Farmers perception on pest management practices and profitability analysis for five winter vegetable production

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to determine the farmers' perceptions of management measures against insect and disease pests and the profitability of five winter vegetables grown in Bangladesh's Sirajganj area. The highest incidences of fungal infections, including curd rot of cauliflower and early blight of tomato, were discovered. One of the most destructive diseases of brinjal and tomato was wilt, which was caused by both fungi and bacteria. Farmers took the necessary steps to control aphids (40-150 insects m–2 or 20-50 infected shoots m–2), brinjal shoot and fruit borer (10-50 insects 10m–2 or 20-60 infected shoots or fruits 10m–2), and other insects at the threshold level. They employed physical, chemical, and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques to manage the disease and insect pests. The greatest amount of insecticide spraying (35-45 times) was performed to control brinjal shoot and fruit borer insects. The entire manufacturing cost followed the pattern tomato > brinjal > bean > cauliflower > bottle gourd. The cultivation of brinjal yielded the highest return, gross margin, and net return (Tk. 987,000.00, Tk. 800,572.00, and Tk. 763,117.00 ha–1, respectively; US$ 1 = Bangladesh currency Tk. In contrast, bottle gourd farming yielded the lowest return (Tk 700,000.00 ha–1), and tomato cultivation yielded the lowest gross margin and net return (Tk 539,152.00 and 507,325.00, respectively). The brinjal cultivation had the highest profitability index, benefit-cost ratio (both variable and total cost basis), and rate of return on investment, whereas tomato cultivation had the lowest. Rot, blight disease, shoot and fruit borer, or fruit borer, and aphid were the most common pests of winter vegetables in the region surveyed. Finally, we discovered that brinjal is the most profitable vegetable in our area of study.