OBSTACLES ENCOUNTERED BY WHEAT AND BARLEY FARMERS IN THE ADOPTION OF CROP MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGIES: A CASE STUDY OF AL-HAWIJA DISTRICT, KIRKUK GOVERNORATE, IRAQ

Saad Ahmed Khalaf; Abdul Aziz Hameed Midhas

Авторы

Saad Ahmed Khalaf Department of Food science and Technology, Faculty of Food Science-Al-Shirqat, Tikrit University, Salah Aldin, 34005, Iraq
Abdul Aziz Hameed Midhas Department of Agricultural Extension and Technology Transfer, College of Agriculture and Forestry, Mosul University, Nineveh, 41002, Iraq

Ключевые слова:

Crop management, Agricultural extension, Irrigation, Farmers' knowledge, Wheat and barley cultivation

Аннотация

The objectives of this study are to find constraints for wheat and barley producers in Al-Hawija District, Kirkuk Governorate (northern Iraq) regarding their adoption of wheat and barley crop management technologies in the domain level and to identify the most important constraint for each production domain. They cover the type of varieties, fertilisers used, irrigation, pest control and harvest, socio-economic characteristics of respondents and their association with the challenges faced by producers. A relationship between constraints faced by farmers and various farmer related variables including age, educational status, land ownership status, primary source of farm income, and the rise in wheat and barley farming is also discussed.

The study population was all the officially registered farmers in the Al-Hawija District agricultural division which amounted to 280 farmers growing wheat and barley. A simple random sampling method was used to select respondents, which amounted to 20% of the population, for the study. Structured questionnaire was used to gather data. The first section was personal, communicative and economic features, and the second section consisted of eight questions concerning wheat or barley growing technology. The final version of the instrument contained 26 items. Many kinds of statistical methods used to analyse treatments, such as Pearson's and Correlation Coefficient, t tests and percentile weighting.

The findings show that the percentage of difficulties experienced by wheat and barley farmers was relatively low overall: about 50% of the respondents had low level, and 32.14% had moderate level of knowledge. In terms of the crop serviceability demands, irrigation was considered the most important cultivation domain and fertilisation selection the least important, within the cultivation domains. In addition, the majority of the independent variables were found to be positively correlated with the level of knowledge of the farmers at a statistical significant level.

Given these observations, an emphasis should be placed on increasing the knowledge of farmers in the following areas: land preparation, fertilisation and irrigation. It is recommended to provide more extension services and training programs for farmers in Al-Hawija District of Kirkuk Governorate to provide them with modern techniques of wheat and barley production, such as advanced sprayers and harvesters. Lastly, a very significant positive correlation was obtained between wheat and barley areas and the obstacles encountered, and with the majority of the independent variables are studied. The authors suggested that improvement of farmers' knowledge in the study area especially in land preparation. In addition, it was suggested that extension work and training on crop management be expanded in the following areas and topics, in which farmers had low knowledge levels: The researcher also called on the necessary authorities and the Directorate of Agriculture in Kirkuk to solve wheat and barley farmers' issues.

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