Performance evaluation to explore the effectiveness of training programmes among the wheat growers of tehsil Nankana Sahib

Agriculture contributes 20.9 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2014-15 and it is a major source of livelihood of 43.5 percent of rural population. Wheat is a staple food crop of Pakistan. The share of wheat in agriculture value is 10 percent. Wheat contribution in GDP is 2.1 percent. Lack of knowledge on the part of farmers for land preparation, irrigation application, pest and disease control and fertilizer application was the major hindering factor to meet the potential yield of wheat. Therefore public and private sector provided a number of training programmes to enhance wheat production. The present study was conducted in tehsil Nankana Sahib. A sample of 110 respondents was taken purposively who had received different trainings regarding wheat production. The collected data was analyzed with the help of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) to derive conclusions and formulate recommendations. Descriptive statistical such as frequencies, Percentages, means, standard deviations and ranked order were used for interpretation of the data. Majority (40.90 %) of the respondents was familiar with the extension field staff both by name and face. Majority of the respondents (72.7%) were getting useful information from the extension field staff. About 56.4% of the respondents reported that the extension worker was not regular and responsible. The preferred areas of the training were the land preparation, seed selection, land selection, fertilizer application, disease management fertilizer management and insect pest management. The extension field staff was not performing their duties regularly, the respondents were provided with the information at that time while it is useless. The respondents also reported that private sector was providing them information related to the agricultural practices. Majority of the respondents were getting the information from the extension field staff but some of the respondents were also getting the basic and necessary information from their relative and fellow farmers. There should be the use of agricultural services, exhibition, demonstrations and audio visual aids. The use of cyber extension and ICTS is useful for the rural people. It should be easily available.