EXTENSION MEDIA CONTACT BY THE URBAN PEOPLE IN RECEIVING GARDENING INFORMATION

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the extension media contact of the rooftop/balcony gardeners for receiving gardening information and explore the relationship of the selected characteristics of the gardeners with their extension media contact. Data were collected from 108 rooftop/balcony gardeners of two wards (40 & 41) of Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Thana under Dhaka North City Corporation during the period from January 10, 2023, to February 10, 2023. Descriptive statistics, including mean, standard deviation, range, and percentage were used for data analysis. Person’s Product Moment correlation analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between gardeners' characteristics and their extension media contact for receiving gardening information. The findings revealed that the majority 58.4% of the rooftop/balcony gardeners had medium extension media contact for receiving gardening information, while 29.6% had low, and 12% had high extension media contact for receiving gardening information. According to descending order of the Standardized Media Contact Index (SMCI), 'YouTube' ranked 1 st followed by 'Facebook', 'Television', 'Internet', 'Nursery Owners', 'Friends/Relatives/ Neighbors', 'Agriculture/Tree Fair', 'Newspaper', 'Leaflet/Booklet/ Magazine', 'Agricultural Extension Agents', 'Agricultural Researchers/Academicians', and 'Radio.' Correlation results revealed that family size, crop diversification, gardening experience, time spend in gardening, and knowledge on gardening of the gardeners had significant positive relationship with their extension media contact for receiving gardening information. Above half (50.93%) of the gardeners faced medium problems in rooftop/balcony gardening, compared to 37.96% of gardeners faced low problems in rooftop/balcony gardening, while 11.11% faced severe problems in rooftop/balcony gardening. Based on the Standardized Problem Faced Index (SPFI), 'lack of space' ranked 1st, followed by 'lack of seed/seedling', 'lack of good quality fertile soil', 'high input cost', 'lack of labor', 'lower yield', 'higher insect attack', 'lack of proper knowledge of rooftop/balcony gardening', 'higher disease attack', 'higher mortality rate', 'lack of organic fertilizers', 'lack of pesticides', and 'lack of irrigation facilities'. The study recommends that relevant organizations such as the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), Horticultural Center, Metropolitan Agriculture Office, and relevant NGOs should increase their contact with the urban gardeners to increase their extension media contact for receiving gardening information.