Training Needs of Biogas Plant Owners in Bangladesh

Abstract

The present study analyzes the training need of biogas plant owners of Bangladesh for maximize the gas production and proper maintenance of their plant. The survey was conducted in 20 villages of three districts of Bangladesh and 117 biogas plant owners (90 functioning and 27 non-functioning) were interviewed. A questionnaire was developed to gather information about respondents’ socio demography, their knowledge and skill about biogas plant operation, their training need and finally in which areas they need the training most. SPSS 21 was used to analyze the data. Among the 117 respondents, 65.81% respondents had no training experience; only 25 and 15 respondent had short and medium training experience, respectively. Both the farmer’s with functioning and non-functioning biogas plant has highest KI (knowledge index) on the use of     biogas properly (261.11 and 248.15, respectively) and lowest KI on utilization of slurry pit (232.22 and 214.81, respectively). The majority of farmers with functioning biogas plant has medium (52.22%) to high (40.00%) training needs, while all farmers with non-functioning biogas plant thought they have medium (55.56%) to high (44.44%) training need. Farmers with functioning and non-functioning biogas plants ranked utilization of the slurry pit as the most important area for training. Careful consideration of the areas of biogas plant operation where farmers need training will enhance better management of biogas plants.