AN ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF EXTENSION WORK CONDUCTED BY PUBLIC SECTOR WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO MANGO IN THE SOUTHERN PUNJAB, PAKISTAN

Fruits can play a significant role in human nutrition, especially as a source of vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber. The total area under mango in Punjab is 104.9 thousand hectares with the average production of 937 thousand tones with average yield of 7.51 tones/ha, which is quite low than that of other mango producing countries in the world. The present study was designed to analyze the increase in knowledge level of the mango growers regarding latest mango production technology. The study was conducted in tehsil district Rahim Yar Khan, which consists of 40 Union Councils, out of which 31 are rural and 9 are urban. Out of 31 rural Union Councils, 5 were selected at random. Three villages were selected randomly from each selected Union Councils. A sample of 150 respondents was selected by using simple random sampling technique. The data, thus, collected were statistically analyzed by using computer software Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The results indicate that majority of the respondents perceived that public sector extension personnel provide the information regarding mango production technology. The information regarding fertilizer application, irrigation and insect-pest control was ranked 1st, 2nd and 3rd position with mean value 2.84, 2.76 2.74 respectively. The information regarding processing and value addition was perceived at the bottom with mean value 1.46. It was recommended that public sector extension should also devise the strategy to strengthen the technical competencies of their field staff to provide latest technology to mango growers concerning processing and value addition.