Determination of factors associated with farmers’ choice of Paddy Marketing Board Supply Chain in Ampara District

Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess the factors associated with farmers’ choice of Paddy Marketing Board (PMB) supply chain to sell their paddy in Ampara District. The research was conducted among 100 farmers from ten Divisional Secretariat divisions in the coastal belt of Ampara District. Stratified random sampling was used to select the farmers of PMB supply chain and private sector supply chain in the study area. A pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. Binary logistic regression was deployed to test the hypotheses by using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Results revealed that only 34% of farmers had knowledge about the PMB operation among the private sector suppliers. The analysis further indicated cultivating only on own land (p<0.05) positively impacted on the choice of PMB. On the other hand, the scale of farming if less than 5 acres (p<0.01), if more than 10 acres (p<0.05), educational level of the farmer if below secondary level and tertiary level (p<0.05) were negatively impacted on the choice of PMB. However, there was no impact with gender, contacts of extension services, transport facilities and time of sales after harvest in the choice of PMB supply chain of farmers. Late operation of PMB is the major issue in this district, it has to be restructured to attract the commercial farmers.