographical Information System. It is observed that an overwhelming majority (88.9%) of agricultural extension workers in the study area had low to medium knowledge towards ICT utilization. Findings reveal that the respondents had top most perception on the ICT utilization in respect of Extension work can be greatly enhanced by ICT followed by on The benefits of ICT use outweigh the financial burden involved. The result also indicated that more than fourth-fifth (84.4%) of the respondents had medium to high perception towards ICT utilization. There were significant relationship between service experience and use of the information sources of the respondents with their knowledge towards ICT utilization conversely innovativeness, cosmopoliteness and job satisfaction of the respondents showed positive significant relationship with their perception towards ICT utilization. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/ijarit.v4i2.22647 Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 4 (2): 46-52, December, 201

Women’s participation in rice mills in Sherpur sadar upazila of Bangladesh

The main purpose of this study was to determine womens participation in rice mills of Sherpur sadar upazila of Bangladesh. Ninety respondents were selected using cluster random sampling method. The researchers personally collected data from August to September 2012. Aimed at explaining the assessment of the present status of women worker of rice mills and explored the relationship between their selected characteristics and extent of participation. Majority of the respondents had long experience in working in the rice mill and almost everybody had participation around the year. Women were mostly involved in drying and on an average spent time for helping in husking machine operating (3.02 hours) followed by final drying of paddy (2.05 hours), drying the paddy before boiling (1.25 hours), piling the paddy (1.12 hours), cleaning the threshing floor (1.05 hours), packing the rice (1.02 hours) per day. They worked about 8-10 hours per day. Results show that the women workers performance decreased with the increase of their age. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/ijarit.v4i1.21089 Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 4 (1): 36-39, June, 201