Status of Brinjal (Solanum melongena L) Cultivation and Extent of Pesticide Application By the Farmers in the Jessore Region of Bangladesh

Abstract

The investigation was conducted to study the status of brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) cultivation and extent of pesticide application by the farmers in the Jessore region of Bangladesh. Data were collected from randomly selected 200 brinjal growers selected from four Upazilas under Jessore district through personal interview by using an interview schedule during December 2012 to May 2013. Collected data covered total cultivable land, land suitable for brinjal cultivation, land under brinjal cultivation, types of brinjal cultivation, use of fertilizers and manures, diseases and insect infestation, intercultural operations, experience in agriculture, experience in brinjal cultivation and knowledge in vegetable cultivation to determine the status of brinjal cultivation. Besides, data were also collected on eleven selected characteristics of the brinjal growers and the problems confronted by them. Most of the farmers had small to medium-sized cultivable lands. Majority of the farmers had medium to large-sized lands suitable for brinjal cultivation. The highest number of farmers reported high yield of brinjal. Majority of the farmers used cow dung, urea, TSP and MoP for brinjal cultivation. Viral disease was the most incidence of disease in brinjal cultivation. Brinjal shoot and fruit borer was the most common insect infestation. Most of the farmers had medium to high experience in agriculture and brinjal cultivation and they belonged to the high knowledge category in cultivation of brinjal. In the study area, 72% farmers cultivated recommended brinjal varieties and 28% farmers cultivated non-recommended brinjal varieties. Majority of the farmers used Voliam Flexi 300 SC insecticide. Four-fifth (80%) farmers used over-dose, 16% farmers used recommended dose and 4% farmers used low dose of insecticide. A number of thirteen problems were identified as confronted by the brinjal growers. Among the identified thirteen problems, the most common as well as very severe problems were disease infestation, insect infestation, lack of knowledge on processing of brinjal and high market price of insecticide.