because vegetables cannot survive and grow in
stagnant water. Howell et al. (1980) showed that
drip irrigation is the best method for vegetables
cultivation because the method increases yield and
conserves water as well. Of the respondents, 47
percent believed that chemical pesticide can be used
at a critical stage for organic vegetable cultivation.
Another 37 percent of farmers did not know that
chemical pesticide should not be used in organic
vegetable cultivation and this is remarkable because
this is a primary requirement in the definition of
organic vegetables and both these responses were
incorrect as organic produce must be chemicalpesticide
free, chemical-fertilizer free and it must be
environmentally friendly (Food and AgricultureOrganization, 1998). More than 50 percent of
farmers do not know that weedicides should not be
used to control weeds and 67 percent of farmers had
no idea of the requirements for quality seed. Around
43 percent of farmers believed that quality seeds do
not matter for good yield and getting fresh
vegetables as well. Furthermore, 54 percent of
farmers had poor knowledge about the growing
season of vegetables such as Chinese kale. About 60
percent of farmers believed that aphids are
dangerous for leafy vegetable cultivation while the
other 40 percent of farmers did not believe this.
Only 50 percent of farmers gave the correct answer
regarding the time of day for transplanting whereas
the other 50 percent believed that noon was a good
time for transplanting. Normally, harvesting is done
in the morning when it is cooler which may enhance
the shelf-life of vegetables (Sims, 2007). About 86
percent of farmers did not know mixed cropping is
good for weed control. In mixed cropping, light
competition can offer weed suppressing capacity,
with mixed cropping reducing weeds compared to
mono cropping (Szumigalki & Van Acker, 2005).
From the above discussion, we can say that some
farmers have little knowledge of the concepts of
organic vegetable production; for example, some
farmers believe chemical pesticide can be used in
organic vegetable production at a critical stage. It
can be concluded that some of the respondents know
of the general concepts of organic farming, but not
all.