International Journal of Horticulture, 2024, Vol.14, No.4, 223-236 http://hortherbpublisher.com/index.php/ijh 227 3.4.2 Preferred variety by farmers Study revealed that 57.1% of farmers prefer Srijana variety because of suitable size which is preferred by consumers and has high market value (Figure 2). Both Super Srijana and improved Srijana were preferred by 17.1% of farmers. Similarly, Samjhana and Dalila varieties of tomato were cultivated by 5.7% and 2.9% of farmers respectively. Figure 2 Preferred variety by farmers in Godawari, Lalitpur (Source: Field survey (2023)) 3.5 Problems in production aspect of tomato 3.5.1 Production problem ranking in tomato Tomato growers have many problems related to production out of which main problems are in disease and pests, unavailability of inputs, soil testing problems and lack of technical know-how etc. The severity of the problems in tomato production was studied using forced ranking. The severity index showed that disease and pests was the most severe problem with an index of 0.888 followed by unavailability of inputs with an index of 0.689 (Table 3). Soil testing problem was the third most severe problem with an index of 0.667. Similarly, natural calamities, lack of techniques to know how and irrigation problem was found as the fourth, fifth and sixth problem with an index of 0.458, 0.443 and 0.367, respectively. Table 3 Production problem ranking in tomato in Godawari, Lalitpur Problems P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 Weight Index Rank Unavailability of inputs 8 18 29 8 4 3 48.247 0.689 II Disease and pests 16 7 3 2 2 0 62.199 0.888 I Lack of techniques to know how 4 5 5 13 2 0 31.054 0.443 V Irrigation problem 5 4 4 8 15 34 25.708 0.367 VI Soil testing problem 6 31 12 6 8 7 46.748 0.667 III Natural calamities 1 6 6 34 7 16 32.062 0.458 IV Source: Field survey (2023) 3.5.2 Insect pest ranking on the basis of severity in tomato production Three different pests were observed in tomatoes in different proportions of infestation during a preliminary visit to the study site. All of them were listed and asked to rank in terms of infestation range through interviews, FGD and questionnaires. P implies the problematic pest, similarly P1 implies for highly major pest, P2 implies Moderately significant pest and P3 for minor pest (Table 4).
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