Codeigniter query issue

I am running the following query in codeiginter, I want to return the data from the database but I'm getting a blank array as a response. My attempts to debug this issue have shown that the return value from the model may be the issue. I need a extra pair of eyes on this so if anyone can help me let me know.

Model

function test($term)
{

    $sql = "select description from category where title = '$term'";
    $query = $this->db->query($sql);

    return $query->result();
}

Controller

    function test()
{
    $this->load->model('test');
    $term = $this->input->post('term',TRUE);
    $rows = $this->test->test($term);
    echo json_encode($rows);
}

your code looks correct... try printing the last query that was made and check it out

COntroller

function test()
{
  $this->load->model('test');
  $term = $this->input->post('term',TRUE);
  $rows = $this->test->test($term);
  echo $this->db->last_query();exit; //this gives you the last query that was made.
  echo json_encode($rows);
}

check if the posted value is correct... you can even try running this in mysql and see if this is returning any rows...