International Journal of Agriculture Extension and Social Development

author(s)
Riza Mathew and Sreedaya Gopinathan Sarojini

abstract
The study was conducted in twenty wards of Thiruvananthapuram Corporation in Kerala during 2023-24 to analyze the perception of urban non-agricultural practitioners toward the benefits of urban agriculture. The ex-post-facto research design was adopted for the study. A total of 40 urban non-agricultural practitioners were selected using a simple random sampling technique from the 20 wards of Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. The personal interview method was used to collect data, and appropriate statistical tools were applied to analyze the data. The results indicated a predominantly positive overall perception of urban agriculture benefits among urban non-agricultural practitioners, with 90% of respondents holding a perception of either "Good" or "Better." The mean score of 82.80 suggests that the respondents are generally aware of the multifaceted advantages of urban agriculture. Regarding the social benefits of urban agriculture, the majority of respondents (60.00%) had a good perception, followed by 27.50% who had a better perception. Similarly, the majority of respondents (62.50%) held a good perception of economic benefits, while 22.50% had a better perception. With regard to health benefits, 60.00% of respondents had a favorable perception rated as good, while 20.00% showed an equal balance of both good and poor perceptions. In terms of the environmental benefits of urban agriculture, 67.50% of respondents had a good perception, while 22.50% had a better perception.