EFFECT OF FARM SERVICES CENTER APPRAOCH ON YIELD OF SELECTED VEGETABLES IN DISTRICT CHARSADDA

Abstract

This study was conducted in the year 2016 to evaluate the effectiveness of Farm Services Center (FSC)
regarding selected vegetables yield improvement in District Charsadda. For this purpose, a total of 234
respondents were selected based on Sekaran sampling technique. To probe the sampled respondents, a wellstructured and planned interview schedule was prepared. Results of the present study revealed that maximum of
the sampled respondents (32%) were from middle (31-40 years) age category. About 71% of the respondents were
literate. It was found that 46 % of respondents cultivated their own lands. Results regarding provision of fertilizer
by FSC showed that 23% of respondents reported it very high on likert scale whereas only 4% of the respondents
reported it very low. It was concluded that the yield of Cauliflower, Bitter gourd, Bottle gourd, Potato and Squash
has increased after the registration with FSC with a difference of 498, 2932, 2644, 1657 and 2765 kg acre-1
,
respectively. The P-value showed significant increase in income of all the vegetables after registration with FSC
at 5 % level of significance. Majority of the member farmers trusted on the recommendations of FSC and
therefore, they frequently contacted them for the solution of their problems. Hence it is recommended that FSC
may provide the agricultural inputs on the lowest possible price to get maximum income from their vegetable
production along with the further encouragement of farmers’ community to be registered with FSC to be benefitted
from their services.