Impact of training on home gardening: the case of Sri Lanka Hadabima Authority

Abstract

Farmers are more likely to adopt new technologies and become more productive with the help of basic education, training and extension service. Sri Lanka Hadabima Authority, specially trains farmers to develop small business operations of home gardening and conducts three-year follow up program on home gardening development. This research examined how home gardening training influences the development of skills and knowledge of the home gardening farmers. We interviewed 120 trainers from Rattota and Ukuwela areas in Matale District, Gampola in Kandy District, and Wijayapura in Anuradhapura District, who followed the home gardening training program in Hadabima Authority, using semi-structured questionnaire. Field visits were made to observe home gardening practices. The data was gathered on the basis of importance, content and applicability of the training, opportunity to transfer and post training intervention. Pre and post tests were conducted to measure knowledge, skill and attitudes on Home Gardening Training Program. The major findings of the study revealed that the majority of trainers have improved their skills, knowledge and attitudes after the training program. There was a significant difference between pre-test and post-test (P<0.01) indicating that knowledge and skills had been gained through the training program. The field visits confirmed that the training was useful to implement Best Management Practices (BMPs) in home gardening among participants. For Example, 30% of participants have grown more than 10 plant varieties (fruits and vegetables) in their gardens, 24% maintained compost fits, 23% retained cultivation ladders, 15% maintained product diversification (plants, animals, and mushroom) and 8% maintained sales outlets. With the increased land size, there was a high potential of applying the BMPs suggested by the training. The trainees, who had positive attitudes of posttest, had higher tendency to apply BMPs after six month training. With the increase of education level of respondents final productivity also increased in a positive manner. In conclusion, training, evaluation and follow-up process are useful to get an idea as to which extent they had knowledge, skill and positive attitudes before the training and, how these have improved after the training.