International Journal of Agriculture Extension and Social Development

author(s)
Madhab Chandra Das, Md. Hedyiet Ullah and Rangaswamy Muniappan

abstract
Banana is an important cash crop in Bangladesh. Despite potential to increase its acreage, banana faces a range of different threats, including Panama wilt, bunchy top and sigatoka diseases, and insect pests. The Feed the Future Bangladesh Integrated Pest Management Activity (IPMA) project developed an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) package for banana to support farmers in combating production threats. The IPMA has introduced a business model aimed at creating demand for IPM solutions by providing farmers with capacity-building training, facilitating business-to-business (B2B) connection between IPM solution providers and local input dealers to reach last-mile farmers, and establishing field trials to showcase the results of IPM solutions. The IPMA has systematically collected data to measure the adoption of IPM solutions, including improved cultural practices, and assessed their impact on overall production and gross return. Farmers who adopted these practices obtained 33% and 36% higher revenue and gross margin, respectively, in 2024 compared to 2022, while farmers secured a 23% and 27% higher revenue and gross margin, respectively, in 2024 compared to 2023. Cumulative effects of improved fertilization, cultural practices, and adoption of bio-based IPM solutions contributed to achieving higher revenue and gross margin.