Search

The Government of Pakistan started focusing on the cultivation of olive trees to meet the rising demand for edible oil, save foreign exchange, and improve the farming community's livelihoods. It is a matter of fact that training plays an important role in building the farmer's capacities, raising awareness, and providing them with modern knowledge by enhancing their performance to achieve the ultimate goals. However, farmers struggle to manage the olive crop due to a lack of practical knowledge and training sessions on advanced production techniques. Keeping in view the above-mentioned facts, it was imminent to assess the awareness level and adoption of olive growers of the Pothwar region of Punjab so that they can contribute effectively to the uplift of agriculture as well as their livelihoods. Pothwar region comprises Attock, Chakwal, Jhelum, and Rawalpindi districts. Three districts (Chakwal, Jhelum, and Attock) were purposively selected due to the maximum number of olive growers. The olive growers' list with a minimum of 50 plants was collected from the Department of Agriculture (Extension). A total sample size of 310 farmers was selected through a purposive sampling procedure by using Morgan and Krejcie table as the total population (Olive growers in the targeted research areas) is 1500. Data were collected through a face to face interviews with the help of an interview schedule. The SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) and MS. Office software were considered for analysis. According to the results, about 51% of the respondents in the study belonged to old age (above 45) and about 53.2% of the respondents were having matric education. Furthermore, results from correlation analysis showed that education, the number of olive trees and motivation to grow olive trees have a highly positive significant relationship with the level of awareness about olive cultivation practices. The systematic promotion of fortnightly and monthly training of olive growers without any discrepancy should be planned under realistic monitoring and evaluation. Agricultural extension department should arrange the training for different progressive farmers' fields to develop an interest in updating their knowledge and analyzing their problems that will bring positive outcomes in olive production of Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The financial risks associated with livestock rearing have significantly increased in Punjab, Pakistan. Livestock farmers in this region often face financial uncertainty. This study aims to determine different types of financial risks and relevant coping strategies adopted by livestock farmers at the farm level. The research was conducted in Punjab, Pakistan, a major region for livestock production. The study used a benchmark survey in two purposefully selected districts (Rahim-Yar-Khan and Muzaffargarh), which generated a list of 3808 livestock farmers. A multistage sampling procedure was employed to draw a sample of 400 livestock farmers from the 40 selected villages. The data was analysed by using SPSS which facilitated rigorous examination, and presentation of findings through tables and graph. High input prices (X̅ =4.30), inflation (X̅ =3.96), and low output prices (X̅ =3.38) were the three leading financial risks as perceived by the respondents. As such, personal saving (X̅ =2.54), informal borrowing (X̅ =2.26), and loan allocation (X̅ =2.00) were the first-hand choices of farmers to deal with financial risks. In this study, a binary logistic regression was run to examine the impact of demographic characteristics on financial risk perceptions. The findings revealed that education, income source, land holding, and herd size had statistically significant impacts with the coefficient values of 0.365 (P<0.05), 0.731 (P<0.05), 0.335 (P<0.05) and 0.0.619 (P<0.05), respectively. The findings shows that small farmers in selected districts face a significant challenge of informal borrowing from middlemen, which often traps them in a never-ending cycle of debt. To mitigate financial risks, the government should prioritize the promotion of education, income diversification and affordable insurance options to enhance the financial stability of livestock farmers in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]