Abstract
Significance of sugarcane crop is well recognized around the world. Farmers in Pakistan are growing sugarcane for multiple
benefits such as sugar, fodder, ethanol production, chipboard, molasses, and bioenergy. Despite its importance, the potential
of its production is not being achieved because of various Sugarcane Production and Protection Constraints (SPPCs) as well
as the unsatisfactory performance of Agricultural Extension Worker (AEW) to introduce the recommended production
technology. District Rahim Yar khan was selected purposively because it is among the largest sugarcane growing area of
Punjab. A total of 180 respondents were selected randomly from two tehsils for data collection mainly through quantitative
research method followed by two focus group discussions to identify SPPCs. Moreover, the role of AEW was also analyzed
in context to mitigate the related constraints. The results indicated that there were various constraints like shortage of irrigation,
lack of marketing facility, late payment by the sugar mills, lack of technical knowledge, labor shortage, lack of awareness
about integrated pest management and unavailability of resistant varieties. It was also indicated that the role of AEW in
alleviating the SPPCs was meager and ineffective. Results indicated that Pearson correlation coefficient had a significant and
positive relationship between the role of AEW and SPPCs. Similarly, chi-square value indicated that the AEW had a significant
role to mitigate the constraints faced by farmers in SPPCs. However, there was no significant relation between role of AEW
and harvesting practices also between role AEW and fertilizer application on sugarcane. So, there is a need for the related
capacity building of AEW regarding production and protection methods.
Hafiz Ali Raza, R. M. Amir, Aqeela Saghir, Muhammad Tahir. (2020) SUGARCANE PRODUCTION AND PROTECTION CONSTRAINTS FACED BY THE GROWERS OF PUNJAB, PAKISTAN WITH SPECIAL FOCUS ON THE ROLE OF AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION WORKER IN RELATED MITIGATION, Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Sciences, Volume 57, Issue 6.
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