Citrus growers' knowledge, attitudes, and implementation towards Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) in Palpa, Nepal

Abstract

There is a high demand of citrus fruits in mid-hills region of Nepal. To increase its productivity, it is important to incorporate sustainable practices into orchard management. Therefore, the study was conducted in summer 2022 to understand commercial citrus farmers' knowledge on Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and correspond production methods of GAP aware farmers with GAP standards in the Palpa, Nepal. Altogether, 64 commercial citrus growers were interviewed with pre-tested semi-structured questionnaires for the data collection. The farmers were categorized into GAP aware and unaware based on the criteria made by the group discussion with the leading farmers and GAP standards. The result revealed that out of ten selected standards, adoption of GAP standards by GAP aware farmers are positive in relation to orchard management practices (99%), plantation (90%), harvest and storage (90%), soil management and fertilization (63%), and hygiene and environment management (61%)— with human welfare (100%) adopted by all of the aware respondents and GAP related to documentation and records (25%) were found to be least adopted. The entire aware respondents agreed to the fact that GAP produced fruit have a better appearance and improved quality, satisfies national and international standards and enhances the export potential of fruits but 97% of respondents didn’t agree that adopting GAP helps in providing incentives or support from governmental organizations. The understanding of GAP among the citrus growers is limited and hence, it is crucial to organize awareness programs and provide supplementary training sessions to enhance their understanding and adoption of GAP practices.