Level of farmers’ knowledge & skills on vermi-compost: A post training behavioural exploration of farmers in Bihar state, India

Vermicompost is an innovative kind of organic fertilizer which is distinctly following all the principles of sustainability as an agricultural input. Vermicompost is an excellent nutrient-rich organic fertilizer and soil conditioner. This is an impressive technology particularly in the context of contemporary climate change as it maintains the principles of sustainability and helps to maintain the crop as well as the soil health. This research study tried to explore the knowledge and skill level of the farmers who had previously attended the vermicompost training programme organised by the KVKs. This study was conducted in 3 districts of Bihar state viz. Samastipur, Muzaffarpur and Madhubani and the sample size considered for this study is 150. 2 blocks from each of these 3 districts were selected purposively for conducting the survey. The respondents were assessed and categorised into the three distinct categories of low, medium and high on the basis of their knowledge and skill level. More than half of the farmers (50%) showed the medium level of knowledge in all the 3 districts under study. More than 50 per cent of the farmers in Samstipur and Muzaffarpur district are with medium level of skills and 50 per cent of the farmers in Madhubani district are having the medium level of skills related to vermicompost technology. Data were analysed by using statistical tools in MS Excel for calculating knowledge and skill index of the individual respondent farmer.