DETERMINANTS OF SUSTAINABILITY OF HOMESTEAD GARDENING IN SALINITY AFFECTED COASTAL ZONE

Abstract

Sustainable homestead gardening provides economic profitability, social wellbeing and environmental soundness. The objectives of this study were to describe the socioeconomic characteristics of the coastal homestead gardeners, to measure the extent of sustainable homestead gardening, and to determine the contributory factors of sustainable homestead gardening in salinity affected coastal zone. Data were collected from 108 homestead gardeners of four villages under Fakirhat upazila of Bagerhat district, using a structured interview schedule. Multiple linear regressions were applied to examine the contribution of the selected factors of the homestead gardeners. 53.7 percent of the homestead gardeners belonged to medium sustainable category followed by low sustainable category (26.9 percent) and high sustainable category (19.4 percent). Around 76.3 percent (R² = 0.763) of the variation in the respondents’ sustainable homestead gardening can be attributed to their level of education, family size, homestead garden size, annual family income, organizational participation, contact with extension agent, knowledge in homestead gardening system, access to ICTs, access to financial institutions, climate smart agricultural practices and technologies. Multiple linear regression indicates that knowledge in homestead gardening, access to ICTs, and organizational participation were significant contributing factors. It can be concluded that improving knowledge and access to ICTs and organizational participation are a key to achieving sustainable gardening in salinity affected coastal zone. DAE should invest in increasing education of the gardeners towards the sustainability of homestead gardening in this regard.