Development and Validation of Knowledge Test on Organic Farming Techniques

The present study has attempted to develop a knowledge test on organic farming techniques mainly on organic manures and pesticides. Heavy reliance on synthetic chemical fertilizers and pesticides as well as growing awareness of health and environment have been attracting farmers toward organic farming. There is a need of more adoption of efficient organic techniques by farmers to get better and quality yields. The first stage of innovation adoption process is the knowledge stage. To analyze the knowledge gap about the organic farming techniques, a knowledge test was developed. The study was conducted in Gaya district of Bihar with randomly selected 45 farmers using organic techniques and 25 farmers as control. Initially 25 items were selected based on its content validity. Finally, 10 items were retained with reliability of 0.796, dicriminination index of >0.2, and significant t-test between the treated and control groups.