Knowledge Level of Farmers Regarding Producing, Processing and Marketing of Dates in Panjgur- Balochistan, Pakistan

This study was conducted to assess the knowledge level of the farmers for producing, processingand marketing of dates in Panjgur-Balochistan, Pakistan. Snowball sampling technique was used to select 90 respondents. The data revealed that average age of the farmers was 53.9 years with education from secondary to graduate level. The results of the study showed that many of the farmers on average have 10 acres of land under date palm cultivation with more than 57 date palm trees per acre on average. It is also observed that respondents generally get 76 kg of dates on average per tree. Many of the farmers use Radio and contact farmersas sources of knowledge for agricultural practices and date palm cultivation. However, more than 68% of the respondents do not get advisory services from government extension service institutions atall. Ageand experience are significantly correlated variables with r = 0.951 at 1% alpha level. Results from regression analysis revealed that age, education and experience are strong predictors in the model to increase the knowledge level of the respondents for production, processing and marketing of the dates in district Panjgur.