Gujarat Journal of Extension Education · 6 Submission of paper (through online or offline with CD) does not guarantee its acceptance or publication in Gujarat Journal of Extension

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Society of Extension Education, Anand (Gujarat)Directorate of Extension Education

Anand Agricultural UniversityAnand-388 110, Gujarat, India

Gujarat Journal of

Extension EducationVol. : 25Issue : 1Year : 2014

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EDITORIAL BOARD(Gujarat Journal of Extension Education )

Chief Editor : Dr. M. R. Prajapati Prinicpal, C. P. College of Agriculture Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University SK Nagar-385506 Mo. : 99249 77250 Email: [email protected]

Associate Editors : Dr. M. R. Bhatt Associate Professor, Dept. of Extension Education N.M. College of Agriculture, NAU, Navsari-396450 Mo. : 99980 12219 Email: [email protected] Dr. V. T. Patel Associate Professor, Dept. of Extension Education C.P. College of Agriculture Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University SK Nagar-385506 Mo. : 99985 53060 Email: [email protected] Dr. J. B. Patel Associate Editor (Middle Gujarat Region & Other State) Associate Professor, Dept. of Extension Education B.A., College of Agriculture, Anand Agricultural University Anand – 388 110 Mo. : 94273 85081 Email: [email protected] Dr. V. J. Savaliya Assistant Professor, Dept. of Extension Education College of Agriculture, Junagadh Agricultural Univeristy Junagadh-362001 Mo. : 94277 41952 Email: [email protected] Dr. N. V. Soni Associate Extension Educationist Publication Dept., DOEE, Anand Agricultural University Anand – 388 110 Mo. : 94278 56045 Email: [email protected] Dr. J. K. Patel Associate Professor, Dairy Vigyan Kendra Dairy Science College, Anand Agricultural University Anand-388110 Mo. : 96012 79243 Email: [email protected]

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Guidelines to AuthorGujarat Journal of Extension Education

General rules

1 Gujarat Journal of Extension Education is published yearly by “Society of Extension Education”, Anand, which includes the articles contributed by the members of the association and invited articles of eminent researchers.

2 The journal publishes full- length papers, short communication based on new finding/approaches and review articles in English only.

3 The paper submitted for the publication in the journal should not contain material already published in any form or even a part of it offered for publication elsewhere.

4 Authors should submit a certificate duly signed by all authors to the effect that material contained has not been submitted elsewhere for publication.

5 All papers are published after peer review and thereafter approved by the Chief Editor.

6 Submission of paper (through online or offline with CD) does not guarantee its acceptance or publication in Gujarat Journal of Extension Education.

7 It is mandatory for all authors to be member of the Society of Extension Education, Anand (Gujarat).

8 Copy of journal is provided free to all its members. Reprints of papers are not provided.

9 The research paper should contain only three author names. The research paper contains more than three names will not be accepted for publication.

Preparation of manuscript

1 Articles should not exceed 1 .5 double spaced typed pages including references, tables, figures etc.

2 Title of contribution should be short, specific and phrased to identify the content in the article and include the nature of the study. It must written in running letters with first letter capital.

3 The names and initials of the place where research was conducted should be given as the by-line.Any change in the address of correspondence address should be given in a footnote. AUTHORS NAME should be in capital letters.

4 Paper may be outlined under main heading- ABSTRACT, INTRODUCTION, METHOLOGY, RESULTS AND DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION if -any, -ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, REFERENCES etc should be in capitals.

5 Manuscript should be submitted in duplicate typed in 12 pt Times New Roman in double space throught on A4 size paper with a minimum 3 cm left margin and Soft copy will be required at thetime of submission of revised paper.

6 Abstract should not exceed 200 words. Key words upto six may be given beneath the abstract. 1 Where the methods are well known, citation of standard work would suffice.

8 The result may be supported by tables or graphics, wherever necessary. Self-explanatory tables should be on separate sheets, with appropriate titles. While referring in texts, the first letter in Table and Fig. should be capital with Fig. in short form.

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9 References should be cited chronologically in the text. All references in the text must be listed at the end of the paper, with names of the author arranged alphabetically; all entries in the text must correspond to references in the text.

10 The references should include the names of the authors, year, full title of the article, name of the journal, volume number and pages. In case of book and monographs etc. the name of publishers, place, and year with total number of pages should also be given. Journal title should be italic in abbreviated form Example :

Journal Article:

Munikishor, S., Chandargi, D.M. and Hirevenkanagoudar, L. V. (2008).Development of Scale to Measure the Attitude of Beneficiaries towards Sujala Watershed Project.Karnataka J. Agric. Sci., 21(1): 144-145.

Whole book:

Federer, W.T. (1955). Experimental Desingns. The MacMillin Co., New York.

Book chapter:

Cochran, W.G. (1972). Sampling techniques.Wiley Eastern pvt.ltd., New Delhi. 87-107.

Report/Bulletin:

Anonymous (1996).Annual report.Department of Agricultural Statistics, B. A. College of Agriculture, Anand Agricultural University, Anand.

11 Authors are requested to follow the international system of units for exact measurement of physical quantities.

12 All Correspondence should be addressed to : Dr. N.V. Soni Managing Editor Gujarat Journal of Extension Education Office of the Directorate of Extension Education Univeristy Bhavan, Anand Agricultural University, Anand-388110

Check List

1 Manuscript is typed in double space throughout in 12 pt Times New Roman

2 Title is written in running letters only.

3 AUTHORS NAME is capitalized

4 Main heading (ABSTRACT, METHODOLOGY, RESULTS AND DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION, REFERENCES etc are capitalized.

5 Sub-heading are left aligned.

6 Check all reference cited in the text are in the reference and vice-versa.\

7 Give journal name in abbreviated forms in italic in the references.

8 Book title and report name are given in full

9 Tables and Fig are on separate page and numbered in the order in which discussed in the text.

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Form for enrollment

Society of Extension Education, Anand (Gujarat)Proposal of Membership

• Name in full (Block letter) :

• Address :

Phone/Email :

• Date of Birth :

• Profession and present employment :

• Academic qualification :

• Societies of which already member :

• Amount paid :

Fee: Life Member : ` 1000, Corporate/Institutional Member : ` 2000/- for 10 years, Patrons (Individual or Institutional): ` 5000/-

Declaration by the Nominee

I hereby declare that I shall abide by the Statutes and Regulations of the Society of Extension Education and offer my cooperation in promoting its objectives.

Date:------------------------------- Signature----------------------------------------

I propose that _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ be admitted as Life member of the Society of Extension Education.

Signature :

Name in full :

Address :

Date :

I second the above proposal for admission of _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ __ to the Society of Extension Educa-

tion.

Signature :

Name in full :

Address :Date :All remittances and correspondence relating to subscription, membership, advertisement etc. should be addressed to Secretary-cum-Treasurer, Society of Extension Education, Office of Director of Extension Education, University Bhavan, Anand Agricultural University, Anand - 388 110, Gujarat. The Demand Draft should be issued in favour of ‘SOCIETY OF EXTENSION EDUCATION, ANAND, (GUJARAT)’ payable at Anand OR through money transfer to Central Bank of India A/c No. 1215785307, IFSC No. : CBIN0281262, (Branch Code : 1262) at Institute of Agri. Campus, Anand Branch, Anand - 388 110

website : www.gjoee.org email : [email protected]

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SEMINARS / INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ORGANISED BY SOCIETY OF EXTENSION EDUCATION ANAND (GUJARAT)

Sr. No.

Date Title Place

1 20 May 1990 Seminar on “Future Challenges and Strategies of Extension Education”

Navsari

2 8 February 1992 Seminar on “Role of Rural Women in Development

Anand

3 23 October 1994 Seminar on “Role of Farm Literature in Agricultural Development”

Sardarkrushinagar

4 27 January 1996 Seminar on “Role of Co-operative Organization in Rural Development”

Navsari

5 30 April 1997 Seminar on “Challanges of Extension Education in 21st Century”

Anand

6 9 January 1998 Seminar on “Distance Extension Education in Electronic Era”

Junagadh

7 27 April 2001 Seminar on “Human Resource Development in Agriculture”

Sardarkrushinagar

8 27 February 2003 Seminar on “Transfer of Agricultural Technology in 21st Century”

Navsari

9 5-7 December 2003 International Conference on “Agricultural Policies and Strategies for Profitable Farming: Field Realities, Needed Reforms and Interventions”

Anand

10 25 February 2007 Seminar on “Extension Strategy for Agricultural Development”

Navsari

11 31 August 2009 Seminar on “Participatory Approach and Recent Trends in Rural Development”

Junagadh

12 18 August 2012 Seminar on “Innovative Avenues of Extension Education

Sardarkrushinagar

13 5 April 2014 National Seminar on “Dimensions of Extension Education in Holistic Development of Farmers”

Anand

: Visit Our Website :www.gjoee.org

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ANNOUNCEMENT

National Seminar onJointly Organised by Society of Extension Education, Gujarat &

Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari, Gujaraton

February 5-7, 2015“Magnitude of Extension Approaches in Agricultural Development”

BACKGROUND Indian agriculture has established spectacular mile stone through multifarious and strategic approaches, dissemination of agricultural technologies, support through the network of agricultural institutions and policy interventions. By all norms, these approaches paid rich dividend to the agricultural sector in term of enhancement in quantity and quality of agricultural products. Today, Indian agriculture is vibrant, buoyant and resilient due to radical changes brought through a number of mission and client oriented specific programmes. The series of reforms which later on assumed the status of revolution like Green, White, Yellow, Blue, and Rainbow. The present scenario forced to set an Ever Green Revolution with sustained growth to counter the emerging national & global challenges. Agricultural technology, both generation & transfer, proved to be potential for countering the agriculture problems of India. The Indian extension system is one which gives utmost importance to pragmatic approaches. Based on the lessons learnt from our past extension strategies and in view of the emerging changes, the extension approaches will have to be modernized. the sector to meet the broader challenges such as sustainability, natural resource management, food and nutritional security, conservation of biodiversity and global competition for maintaining the self reliance achieved in the decades passed. As per the report of National Agricultural Policy of Govt. of India, the rapid growth in IT and the extended goal of extension services for marketing, credit, coldchains, entrepreneurship and so on, requires to reshuffle the agricultural extension service system including the approaches for transfer of technology. The Division of Extension, Ministry of Agriculture, New Delhi formulated a draft of policy framework for agricultural extension reforms which states the issues like policy reforms, strengthening of research-extension linkages, capacity building, empowering the farmers, main streaming of farm women, use of media & IT and financial sustainability. Further, it signifies that a process leading to sustainable improvement in the quality life of rural people, especially the poor is, mainly prop upped by the approaches. Therefore, this insisted to organize this National Seminar with the themes stated.THEMES OF THE SEMINAR1 General extension approach This approach assumes that the technology & knowledge are available for local people but not being used

by them. As a result, the government involves the NGOs & voluntary organizations. Success is measured in the adoption rate of recommendations which increase the socio-economic condition of farmers.

2 Commodity specialized approach The key characteristic of this approach is to function for increased production through extension, research,

input supply, marketing intelligence and prices under single command. Extension is fairly centralized and is oriented towards one commodity or crop and the agent has many functions.

3 ToT approach This is fairly centralized approach and based on a rigorously planning where the technology / recommendation

are transferred through different extension teaching methods to farmers, training to agents and subject matter specialists. Close links are maintained between research and extension. Agents are only involved in technology transfer. Success is related to increases in the production of particular crops or commodities.

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4. Participatory approach This approach often focuses on the expressed needs of farmers’ groups with the goal to increase production

and uplifted rural life. Implementation is often decentralized and flexible. Success is measured by the number of farmers actively participating and the sustainability of local extension organizations.

5 ICT approach This approach focuses on subjective communication, distance education, rendering agriculture information,

inputs and services through cyber linkages. 6 Project approach This approach ponders the efforts on a particular location, for a specific time period, often with scared

resources. Part of its purpose is often to demonstrate the techniques and methods that could be extended and sustained after the project period. Short term changes are often a measure of success.

7 Farming systems approach Systems or holistic approach at the local level is the distinguished characteristic of this type of approach.

Close ties with research are required and technology for local needs is developed through an iterative process involving local people. Success is measured by the extent to which local people adopt and continue to use technologies developed.

8 Cost-sharing approach This approach assumes that the cost-sharing with farmers will promote the activities that is more likely to

meet local needs and where extension agents are more accountable to local interests. Their role is to give advice and service to facilitate farmers’ development. Success is measured by the willingness to pay.

9 Institutional approach This approach uses educational institutions which have technical knowledge and researches to support

extension services for rural people. Implementation & planning are often governed by the determinants of formal education. The emphasis is often on the transfer of technical knowledge.

10 Market led extension approach The approach focuses of the extension functionaries need to be extended after harvesting. The regime is

to reach the farmer on end to end basis, beginning from package of practices for production to selling of produce at the consumers’ door so, farmers can get remunerative prices of their produces.

11 ITK approach This approach focuses on the indigenous knowledge developed by the farmers through their ingenuity, which

are viable & sustainable for the solution of many agricultural & allied problems faced by them without neglecting the nature and culture.

12 HRD/HRM approach This approach focuses on development & management aspects of available human resources of organization

& in the field. The major elements are extension machinery & farmers. The end product is known as capacity building which results in work efficiency of an individual.

: Contact :Dr. R. D. Pandya

Organizing Secretary &Professor & Head, Department of Extension Education

N. M. College of Agriculture, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari: 396 450 (Gujarat)Phone:02637 282771-75(1205) • Fax: 02637 282766 • Mobile: +919427862188

e mail: [email protected]

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From Chief Editor’s Desk......

Even though India is the highest or second highest producer of milk, vegetables, potato, meat, spices etc, our contribution to global market is below one percent less than two percent of the green produces undergo value addition process. Agricultural extension and Advisory Services currently face several new and complex challenges.

The social ecology of Indian farming is consisted of 143 million hectare of land under agriculture, distributed amongst 121 million holdings and the average size of holding is just 1.31 hectare. In addition to it, this small holding is split into, on and average, 4.6 fragments that has invited extreme managerial problems both at the farmers and policy makers level.

SocialMediacanplayanimportantroleinenhancinginteractionsandinformationflowsamongdifferent actors involved in agricultural innovation and also enhance capacities of agricultural extension and advisory service providers which are primarily led by voluntary efforts of few individuals, groups and professional networks.

Really it is gratify to note that publication of Gujarat Journal of Extension Education is being brought out as a sincere commitment to the farmers’ community and the contributors of research papers. The contributors are to be commended for bestowing their attention, which is time consuming, towards contributing high quality research papers.

Indeed, we are extremely grateful to the contributors for their sincere dedication in contributing to the journal. We do hope that the keen interest shall be sustained in making the journal grow from strengthentostrengthen.Wearesurethatthejournalshallbeofsignificanthelptoallthereaders.Atthesame time, we request our readers to provide feedback for improvement of journal.

We would like to place on record my thanks to Dr. P. P. Patel, Director of Extension Education and President of the Gujarat Society of Extension Education and all the members of the society for providing us this opportunity. I appreciate the efforts of my colleagues and associate editors s/s Dr. N. V. Soni, Dr. J.K. Patel, Dr. M. R. Bhatt, Dr. V. T. Patel, Dr. J. B. Patel and Dr. V. J. Savaliya for their extensive effortsandavailabledifferentsourcesfinalizedthearticles.Iwouldliketoexpressmysincerethanksto Dr. N. B. Chauhan, Dr. R. D. Pandya and Dr. P. R. Kanani for sharing their valuable experiences, insights and knowledge to make our journal recognized.

We hope this publication will achieve its heights in disseminating information as well as evoking a feedback from the scientists, extension workers and academicians interested in prosperity of farmers.

Your suggestions and comments are always welcome and we solicit the same.

(M.R.Prajapati) Chief Editor

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Our reviewers

• Dr. J. P. Sharma, Pricipal Scientist, IARI, New Delhi

• Dr. Dipak De, Prof. & Head, BHU, Varansi

• Dr. K. L. Dangi, Prof. & Head, MPUAP, Udaipur

• Dr. S. B. Shinde, Prof. & Head, MPKV, Rahuri

• Dr. S. K. Kher, Prof. & Head, Sher-E Kashmir Uni. of Agri. Sci. & Tech., jammu

• Dr. Nalin Khare, Prof. & Head, JNKV, Jabalpur

• Dr. M. L. Sharma, Prof. & Head, IGKVV,Raipur

• Dr. S. S. Shisodiya, Prof., Ext. Edu., MPUAT, Udaipur

• Dr. K. A. Thakkar, DEE, SDAU, S.K. Nagar

• Dr. B. T. Patel, Ex. DEE, GAU, Ahmedabad

• Dr. A. O. Kher, Ex DEE, GAU, Junagadh

• Dr. M.C. Soni, Ex DEE, SDAU, S.K. Nagar

• Dr. R. B. Patel, Ex DEE, NAU, Navsari

• Dr. V. V. Mayani, Rtd. Ext. Educationist, AAU, Anand

• Dr. V. D. Joshi, Rtd. Prof., NAU, Navsari

• Dr. N.B. Chauhan, Prof. & Head, Ext. Edu. Dept., AAU, Anand

• Dr. P.R. Kanani, Prof. & Head, Ext. Edu. Dept., JAU, Junagadh

• Dr. R.D. Pandya, Prof. & Head, Ext. Edu. Dept., NAU, Navsari

• Dr. K. B. Kamaliya, Principal, Polytechnic in Food Sc. & Hom. Eco., AAU, Anand

• Dr. Y. R. Godasara, Librarian, AAU, Anand

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CONTENTS

Sr. No.

Title Page No.

1 Job Stress of Employees of Anand Agricultural UniversitySunil R. Patel B. D. Patel and N. V. Soni

1

2 Development of Scale to Measure Attitude of the Farmers Towards Anubhav Liquid Bio-fertilizer Phosphate CultureChirag B. Damor, Mahesh R. Patel and Arun Patel

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3 Attitude of Farmers Towards Training Programme of Mega Seed ProjectA. J. Dhodia, R. M. Naikand B. M. Tandel

9

4 Training Needs of Agricultural Input Dealers in Transfer of Agriculture TechnologyY.J Waghmode H.V. Borate and K. D. Gulkari

13

5 Dynamic characteristics and Attitude of Agriculture College Students Towards Agriculture Education Gordhan Singh Bhati and Kesha Ram

17

6 Development of Scale to Measure Attitude of Employees Towards Working Pattern of State Agricultural UniversitySunil R. Patel, J. K. Patel and B. D. Patel

21

7 Constraints Encountered by Groundnut Growers in Groundnut Pigeonpea Inter Relay-Cropping System B. N. Kalsariya, G. R. Gohil and P. B. Khodifad

24

8 Frontline Demonstration Influences on Knowledge and Adoption of Mustard GrowersGirish Deshmukh, H.B. Patel and Mahesh R. Patel

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9 Correlets of Role Performance of Gram Panchayat Members K. L. Chaudhary, Sunil R. Patel and T. R. Patel

31

10 Influence of Socio-Economic Factors on Adoption of Poultry FarmingK. J. Ankuya and Miss P.B. Ashwar

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11 Information Needs of Bt. Cotton GrowersPinakin. C. Patel, J. B. Patel and B. R. Panchasara

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12 Agricultural Information Used by Subscribers of KRUSHIGOVIDYA on Their FarmingN.V.Soni, D.D.Patel and H.B.Patel

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13 Peoples Institution for Resource Poor Village DevelopmentS. D. Kavad, R. B. Patel and G. R. Patel

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14 Socio-Personal Characteristics of Farm Women in Dairy OccupationV.S. Parmar and O.P.Sharma

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15 Factor Associated with Adoption of Date Palm Cultivation Technology by the Farmers S.P. Pandya, M. R. Prajapati, and K. P. Thakar

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16 Association Between Selected Characteristics of the Farmers and Their Adoption of Management Practices of Drip Irrigation SystemSurbhi Gauttam, K. A. Thakkar and Sushil Suthar

52

17 Factors Responsible for Professionalism in Management of Dairy Co-operative Sector R.M. Naik and B.M.Tandel

55

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18 Applications of Grid Computing in Agriculture: An Indian ScenarioXitij U. Shukla, P.S. Parsania and Krunal C. Kamani

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19 Services Provided by ATIC to the Farmers and End UsersPatil S. D., S. B. Shinde and B. D. Ramode

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20 Important Qualities of Agricultural College Teachers as Perceived by Students of Agriculture CollegeP.M.Bhatt

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21 Women as Future FarmersNitu Sindhu and Joginder Malik

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22 Exploring Suggestions From the Subscriber Farmers of JALJIVAN to Make the Farm Magazine More EffectiveSunny Jani, Mahesh R. Patel and Arun Patel

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23 Determinants of Knowledge about Castor Production Technology Among Frontline Demonstrations BeneficiariesG.N.Bhoi, J.K.Patel and B. S. Patel

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24 Web Based Customized E-Learning Management System for Students’ Academic EvolutionM. P. Raj, D. R. Kathiriya, R. S. Parmar

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25 Nuritional, Sensory and Physical Analysis of Processed Multi Grain Weaning MixGayatree R. Jadeja

83

26 Technological Gap in Adoption of Recommended Turmeric Production Technology Among Turmeric GrowersDipika. D. Aglawe, D. S. Kokate, M. Lairenlakpam

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27 Impact of Front Line Demonstration on Mustard GrowersRakesh N. Patel and Jaydeep R. Patel

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28 Constraints faced by Farmers in Adoption of Recommended Paddy Production TechnologyH. N. Maheriya, R.C.Patel and J.B.Patel

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29 Problems Faced by Paddy Growers in Adoption of Scientific TechnologyA. R. Makwan, A. C. Vaidhya and D. D. Patel

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30 AGROPEDIA: An ICT Initiative in Agricultural ExtensionK C Kamani, D R Kathiriya and P S Parsania

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31 Dynamic Personality of Farmers and Their Attitude Towards Use of Kisan Call CentreKesha Ram, Gordhan Singh Bhati and J.K.Patel

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32 Varietal Evaluation of Wheat through On Farm TestingBanshidhar, A.S.Bhati and S.K.Sharma

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33 Impact of Fruits and Vegetable Preservation Training on WomenDipal N. Soni, J. J. Pastagia, Arti N. Soni

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34 Constraints Faced by Sugarcane Growers in Adoption of Improved TechnologyA.G.Patel and H.U.Vyas

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Guj. J. Ext. Edu. Vol. 25 : Issue 1 : December 2014

1

INTRODUCTION

Every organization wishes to have good performance from its employees. But many-a-time, performance of employees is affected by stress which they feel in their job. Thus study of this job stress of employees is of vital importance for the organization. With this in view, the study on “Job stress of employees of Anand Agricultural University” was purposively selected with the following objectives.

OBJECTIVES

(i) To study the stress symptoms experienced by the employees of AAU

(ii) To study factors of job stress of employees of AAU

(iii) To study the stress coping actions taken by employees of AAU

(iv) To study the correlation among the stress symptoms, job stress and stress coping actions

METHODOLOGY

The study was conducted on technical employees of the cadre of Assistant Professor and its equivalents, Associate Professor and its equivalents and Professor and its equivalents. Total 150 employees were selected randomly for the study. A well thought out questionnaire was prepared and it was mailed/ personally given/sent to all of them. However, up to the end of February, 2011, the responses received were 50 in number. Thus, the results are based on 50 respondents.

Job Stress of Employees of Anand Agricultural University

Sunil R. Patel1 B. D. Patel2 and N. V. Soni3

1 Officer on Special Duty, College of Agriculture, AAU, Jabugam2 Assistant Professor, Extension Education Institute, AAU, Anand - 388 1103 Associate Extension Educationist, Offece of DEE, AAU, Anand – 388 110

Email : [email protected]

ABSTRACT

The present study was conducted with 50 employees of Anand Agricultural University, Anand to study their job stress and stress coping mechanism. The results revealed that the most experienced symptom was headache/migraine followed by poor sleep patterns, aches and pains, and erratic moods. In relation to the factors of stressor situation, role overload and interroledistancewereprominent.Correlationstudies indicatedthatstresssymptomshadhighlysignificantandpositivecorrelation with extent of feeling of stressor situation and extent feeling of stress because of stressor situations. Further, stress copingaction“doingYoga/Exercise/Pranayametc”hadpositiveandsignificantcorrelationwithextentoffeelingofstressorsituation and extent of feeling of stress because of stressor situations.

Keywords : Job stress, Stress coping actions

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Stress Symptoms

Table: 1 Stress symptoms experienced by the employees n=50

Sr. No.

Stress Symptom Never Sometimes

Often Total score

Rank

1 Headaches/migraine 20 (40) 27 (54) 3 (6) 33 I2 Aches and pains 23 (46) 26 (52) 1 (2) 28 III3 High blood pressure 36 (72) 08 (16) 6 (12) 20 VII4 Poor sleep patterns

24 (48) 21 (42) 5 (10) 31 II


2

Sr. No.

Stress Symptom Never Sometimes

Often Total score

Rank

5 Indigestion

30 (60) 18 (36) 2 (4) 22 V

6 Stomach ulcers 43 (86) 5 (10) 2 (4) 09 XI7 Asthma 48 (96) 1 (2) 1 (2) 03 XIV8 Anxiety 36 (72) 12 (24) 2 (4) 16 IX9 Depression 38 (76) 12 (24) 0 (0) 12 X10 Heart disease 45 (90) 3 (6) 2 (0) 07 XII11 Changes in appetite 31 (62) 17 (34) 2 (4) 21 VI12 Exhaustion 32 (64) 16 (32) 2 (4) 20 VII13 Increased consumption of tobacco 46 (92) 4 (8) 0 (0) 04 XIII14 Increased consumption of alcohol 50 (100) 0 (0) 0 (0) 00 XV15 Inability to concentrate 35 (70) 14 (28) 1 (2) 16 IX

16 Erratic moods 28 (56) 21 (42) 1 (2) 23 IV17 Low self esteem/confidence 33 (66) 17 (34) 0 (0) 17 VII

Note : Figures in parenthesis indicate percentage

In response to the question of experiencing the stress symptoms, it is apparent from the data presented in Table: 1 that the most experienced symptom was Headache/migraine which stood first followed by poor sleep patterns, aches and

pains, and erratic moods which ranked second, third and fourth respectively, while never experienced symptom was increased consumption of alcohol.

Extent of feeling of stressor situation

Table: 2 Extent of feeling of stressor situation n=50

Sr. No.

Stressor situation Extent of feeling (Score) No. Per cent

1 Role ambiguity Less felt (0 - 4) 43 86

Moderately felt (5 - 8) 07 14

Highly felt (9 - 12) 00 00

2 Role overload Less felt (0 - 6) 17 34

Moderately felt (7-12) 23 46

Highly felt (13-18) 10 20

3 Role isolation Less felt (0 - 4) 28 56


Highly felt (9 - 12) 04 08

4 Inter role distance Less felt (0 – 4) 30 60


Highly felt (9 - 12) 10 20

5 Role erosion Less felt (0 – 5) 35 70

Moderately felt ( 6 – 10) 14 28

Highly felt (11 – 15) 01 02

6 Resource and personal inadequacy Less felt (0 – 6) 30 60

Moderately felt (7 – 12) 16 32

Highly felt (13-18) 04 08


3

In relation to the query that to what extent the respondents felt the stressor situations, the data presented in Table: 2 indicate that more than half (ranging from 56 to 86 percent) of the respondents were found in the “less felt” category in all other situations except Role overload. Further, maximum numbers of respondents in highly felt category were observed in case of Role overload and Inter role distance (20 percent).

Further, in relation to the query that which stressor situations were felt most, the data presented in Table: 3 reveal that the most felt stressor situation was Role overload followed by Inter role distance and Role isolation, respectively.

Table 3 : Rank order of Stressor situations felt n-50

Sr.No.

Stressor situations felt

Mean score

Index Rank

1 Role ambiguity 1.92 16.00 VI

2 Role overload 8.74 48.56 I

3 Role isolation 3.62 30.17 III

4 Inter role distance 4.58 38.17 II

5 Role erosion 3.04 20.27 V

6 Resource and personal inadequacy

5.28 29.33 IV

Extent of feeling of stress because of stressor situation

Table 4 : Extent of feeling of stress because of stressor situation n=50

Sr. No.

Stressor situation Extent of stress Frequency Per cent

1 Role ambiguity Less (0 - 4) 39 78

Moderate (5 - 8) 08 16

High (9 - 12) 03 06

2 Role overload Less (0 - 6) 28 56

Moderate (7-12) 13 26

High (13-18) 09 18

3 Role isolation Less (0 - 4) 41 82

Moderate (5 - 8) 08 16

High (9 - 12) 01 02

4 Inter role distance Less (0 – 4) 37 74

Moderate (5 - 8) 06 12

High (9 - 12) 07 14

5 Role erosion Less (0 – 5) 34 68

Moderate ( 6 – 10) 14 28

High (11 – 15) 02 04

6 Resource and personal inadequacy Less (0 – 6) 35 70

Moderate (7 – 12) 13 26

High (13-18) 02 04

The query was also made to know that to what extent the feeling of stressor situations was really stressful to the respondents. In this context, the perusal of Table: 4 makes it clear that in all stressor situations, more than half (ranging from 56 to 82 percent) of the respondents were found in

the category of less extent of stress. More over, maximum number of the respondents in the category of high stress were observed in case of Role overload (18 percent) followed by Inter role distance (14 percent).


4

Table 5 : Rank order of stressor that caused stress n=50

Sr.No.

Stressors that caused stress

Mean score

Index Rank

1 Role ambiguity 2.68 22.33 V2 Role overload 7.78 42.89 I3 Role isolation 2.08 17.33 VI4 Inter role distance 3.58 29.83 II5 Role erosion 3.78 25.20 III6 Resource and personal

inadequacy4.1 22.78 IV

Further, in context of rank order of the stressors, it is evident from Table:5 that the most important stressor that caused stress was Role overload followed by Inter role distance and Role erosion, respectively.

Stress coping actions

(a) Trainings/ Shibirs attended

It is clear from the Table:6 that Yoga/ Prayanam shibir was attended by 36 per cent of the respondents followed by shibir on Art of living (24 per cent), Meditation (20 per cent) and positive thinking (18 per cent).

Table 6 : Trainings/ Shibirs attended n=50

Sr.

No.

Name of the shibir Whether attended

Yes No

1 Art of living 12 (24) 38 (76)

2 Positive thinking 09 (18) 41 (82)

3 Yoga/ Pranayam shibir 18 (36) 32 (64)

4 Meditation 10 (20) 40 (80)


(b) Worship of God at Home

Table 7 : Worship of God at Home n=50

Item No YesUp to 10 minutes

11 to 30 minutes

More than 30 minutes

Worship of God at home

06 (12) 13 (26) 24 ( 48) 07 (14)


It is evident from the Table:7 that great majority respondents (88 per cent) responded positively about worship

of God at home. Further, 48 per cent of them reported that they devote 11 to 30 minutes for worship of God daily. The respondents who devote more than 30 minutes are 14 per cent.

(c) Doing Yoga/ Exercise/ Pranayam etc.

Table 8 : Doing Yoga/ Exercise/ Pranayam etc. n=50

Sr. No.

Item Frequency of doingDaily Some

timesNever

1 Yogasan 13 (26) 16 (32) 21 (42)2 Pranayam 14 (28) 16 (32) 20 (40)3 Meditation 06 (12) 07 (14) 37 (74)4 Exercise 22 (44) 18 (36) 10 (20)5 Morning/ evening

walk23 (46) 14 (28) 13 (26)


In response to the question whether the respondents do yoga/ Pranayam/ exercise etc., the data presented in Table: 8 clearly indicate that 80 per cent of them reported to have been doing exercise daily or some times followed by morning/evening walk.

Correlation among the stress symptoms, job stress and stress coping actions

Table: 9 Correlation among the stress symptoms, job stress and stress coping actions n=50

X3 X4 X5 X6 X7 X8X3 1.000X4 0.533** 1.000X5 0.422** 0.855** 1.000X6 0.018 0.103 0.077 1.000X7 0.118 0.038 0.012 0.131 1.000X8 0.158 0.262 0.314* 0.353* 0.226 1.000

Where

X3= Stress symptoms

X4= Extent of feeling of stressor situation

X5= Extent of feeling of stress because of stressor situation

X6= Trainings/ Shibirs attended

X7= Worship of God at Home

X8= Doing Yoga/ Exercise/ Pranayam etc.

The perusal of data presented in Table 9 indicate


5

that stress symptoms had highly significant and positive correlation with extent of feeling of stressor situation and extent feeling of stress because of stressor situations. Further, extent of feeling of stressor situation and extent of feeling of stress because of stressor situations were also positively and highly significantly related. So far as stress coping actions are concerned, “doing Yoga/ Exercise/ Pranayam etc” had positive and significant correlation with extent of feeling of stressor situation and extent of feeling of stress because of stressor situations.

CONCLUSION

The present investigation carried out to study the job stress and stress coping mechanism of employees lead to conclude that the most experienced stress symptom was headache/migraine followed by poor sleep patterns, aches and pains, and erratic moods. In relation to the extent of feeling of stressor situations, role overload stood first followed by inter role distance and role isolation; while in case of feeling of stress because of stressor situation, role overload, inter

role distance and role erosion were prominent. The different stress coping mechanism studied were trainings/shibirs attended, worship of God at home and doing yoga/prayanam/exercise, etc. Correlation studies indicated that stress symptoms had highly significant and positive correlation with extent of feeling of stressor situation and extent feeling of stress because of stressor situations. Further, stress coping action “doing Yoga/ Exercise/ Pranayam etc” had positive and significant correlation with extent of feeling of stressor situation and extent of feeling of stress because of stressor situations.

REFERENCES

Hart, P. M. and C. Copper (2001). Occupational Stress : Toward a More Integrated Framework. Hand book of Industrial Work and Organizational Psychology 2 : 93- 114

Darr, W. and G. Johns (2008). Work, stress, health and absenteeism. J.Occupational Health Psychology13 : 293-308

Received : April 2014 : Accepted : October 2014


6

INTRODUCTION

Attitude has been defined as “the degree of positive or negative feeling, affect, opinion, action and belief associ-ated with some psychological object”, psychological object may be any symbol, institution, person, phrase, slogan, idea or ideal towards which people may differ from each other with respect to positive or negative aspect. The cognitive component of an attitude consists of the beliefs, which in-volves attributes like favourable or unfavourable, desirable or undesirable, good or bad etc. The feeling component refers to the emotions which give attitude a motivating character or action tendencies. The action tendency component of an attitude includes all behavioural readiness associated with it. These three components of attitude, are, however, consis-tently related to each other. The psychological object for the present study has been conceptualized as the Anubhav liquid bio-fertilizer phosphate culture.

METHODOLOGY

In this study, an attempt has been made to develop a scale, which can scientifically measure attitude of the farm-ers towards Anubhav liquid bio-fertilizer phosphate culture. Among the techniques available for the development of scale, the Thurston’s equal appearing interval scale (1928) and the Likert’s summated rating scale (1932) are quite well known. However, both the methods suffer from the limitations, the

first one in getting discriminating response and second one in selection of items. Thus, technique chosen to develop at-titude scale was ‘Scale Product Method’ which combines the Thurstion’s technique of equal appearing interval scale for selection of the items and likert’s techniques of summated rating for ascertaining the response on the scale as proposed by Eysenck and Crown (1949).

Steps in development of attitude scale

Steps in development of the attitude scale are presented in Figure 2 and discussed as below.

Item collection

The items making up an attitude scale are known as statements. The statements were collected from the rel-evant literature as well as construct through discussion with experts, major guide and extension personnel.

Editing of Items

The statements, thus selected were edited on the basis of the criteria suggested by Edward (1957). At last, 21 statements were selected as they were found to be non-ambiguous.

Statements analysis

Seventy slips of these statements were distributed among 70 selected experts working in Department of Exten-

Development of Scale to Measure Attitude of the Farmers Towards Anubhav Liquid Bio-fertilizer Phosphate Culture

Chirag B. Damor1, Mahesh R. Patel2 and Arun Patel3

1 Ex. PG Student, BACA, AAU, Anand – 388 1102 Associate Ext. Educationist, EEI, AAU, Anand – 388 110

3 Director, EEI, AAU, Anand – 388 110Email : [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Due to non-availability of a proper scale to measure farmers’ attitude towards Anubhav liquid bio-fertilizer phosphate culture, it was thought necessary to construct a scale for the purpose. Keeping this in view, an attempt has been made to develop a scale for measuring the attitude of farmers towards Anubhav liquid bio-fertilizer phosphate culture. technique chosen to develop attitude scale was ‘Scale Product Method’ which combines the Thurstion’s technique of equal appearing interval scale for selection of the items and likert’s techniques of summated rating for ascertaining the response on the scale as proposed by Eysenck and Crown (1949).

Keywords: Attitude, liquid bio-fertilizer phosphate culture, Continuum, Reliability, Validity


7

sion Education and Directorate of Extension Education of four agricultural universities of the Gujarat as well as Ex-tension Education Institute, Agronomy and Microbiology department of Anand Agricultural University to judge the degree of unfavourableness to favourableness of each state-ment for its inclusion in the final scale on the five points equal appearing interval continuum. Out of these experts, only 50 experts returned the statements after duly recording their judgements and were considered for the analysis.

Determination of scale and quartile

The five points of the rating scale were assigned score ranking from 1 for most unfavourable and 5 for most favourable. Based on judgment, the median value of the dis-tribution for the statement concerned was calculated with the help of following formula.

S=L+0.50 - Σ Pb

x iPw

Where,

S = The median or Scale value of the statement

L = The lower limit of the interval in which the median falls

∑Pb = The sum of the proportion below the interval in which the median falls

Pw = The Proportion within the interval in which the me-dian falls

i = The Width of the interval, which was assumed as equal to 1.0 (one)

The inter-quartile range (Q = Q3 - Q1) for each statement was also worked out for determination of ambigu-ity involved in the statement.

To determine value of Q at 75th centile and 25th cen-tile, the following formulas were used.

The 75th Centile was obtained by the following formula.

C75= L0.75 - Σ Pb

x iPw

Where,

C75 = The 75th Centile value of the statement

L = The Lower limit of the interval in which the 75th

Centile falls

∑Pb = The sum of the proportion below the interval in which the 75th Centile falls

Pw = The proportion within the interval in which the 75th Centile falls

i = The width of the interval and is assumed to be equal to 1.0 (one)

The 25th Centile was obtained by the formula.

C75=0.25 - Σ Pb

x iPw

Where,

C25 = The 25th Centile value of the statement

L = The Lower limit of the interval in which the 25th Centile falls

∑Pb = The sum of the proportion below the interval in which the 25thcentile falls

Pw = The proportion within the interval in which the 25th Centile falls

I = The width of the interval and is assumed to be equal to 1.0 (one)

Then the Interquartile range worked out by taking the difference between C75 (Q3) and C25 (Q1), thus,

Q = C75 – C25

Final Statements for attitude Scale

In this manner the inter-quartile range (Q) for each statement was worked out. Only those statements were se-lected whose median values were greater than Q value. Thur-stone and Chave (1928), Edwards (1957) described criteria in addition to Q as a basis for rejecting statement in scales constructed by the method of the equal appearing interval. Accordingly, when a few items had the same scale values, the items having lowest Q values were selected. Based on the scale (median) and Q values 12 statements were finally se-lected to constitute attitude scale. The selected 12 statements for final format of the attitude scale were randomly arranged to avoid response biase. The final format of the scale is pre-sented in Table 1.


8

Table 1: Final scale to measure the attitude of farmers towards Anubhav liquid bio- fertilizer phosphate culture

No. Statement SA A UD DA SDA

1 I would like to apply Anubhav liquid bio fertilizer phosphate culture as it is eco friendly.(+)

5 4 3 2 1

2 I don’t advice to apply Anubhav liquid bio fertilizer phosphate culture as it is not avail-able in the local market.(-)

1 2 3 4 5

3 Anubhav liquid bio fertilizer phosphate culture is one of the best options for sustainable agriculture.(+)

5 4 3 2 1

4 I believe that use of Anubhav liquid bio fertilizer phosphate culture does not increase the soil fertility.(-)

1 2 3 4 5

5 I think that Anubhav liquid bio fertilizer phosphate culture give more yield.(+) 5 4 3 2 1

6 In my opinion it is difficult to apply Anubhav liquid bio fertilizer phosphate culture.(-) 1 2 3 4 5

7 I wish that my children should not make use of Anubhav liquid bio fertilizer phosphate culture.(-)

1 2 3 4 5

8 Anubhav liquid bio fertilizer phosphate culture is cheaper than chemical fertilizer.(+) 5 4 3 2 1

9 I feel that use of Anubhav liquid bio fertilizer phosphate culture is gambling.(-) 1 2 3 4 5

10 I believe that Anubhav liquid biofertilizer phosphate culture improve the taste of farm produce.(+)

5 4 3 2 1

11 I prefer to apply Anubhav liquid bio fertilizer phosphate culture as it is best for seed treatment.(+)

5 4 3 2 1

*SA = Strongly Agree, A = Agree, UD = Undecided, DA = Disagree, SDA = Strongly Disagree

Reliability of the scale

The split-half technique was used to measure the reliability of the scale. The 12 statements were divided into two equal halves with 6 odd numbered and 6 even numbered statements in other. These were administered to 25 respondents who were not selected for the study. Each of the two sets was treated as separate scales having obtained two score, for each of the 25 respondents. Co-efficient of reliability between the two sets of score was calculated by Rulon’s formula (Guil-ford, 1954), which was 0.85.

Content Validity of scale

The validity of the scale was examined for content validity by determining how well the content of the scale represented the domain subject matter under study. Since as many items covering the area as possible were selected by discussion with experts, reviewing the literature and adherence to the judges’ ratings, it was presumed that the instrument satisfied the content validity.

Administering the scale

The final attitude scale was administered on the se-lected sample farmers. The responses were collected in five

point continuum viz. strongly agree, agree, undecided, dis-agree and strongly disagree with weight age of 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1, respectively for positive statements and reverse scoring for negative statements. The total attitude score for each respon-dent was obtained by adding all the scores of their responses of all the statements and categories on arbitrary basis.

REFERENCES

Edward, A. L. (1957). Techniques for scale construction. Appeton century Inc., New York.

Eysenck, H. J. and Crown, S. (1949). An experimental study in opinion-attitude methodology. Int. J. Opin. Attitude Res., 3: 47-86.

Guilford, J. P. (1954). Psychometric methods. Tata McGraw-Hill Publication Co. Ltd., Bombay : 378-382.

Likert, R. A. (1932). A technique for measurement of attitude scale. Arch.Psychol.140.

Thrustone, L. L. and E. G. Chave (1928). The measurement of opinion. Journal of Abnormal psychology – 22: 415-430.

Received : July 2014 : Accepted : October 2014


9

INTRODUCTION

Indian seed industry comprising of both Public and Private Sector companies is well poised to meet the specific seed demands of farmers, dealers and distributors. Seed is the basic and critical input in crop production. In the absence of quality seed, the investments made on other agricultural inputs such as fertilizers, pesticides both under rain fed and irrigated conditions will not give desired yields. Thus, for raising the productivitylevels in crops, “Quality seed is a must”. It is necessary to provide quality seed on time, in adequate quantities near the door steps of the farmers. ICAR has sanctioned a new AICRP (All India Co-ordinated Research Project) centre at Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari to evaluate and develop varieties/hybrids and their production technologies to cater national and local needs. The need for such knowledge is become apparent in concern exhibited by the policy maker of Mega Seed Project to know better ways and means for developing positivism towards Training programme organized by Mega seed project on Seed production Technology of paddy. This programme

has its own objectives; keeping these objectives in view it was decided to know the attitude of farmers towards Training programme organized by Mega seed project on seed production technology of Paddy.

OBJECTIVES

(i) To study the profile of the respondents.

(ii) Attitude of respondents towards Training programme organized by mega seed project on seed production technology of Paddy.

(iii) To ascertain the relationship between personal profile and attitude of respondents towards Training programme organized by mega seed project on seed production technology of Paddy.

METHODOLOGY

The study was undertaken in three talukasnamely Navsari, Vansda, and Chikhli of Navsari district of Gujarat state, a total sample size of 100 respondents at purposive,

Attitude of Farmers Towards Training Programme of Mega Seed Project

A. J. Dhodia1, R. M. Naik2and B. M. Tandel3

1 P.G. Student, NMCA, NAU, Navsari- 396 4502 Assistant Extension Educationist, DEE office, NAU, Navsari-396 450

3 Subject Matter Specialist, KVK, NAU, Navsari 396 450Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has sanctioned a new AICRP (All India Co-ordinated Research Project) centre at Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari to evaluate and develop varieties/hybrids and their production technologies to cater national and local needs. The need for such knowledge is become apparent in concern exhibited by the policy maker of Mega Seed Project to know better ways and means for developing positivism towards Training programme organized by Mega seed project on Seed production Technology of paddy.The present study was conducted in Navsari district of South Gujarat region. The 100 respondents were selected by purposive random sampling. The ex-post-facto research designwasusedinthepresentinvestigation.Thefindingrevealedthathalfofrespondentshadmoderatelyfavourableattitudetowards Training programme organized by mega seed project (NAU) on seed production technology of paddy, followed by lessfavourableandhighlyfavourable.Thedegreeofattitudeofrespondentswasobservedsignificantwitheducation,sizeoffamily,extensioncontactandeconomicmotivation,whileitwashighlysignificantwithscientificorientationandfamilyoccupation.Itwasfoundnon-significantwithlandholding,farmingexperience,socialparticipation,sourceofinformationand economic motivation.

Keywords: Attitude, Training, Seed production technology


10

constituted from 6 selected villages. The data were collected through personnel interview. The interview schedule was prepared by keeping the objectives of the study in mind. The necessary care was taken to collect the un-biased and correct

data. The data were collected, tabulated and analysed to find out the findings and draw conclusion. The statistical tool was employed to analyse the data.


Profile of respandents

Table 1 : Characteristics of the respondents n=100

Sr.No.

Characteristics Categories Per cent

1 Age Young age group (up to 41 years) 35.00Middle age group (between 42 to 59 years) 38.00Old age group (above 59 years) 27.00

2 Education Primary education (1st to 7thstd) 39.00Secondary education (8th to 10thstd) 28.00Higher secondary education (11th and 12thstd) 22.00Graduation and above 11.00

3 Size of family Small (up to 5 members) 58.00Large (more than 5 members) 42.00

4 Land holding Up to 2.00 ha 27.002.01 to 5.00 ha 58.00Above 5.00 ha 15.00

5 Family Occupation Farming 45.00Farming+ animal husbandry 48.00Farming+ animal husbandry +service 07.00

6 Annual income Up to 50,000 ` 65.00

50,000 to 10,000 ` 30.00

Above 1,00,000 ` 05.00

7 Farming experience Low level of farming experience (Up to 11 score) 18.00Medium level of farming experience (Between 12 to 35 score) 69.00High level of farming experience (Above 35 score) 13.00

8 Social participation No membership in any organization 64.00Membership in one organization 24.00Membership in more than one organizations 12.00Office bearer 00.00

9 Extension contact Low extension contact (Up to 3 score) 08.00Medium extension contact(Between 4 to 7 score) 70.00High extension contact (Above 7 score) 22.00

10 Sources of information utilized

Low (Up to 8 score) 22.00Medium (Between 9 to 16 score) 61.00High (More than 16 score) 17.00


11

Sr.No.

Characteristics Categories Per cent

11 Scientific orientation Low (below 27 score) 18.00Medium (Between 27 to 39 score) 64.00High (above 39 score) 18.00

12 Economic motivation Low economic motivation (Up to 22score) 20.00Medium economic motivation (Between 13 to 28 score) 69.00High economic motivation (Above 28 score) 11.00

The data presented in Table 2 show that distributional analysis pertaining to age of the respondent mentioned in Table: 05 indicate that middle age group(38.00 per cent) followed by old age group(27.00 per cent)and young age group (35.00 per cent) respectively. It could be stated from the above findings that over whelming majority (73.00 per cent) of the respondent were found in middle to young age group. The probable reason might be that the old aged respondents were retired and they transfer their occupation to an elder son.

Nearly one third (39.00 per cent) of the respondents had primary education followed by (28.00 per cent), (22.00 per cent), (11.00 per cent) were found have secondary education, higher secondary education and graduation, respectively. It can be concluded that over whelming majority (67.00 per cent) of respondents had education up to secondary to higher secondary level of education. The probable reason for literacy among the respondents of may be due to more primary and secondary level education facilities available in rural area and realization about the significance of education for the overall development of the life.

Majority (58.00 per cent) of trainees was found in small size of family and rest 42.00 per cent of trainees had large size of family. Thus it can be concluded that 68.00 per cent of trainees had small family size. The probable reason may be paddy grower adopt family planning and living in nuclear family.

Majority (57.00) of the respondents were found to have small size (up to 2 ha) of land holding. The respondents having marginal (2.01 to 5.00) and big land holding (above 5 ha) were 28.00 per cent and 15.00 per cent, respectively.

Farming was prime occupation (45.00 per cent) for the farmers in study area. So, far subsidiary occupation is concerned for 48.00 per cent and 07.00 per cent of the respondents were engaged in farming along with animal husbandry and farming, animal husbandryand service respectively. During field survey it was observed that out of every two families at least one family engaged in farming along with labour work as a supplementary income source.

Majority (65.00 per cent) of the respondents had low annual income followed by medium (30.00 per cent) and high annual income (05.00 per cent) respectively.

More than half (69.00 per cent) of the respondents had medium farming experience whereas, 18.00 per cent and 13.00 per cent of them had low and high farming experience respectively. In general, more than half of the respondents (69.00 per cent) had medium level of farming experience. This might be due to that they did not get chance to work in other fields than agriculture.

Majority (64.00 per cent) of the respondents of had no membership in any organization followed by (24.00 per cent) had membership in one organization, (12.00 per cent) had membership in more than one organization. No one of respondent was office bearer. It is clear from the data that a majority (76.00 per cent) of respondents were having no membership in any organizations.

Great majority (70.00 per cent) of the respondents had medium level to low level of extension contact.

Majority (61.00 per cent) of the respondent had medium sources of information whereas, nearly more than one fifth (22.00 per cent) and slightly more than one tenth (17.00 per cent) of them had low and high sources of information respectively. The result thus established the facts that vast majority (83.00 per cent) of the respondents had medium to low level of sources of information.

Majority (64.00 per cent) of the trainees had medium level of scientific orientation. About (18.00 per) cent of trainees had low scientific orientation and rest (18.00 per cent) had high scientific orientation. So it can be concluded that vast majority (82.00 per cent) of trainees had medium to high scientific orientation. This might be due to good contact with extension agency and good literacy level.

Nearly third fourth (69.00 per cent) of the respondents were found to have medium level of economic motivation, followed by 20.00 per cent and 11.00 per cent of the respondents had low and high level of economic motivation, respectively. It can be inferred that vast majority


12

(69.00 per cent) of the respondents had medium to low economic motivation. The probable reason may be the prices of agricultural inputs is highly fluctuating and on other hand other commodities leads to make farmers more cautious in

risky decision making, reflecting its performance to invest money towards profit maximization.

Attitude toward training programme

Table 2: Distribution of respondents according to their attitude regarding training programme organized by Mega seed project (NAU) on seed production technology of paddy n=100

Sr. No. Category No. Per cent

1 Less favourable (Up to 21 score) 30 30.002 Moderately favourable (Between 22 to 51 score) 50 50.003 Highly favourable(Above 51 score) 20 20.00

Mean = 35.8 S.D. = 15.0557 The data given in Table 2 illustrated that half (50.00 per cent) of respondents had moderately favourable attitude towards Training programme organized by mega seed project (NAU) on seed production technology of paddy, followed by less favourable and highly favourable attitude with 30.00 per cent and 20.00 per cent, respectively.

Relationship between the personal profile of respondents and their attitude towards Training programme

Table 3: Relationship between the personal profile of respondents and their attitude towards Training programme organized by mega seed project (NAU) on seed production technology of paddy

Sr. No. Independent Variables Correlation Coefficient

(‘r’ value)X1 Age 0.2629**X2 Education 0.2360*X3 Size of family 0.2266*X4 Land holding 0.1950 NSX5 Family occupation 0.2583**X6 Annual income 0.1639 NSX7 Farming experience 0.1287 NSX8 Social participation 0.1410 NSX9 Extension contact 0.2447*

X10 Sources of information 0.1580 NSX11 Scientific orientation 0.2713**X12 Economic motivation 0.1075 NS

*= significant at 5% level of probability **=significant at 1% level of probability NS = Non-Significant

The data in this regard presented in table 3 clearly revealed that land holding farming experience, social participation, source of information and economic motivation were positively but non-significantly correlated with attitude

Training programme organized by Mega seed project (NAU) on seed production technology of paddy.

However, education, size of family, extension contact, scientific orientation, age, occupation were significant and highly significant with the attitude of respondents towards Training programme organized by Mega seed project (NAU) on seed production technology of paddy.

CONCLUSION

The findings of this study have shown that half of the respondents had moderately favourable attitude towards Training programme organized by mega seed project (NAU) on seed production technology of paddy. It might be due to the knowledge and skills of beneficiaries were improved in seed production of paddy. The degree of attitude of respondents was observed significant with education, size of family, extension contact and economic motivation, while it washighly significant with scientific orientation and family occupation. It was found non-significant with land holding, farming experience, social participation, source of information and economic motivation.

REFERENCES

Patel, M. C. and Chauhan, N. B. (2012). Attitude of Farm Televiewers towards Modern Agricultural Practices. Seminar on Innovative Avenues of Extension Education, S.K. Nagar, Abstract no. 8/1, : 60.

Pulikken, B.J. (2001). Knowledge and Attitude of Farmers towards Jawahar Well Scheme. Thesis abstract (1995-2008) Compiled by Dept. of Ext. Edu. PG Institute, Dr. P. D. K. V, Akola (M.S), : 95.

Hiremath, V. M. (1993). A study of Knowledge and Attitude of the Farmers towards Horticultural Development Programme in Pune District.M.Sc (Agri.) Thesis (Unpub.), M.P.K.V, Rahuri (M.S).

Received : April 2014 : Accepted : Novmber 2014


13

INTRODUCTION

Agriculture is the backbone of Indian economy since 1960, when this sector was in humble state. Agricultural research and extension are two important factors of agricultural development. An efficient extension system capable of timely dissemination of need based farm technology among farming communities is of paramount importance for achieving sustained growth in agriculture. The system of transfer of technology from research stations to the farming community has played a crucial role in modernizing agriculture. Farmers now required adopting a wider range of inputs and practices, and developing skills for there more efficient use. Keeping this in mind the policy

framework for Agriculture Extension outlined by the task force on Agriculture Extension, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, GOI recognized the role of multi agency dispensation comprising different strengths. It was also recognized that the policy environment will have to promote private extension to operate in roles that complement, supplement, work in partnership, and even substitute for public extension.

Apart from the extension services rendered to the farmers by the state Department of Agriculture and other organizations to boost up agricultural production, agricultural input dealers are also playing an important role in increasing agricultural production in the country. The

Training Needs of Agricultural Input Dealers in Transfer of Agriculture Technology

Y.J Waghmode1 H.V. Borate2 and K. D. Gulkari3

1 Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Extension Education, Dr. BSKKV, Dapoli (M.S.)2 Assistant Professor, College of Horticulture, Mulde

3 Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Extension Education, BACA, AAU, Anand - 388 110Email : [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Agriculture is the backbone of Indian economy since 1960, when this sector was in humble state. Agricultural research and extension are two important factors of agricultural development. An efficient extension system capable oftimely dissemination of need based farm technology among farming communities is of paramount importance for achieving sustained growth in agriculture. The system of transfer of technology from research stations to the farming community has played a crucial role in modernizing agriculture. Farmers now required adopting a wider range of inputs and practices, and developingskillsfortheremoreefficientuse.KeepingthisinmindthepolicyframeworkforAgricultureExtensionoutlinedbythe task force on Agriculture Extension, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, GOI recognized the role of multi agency dispensation comprising different strengths. It was also recognized that the policy environment will have to promote private extension to operate in roles that complement, supplement, work in partnership, and even substitute for public extension. Apart from the extension services rendered to the farmers by the state Department of Agriculture and other organizations to boost up agricultural production, agricultural input dealers are also playing an important role in increasing agricultural production in the country. The most of the agriculture input dealers are related to transfer of agriculture technology. Agriculture inputs dealers may this way perform the function of the “Change agent”. The main aim of agriculture input dealers was thus to provide expert services, advice to farmers and supply of inputs to agriculture according to local needs i.e. quality seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, engineering material and provide the employment to the people. The present study is focussed to know the training needs of the dealers in transfer of farm technology and running the agriculture input centre. Keeping in view the importance, scope and statement of problem of the topic, the present investigation entitled Training Needs of Agricultural Input Dealers in Transfer of Agriculture Technology in Ratnagiri District of Konkan Region was undertaken with the following objectives.

Keywords : Training needs, Input dealers, Transfer of technology


14

most of the agriculture input dealers are related to transfer of agriculture technology. Agriculture inputs dealers may this way perform the function of the “Change agent”. The main aim of agriculture input dealers was thus to provide expert services, advice to farmers and supply of inputs to agriculture according to local needs i.e. quality seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, engineering material and provide the employment to the people.

The present study is focussed to know the training needs of the dealers in transfer of farm technology and running the agriculture input centre. Keeping in view the importance, scope and statement of problem of the topic, the present investigation entitled Training Needs of Agricultural Input Dealers in Transfer of Agriculture Technology in Ratnagiri District of Konkan Region was undertaken with the following objectives.

OBJECTIVES

(i) To study the personal and socio-economic characteristics of agricultural input dealers

(ii) To know the training needs of agricultural input dealers

METHODOLOGY

Konkan region consist of five districts namely Thane, Mumbai, Raigad, Ratnagiri, and Sindhudurg. Ratnagiri district from Konkan region was selected. As the number of agriculture input dealers in these districts was comparatively more than those of other districts in the respective region. The Ratnagiri district consists nine tahsil. All tahsil were selected namely, Ratnagiri, Chiplun, Sangmeshwar, Guhagar, Rajapur, Dapoli, Khed, Lanja and Mandangad. For study purpose, the proprietor of agricultural input dealers was selected as respondents by random sampling. For this study, 75 agriculture input dealers were drawn from selected tahsils of district.

Training needs of the agriculture input dealers was a major aspect of the study. Training needs of the agriculture input dealers was measured by computing training need score. Training need of the respondents was assessed on a three point continuum scale as ‘most needed (2 score)’, ‘needed (1 score)’ and ‘not needed (0 score)’. In order to determine training needs of the agricultural input dealers, a training need index was developed by using following formula.

Score obtainedTraining need index = ------------------------------------- x 100 Maximum obtainable score


Characteristics of agricultural input dealers

The data in respect of personal and socio-economic characteristics of agricultural input dealers was indicated that majority (65.33 per cent) of the respondents from region belonged to ‘middle’ age group. More than half (57.34 per cent) of the respondents were ‘graduate’. Majority (97.33 per cent) of the respondents had ‘fertilizer dealing’ as their major occupation. Two-third (66.66 per cent) of the respondents had ‘medium’ annual income. The average annual income of the respondents was ` 4, 58,200/-. Majority (74.67 per cent) of the respondents had ‘medium’ experience in fertilizer dealing. The average experience in fertilizer dealing of the respondents was ‘14 years’. Two-third (65.33 per cent) of the respondents had ‘medium’ level of information seeking behavior. Two-third (66.67 per cent) of the respondents had ‘high’ level of cosmopoliteness. Three-fifth (52.00 per cent) of the respondents had ‘medium’ risk orientation. Three-fifth (68.00 per cent) of the respondents had ‘medium’ economic motivation. Over one-third (38.67 per cent) of the respondents from Konkan had ‘received’ training on various aspects related to fertilizers, seeds, insecticides, pesticides, implements and their use.

Training needs of the agricultural input dealers

In order to depict the overall scenario of training need in all areas together, the respondent dealers were grouped into three categories as per the procedure explained in the methodology and is presented in Table1.

Table 1: Distribution of the respondents according to their training need n=75

Sr.No.

Training need No. Per cent

123

LowMediumMore

115014

14.6766.6718.66

It revealed from Table 1 that majority (66.67 per cent) of the respondents had ‘medium’ training need on various aspects of fertilizer, seed, pesticides, machinery and implements, animal feed and chemicals and their use While 18.66 per cent of the respondents had ‘more’ training need. Followed by 14.67 per cent of the respondents had ‘low’ training need.


15

Table 2 : Specific training needs of agricultural input dealers n=75

Sr. No.

Training areas Most needed SomewhatNeeded

Not needed

A Related to fertilizer

1 Type of fertilizers 2 (2.66) 26 (34,67) 47 (62.67)2 Soil testing for fertilizer application 7 (09.33) 17 (22.67) 51 (68.00)3 Methods of fertilizer application - 8 (10.67) 67 (89.33)4 Micro-nutrients fertilizers 37 (49.33) 36 (48.00) 2 (2.67)5 Bio-fertilizers 3 (4.00) 57 (76.00) 15 (20.00)6 Methods of nitrogenous fertilizer application - 8 (10.67) 67 (89.33)7 Nutrient contents in fertilizers 1 (1.33) 4 (5.33) 70 (93.33)8 Cake fertilizers - 30 (40.00) 45 (60.00)9 Fertigation 2 (2.66) 19 (25.33) 54 (72.00)10 Implements used for fertilizer application. 1 (1.33) 29 (38.67) 45 (60.00)11 Composting 2 (2.66) 24 (32.00) 49 (65.33)12 Vermin-composting 10 (13.33) 41 (54.67) 24 (32.00)13 Go-down construction - 9 (12.00) 66 (88.00)14 Fertilizer store - 17 (22.67) 58 (77.33)15 Integrated nutrient management 59 (78.67) 15 (20.00) 1(1.33)16 Fertilizer doses for crops - 23 (30.67) 52(69.33)B Related to Seeds1 Type of seeds - 23 (30.67) 52(69.33)2 Improved varieties and hybrids of different crops 43 (57.33) 30 (40.00) 2 (2.67)3 Germination power of seeds of different crop 1 (1.33) 10 (13.33) 64 (85.33)4 Viability of seeds of different crops 1 (1.33) 9 (12.00) 65 (86.67)5 Seed treatment 3 (4.00) 38 (50.67) 34 (45.33)6 Ideal seed storage - 2 (2.67) 73 (97.33)7 Certified seeds - 19 (25.33) 56 (74.67)8 Fumigation to seeds - 7 (9.33) 68 (90.67)9 Cultivation of hybrids of different crops - 1 (1.33) 74 (98.67)C Related to pesticides1 Type of pesticides 1 (1.33) 19 (25.33) 55 (73.33)2 Preparation of solution of pesticides for spraying 1 (1.33) 22 (29.33) 52 (69.33)3 Types of improved sprayers and dusters 30 (40.00) 38 (50.67) 7 (9.33)4 Disposal of empty bottles and containers - 6 (8.00) 69 (92.00)5 Control of disease and insect by proper pesticides 15 (20.00) 54 (72.00) 6 (8.00)6 Protective measures and treatment over poisoning 3 (4.00) 5 (6.67) 67 (89.33)7 Methods of proper spraying and dusting 9 (12.00) 41 (54.67) 24 (32.00)8 Protection of the stored seeds from pest - 1 (1.33) 74 (98.67)D Related to machinery and implements 1 Repairing of machinery and implements - 40 (53.33) 35 (46.67)2 Operating of machinery and implements 1 (1.33) 34 (45.33) 40 (53.33)3 Purchasing of machinery and implements 1 (1.33) 25 (33.33) 49 (65.33)4 Regarding getting subsidy and loan 2 (2.66) 13 (17.33) 60 (80.00)5 Regarding driving - 19 (25.33) 56 (74.67)E Related to animal feed and chemicals(a) About animal feed

1 Types of feeds - 9 (12.00) 66 (88.00)2 Nutrients content in feeds - 1 (1.33) 74 (98.67)


16

Sr. No.

Training areas Most needed SomewhatNeeded

Not needed

3 Types of feeds for different animals - 6 (8.00) 69 (92.00)

4 Doses of feeds for different animals - 2 (2.67) 73 (97.33)5 Storage of feeds for long time - 1 (1.33) 74 (98.67)

(b) About animals Drugs

1 Types of Drugs - 10 (13.33) 65 (86.67)2 Doses of Drugs - 1 (1.33) 74 (98.67)3 Regarding animal disease - 10 (13.33) 65 (86.67)4 Treatment of different animals - 9 (12.00) 66 (88.00)F Other

1 Information communication technology 36 (48.00) 33 (44.00) 6 (8.00)2 Efficient use of information technology 42 (56.00) 32 (42.67) 1 (1.33)3 Internet 6 (8.00) 34 (45.33) 35 (46.67)4 Business management 66 (88.00) 8 (10.67) 1 (1.33)5 Government rules and regulation 33 (44.00) 36 (48.00) 6 (8.00)

Note : Figure in parentheses indicates percentages It is observed from Table 2 that almost (49.33 per cent) the agricultural input dealers from region had expressed ‘mostly needed’ training needs on ‘micro nutrient fertilizers’ followed by ‘integrated nutrient management’ (78.67 per cent), ‘improved varieties and hybrids of different crops’(57.33 per cent), ‘types of improved sprayers and dusters’(40.00 per cent), ‘information communication technology’ (48.00 per cent), ‘efficient use of information technology’ (56.00 per cent), and ‘business management’ (88.00 per cent). However, the ‘Somewhat Needed’ training need was expressed by them about ‘nutrient content in fertilizers’ (5.33 per cent), ‘methods of fertilizer application’ (10.67 per cent), ‘methods of nitrogenous fertilizer application’(10.67 per cent), ‘storage fertilizers’ and ‘godown construction’22.67 per cent and 12.00 per cent respectively. followed by ‘germination power of seeds of different crop’(13.33 per cent), ‘viability of seeds of different crops’(12.00 per cent), ‘Seed treatment’(50.67 per cent), ‘ideal seed storage’(2.67 per cent), , while ‘Purchasing of machinery and implements’(33.33 per cent), ‘Regarding getting subsidy and loan’ (17.33 per cent), while ‘protection of the stored seeds from pest’(1.33 per cent), ‘protective measures and treatment over poisoning’(6.67 per cent), and ‘nutrients content in feeds’(1.33 per cent).

CONCLUSION

Findings of the study led to concluded that agricultural inputs are one of the major inputs in modern agriculture such as fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides, seeds, tools and implements and machinery. The high yielding varieties of different crops are responsive to the chemical fertilizers. So, high yielding varieties, coupled with chemical

fertilizers and farm mechanization have contributed greatly in bringing green revolution in our country. Use of any input as per recommendation is dependent upon ready availability of that input to the farmers, so is the case of chemical fertilizers, seeds, insecticides, pesticides and tools and implements. The government has introduced many measures for timely and adequate supply of desired fertilizers at reasonable price to the needy farmers. The agricultural input dealers play an important role in providing the farm input to the farmers. While trading the farm inputs, the dealers advise the farmers about their use and application in the field. As such, the dealers must possess the appropriate knowledge about the fertilizer use in the field. So, imparting to them is necessary training to increase the performance of the agricultural input dealers. This would help in increasing crop production and economic status of the agriculturists.

REFERENCES

Mahajan, H. R. and Khot, B. B. (2000). ‘Training Needs of the Farm Input Dealers’. Abstracts of National Seminar on Extension Education System for Early 21st Century Dapoli. Jan 22-23: 51.

Sarda, M. K. and Gill, S. S. (2005). ‘Training needs of input dealers on pesticide application on cotton crop in Punjab’. MANAGE Extension Research Review. 6(1): 63-74.

Todase, J. V. (2010) Training Needs Of Fertilizer Dealers From Konkan And Vidarbha Region Of Maharashtra State. M.Sc. (Agri) Thesis, Dr. B. S. K. K. V. Dapoli.

Received : May 2014 : Accepted : October 2014


17

INTRODUCTION

Our Indian agriculture is known for its multi - functionaries of providing employment livelihood, food, nutritional and ecological securities. Agriculture and allied activities contribute 14.1 per cent to the gross domestic product (GDP) and agriculture sector provides employment to 58.2 per cent of country’s workforce and is the single largest private sector occupation. Thus it plays a vital role In Indian economy. Our country is blessed with plenty of natural resources, but the demographic changes and economic growth exert strong and compelling pressures on the finite natural resources Indian population has already crossed 1.27 billion and it has been still increasing in an alarming rate. There is an urgent need to address issues on food security, nutrition adequacy, rural income generation, employment and poverty. Despite the higher production, the per capita availability of food has not increase significantly. These facts show that the future growth of agriculture would have to necessarily come largely form increased productivity from a shrinking

natural resource base through efficient as well as scientific management. We can make it possible through the proper deployment and utilization of specially trained manpower of our agricultural graduates. The quality of the agricultural graduates and their efficiency depend on the type and method of education imparted to them. Field oriented practical programmes greatly Influence their performance in the actual field conditions. Agricultural education enables them in the scientific utilization of the available natural recourses to the maximum extent to enhance the national development. Understanding that the study regarding ‘Attitude of Agriculture college students Towards Agriculture Education’ was under taken with following specific objectives.

OBJECTIVES

(i) To study the characteristic of agriculture college students.

(ii) To study the attitude of agriculture college student towards agriculture education.

Dynamic characteristics and Attitude of Agriculture College StudentsTowards Agriculture Education

Gordhan Singh Bhati1 and Kesha Ram2

1 & 2 Scholar Department of Extension Education B. A. College of Agriculture, AAU, Anand 388110


ABSTRACT

The present study was conducted in B. A. College of Agriculture, AAU, Anand, Gujarat. The purpose of the study was tofindoutthedynamiccharacteristicsandattitudeofundergraduatestudentstowardsagricultureeducation.Thesampleconsisted of 100 randomly selected Undergraduate students. Personal interview technique was used for collecting data. The outcome of the study revealed that more than half (59.00 percent) of the respondents were belongs to the age group of 20 to 21 year, 55.00 percent of them were second born children, 45.00 percent of the respondent were from other backward class andnearly39percentfromnonreservedcategory,Greatmajority(94.00percent)ofthestudentswereinfirstclassandabovein their last semester exam , 44.00 percent had low participation and 41 per cent of them had medium participation in extra curriculum activity, slightly less than two third (63.00 per cent) respondent were having up to two brother & sister, one third of student’s father (33.00 percent) had education of graduation and above graduation, 50.00 percent of the student’s family had medium level of education, 90.00 per cent of the student’s family had medium level of occupation status, the average family income of the respondent was ` 1,10,000 per annum. Majority (80.00 percent) of under graduate students had favorable attitude toward agriculture as education.

Keywords : Dynamic characteristics, Attitude of agriculture student, Agriculture education


18

(iii) To ascertain relationship between profile of agriculture student and their attitude towards Agriculture education.

METHODOLOGY

The study which was conducted at B. A. College of Agriculture, Anand under the jurisdiction of Anand Agricultural University. A total of 100 student were randomly selected from the four batches B.Sc(Agriculture) students of this college. To know the various characteristics of students a structured schedule was developed. For measurement of attitude of agriculture college students towards agriculture education scale was developed by

Ajit C. (2004) were used with due modifications. The data were collected with the help of well-structured, pre-tested, interview scheduled through personal contact and data were compiled, tabulated and analyzed to get proper answers for objectives of the study. The statistical tools used were percentage, mean score, standard deviation and coefficient of correlation value.


Profile and attitude of agriculture college students towards agriculture education

Table 1: Component of Profile and Attitude of agriculture college students n= 100

Sr. No.

Components Mean SD Categories No. Per cent

1Age 20.61 1.20 low (18 to 19 years)

Medium (20 to 21 year)High (> 22 year)

205921

20.0059.0021.00

2Birth order 02.33 o.97 1st order

2nd order3rd order4th order and above

11552407

11.0055.0024.0007.00

3Caste 04.85 1.50 Non reserved

Other backwardSchedule tribeSchedule caste

39451006

39.0045.0010.0006.00

4Academic achievement 07.37 0.63 Second class(up to 6.70)

First class(6.7 to 8.01)Distinction(Above 8.01)

064549

06.0045.0049.00

5Participation in extracurricular activities

06.51 02.86 Low participation (up to 3.6 score)Medium participation(3.6 to 9.3 score)High participation(above 9.3 score)

444115100

44.0041.0015.00100.00

6Number of real brother & sister

02.00 02.56 Low (up to 2)Medium (3 to 4)High (5 & above)

632611

63.0026.0011.00

7Family occupation status

04.38 0.70 Low (up to 3.6 score)Medium (3.6 to 5.0 score)High (More than 5.0 score)

079003

07.0090.0003.00

8Family income 02.40 01.11 Low (up to 40,000)

Medium (40,000 to 1,40,000)High (More than 1,40,000)

184735

18.0047.0035.00

9Family education status

03.00 01.26 Low (Less than 1.73 score)Medium (1.73 to 4.26 score)High (More than 4.26 score)

235027

23.0050.0027.00

Sr. No.

Components Mean SD Categories No. Per cent


19

10.Father’s education 03.30 01.81 Illiterate(0)

Literate can read & write(1)Primary (2)Higher school(3)Higher secondary(4)Graduate (5)Above graduation(6)

08082313152112

08.0008.0023.0013.0015.0021.0012.00

11. attitude of student 90.09 13.08 Favorable (More than 77.00 score)Neutral(77 score)Unfavorable(below 77.00 score )

800416

80.0004.0016.00

Age : The distributional analysis pertaining to age of the respondents mentioned in Table 1 indicate that majority

(59.00 per cent) of the respondents belonged to 20 to 21 year age group, followed by 21.00 per cent 22 to 23 age group and rest 20.00 per cent in 18 to 19 age group.

Birth order: More than half respondent (55.00 percent) were second born children, followed by 24.00 per cent respondent third born child, rest 11.00 per cent & 7.00 per cent respondent belongs to first and fourth & above born children, respectively.

Cast: Less than half (45.00 percent) of the respondent were from other backward class & nearly 39 percent from non reserved category, rest 10.00 per cent & 6.00 per cent respondent belongs to schedule cast and schedule tribe, respectively.

Academic achievement: Extreme majority of respondent (94.00 percent) were passed the exam with first class & above, rest 6.00 per cent belongs to second class.

Participation in extracurricular activity: Less than half of the respondent (44.00 percent) had low participation & 41 per cent had medium participation in extra curriculum activity while 15.00 per cent respondent high participation in extra curriculum activity.

Number of real brother & sister: Majority (63.00 per cent) respondent were having up to two brother & sister, slightly more than one fourth (26.00 per cent) have 3 to 4 brother and sister, rest 11.00 per cent have 5 or more than 5 real brother sister.

Family occupation status: Extreme majority (90.00 per cent) of the respondents were from family of

medium occupation status, rest 7.00 per cent & 3.00 per cent belongs to low and high occupation status, respectively.

Family annual income: Slightly less than half of the respondent (47.00 percent) was from families of medium income category, while 35.00 per cent respondent has high family income, rest 18.00 per cent has low family income. The average family income of the respondent was 1,10,000 per annum.

Family education status: Exactly Half of the respondent (50.00 percent) were from the family of medium level of education status, while 27.00 per cent & 23.00 per cent have high and low family education status respectively.

Father’s education: One third of student’s father (33.00 percent) was having education qualification of graduation & above. Out of them 21 percent were graduate & 12 percent were post graduate, followed by 23.00 per cent & 13.00 per cent respondent’s father have primary and high school level education respectively, while 15.00 per cent have higher secondary level education, 8.00 per cent illiterate, remaining 8.00 per cent literate(can read & write).

Attitude toward Agriculture education: Majority of respondent (80.00 percent) were having favorable attitude toward agriculture as education, followed by 16.00 per cent of them had unfavorable attitude and four per cent of the respondent did not express any clear cut opinion about their attitude toward agriculture education, the mean attitude score of the respondent was 90.09.

Relationship between the characteristics of students and their attitude toward Agriculture education


20

Table 2: Relationship between the characteristics of students and their attitude toward Agriculture education

Sr.No. Independent Variables

Correlation Coefficient(‘r’ value)

1 Age 0.070 NS2 Birth order 0.023 NS3 Caste -0.038 NS4 Academic achievement 0.164*5 Participation in extracurricular

activities 0.133 NS

6 Number of real brother & sister -0.1657 Family occupation status 0.1738 Family income 0.216*9 Family education status 0.226*10 Father’s education 0.222*

* = Significant at 0.05 level** = Significant at 0.01 levelNS = Non Significant

CONCLUSION

It can be concluded from the present study that majority of the respondent were unmarried, age between 20-21 year, occupied second ordinal position, belonged to other backward class and non reserved caste, were medium and high academic achievement and low participation in extracurricular activity, a great majority of the respondents were from the family having medium education status & medium occupation status. Majority of respondent’s father were having high education qualification, place them in agriculture and service, having good family income with an average family income of ` 1,10,000 per annum.

Majority of respondents favorable attitude towards

agriculture education its relationship with various social-personal and other characteristics indicates that academic achievement, father’s education, family education status, family income had significant and positive influence on the attitude of respondent towards agriculture education.

REFERENCES

Ajit, C. (2004). Determination of attitude, occupational aspiration and preference for placement of B.Sc. Agriculture students of Gujarat state. M.Sc. (Agri.) Thesis (Unpublished), GAU, Anand.

Patel, M. C. and Chauhan, N. B. (2004). Corollary of the profile of farmers on their attitude towards IPM strategy, Gujarat J. Extn. Edu., 15 : 5- 8.

Patel, V. B. (2005). A study of attitude and occupational aspiration of B.Tech. Dairy science students of Gujarat state. M.Sc. (Agri.) Thesis (Unpublished), AAU, Anand.

Groham, C. Kinloach(1987). social class & attitude toward education. The J. of social psychology, 127(4): 399-401

Kanawal,S.C(1973), Social-economic background of college student, J. of education & psychology, 31(2):108

Kosambi, S.A(1997), A Study to measure the academic performance, attitude their relationship of agricultural college student , special problem submitted to GAU, Anand.

Received : August 2014 : Accepted : December 2014


21

INTRODUCTION

The State Agricultural Universities have a pivotal position in agricultural growth and development through their multifarious activities of agricultural research, education and extension. There are no two opinions about their important position in increasing food grain, livestock and poultry production. In order that SAUs can carry out their prime responsibilities of agricultural research, education and extension effectively, one of the utmost important things is that the employees should have positive attitude towards working pattern of SAU; and if not, effort may be made in the direction to change their attitude positively or else, reexamination of working pattern should be made to trace out the hurdles in the direction of turning their attitude positive. With this in view, an effort was made to develop the scale to measure attitude of employees towards working pattern of SAU.

METHODOLOGY

Among the techniques available to develop the scale, ‘scale product method’ was chosen which combines the Thurston’s techniques of equal appearing interval scale (1946) for selection of item and Likert’s technique of summated rating (1932) for ascertaining the response on the scale as proposed by Eysenck and Crown (1949).

Item collection

The items of attitude scale refer to statements related

to attitude. Initially, large number of statements reflecting attitude towards working pattern of SAU were collected from relevant literature and constructed through discussion with extension personnel. The statements thus selected were edited on the basis of criteria shown by Edwards (1957) and at last, 30 statements were selected as they were found to be non-ambiguous

Judge’s rating of attitudinal statements

Seventy slips of these statements were distributed among 70 selected experts working in Department of Extension Education and Directorate of Extension Education of four Agricultural Universities of Gujarat as well as Extension Education Institute, Anand Agricultural University. The judges were asked to judge the degree of unfavourableness or favourableness of each statement for its inclusion in the final scale on the five point equal appearing interval continuum. Out of these experts, only 50 experts returned the statement after duly recording their judgments and were considered for the analysis.

Determination of scale values

The scoring on five point rating scale was made by assigning score ranging from 1 (for strongly unfavourable) to 5 (for strongly favourable). Based on the judgment, the median value of the distribution for each of 30 statements was calculated by using following formula:

Development of Scale to Measure Attitude of Employees Towards Working Pattern of State Agricultural University

Sunil R. Patel1 J. K. Patel2 B. D. Patel3

1 Officer on Special Duty, College of Agriculture, AAU, Jabugam, 2 Associate Professor, Dairy Vigyan Kendra, Vejalpur, AAU, Anand 388 110

3Assistant Extension Educationist, EEI, AAU, Anand 388 110 [email protected]

ABSTRACT

An effort was made to develop a scale which can measure attitude of employees towards working pattern of State Agriculture University. Among the techniques available, ‘scale product method’ was chosen to develop the scale which combines the Thurston’s techniques of equal appearing interval scale (1946) for selection of item and Likert’s technique of summated rating (1932) for ascertaining the response on the scale as proposed by Eysenck and Crown (1949).The scale was found reliable the correlation value being 0.9032.

Keywords : Working pattern, Attitude of employers, SAU


22

S=L +0.50 Pb

x iPw

Where,

S= the median or scale value of the statement

L= Lower limit of the interval in which the median falls

Pb= the sum of the proportion below the interval in which the median falls.

Pw= the proportion within the interval in which the median falls

i = the width of the interval which is assumed to be equal to 1.0 (one).

The inter-quartile range (Q = Q3 - Q1) for each

statement was also worked out for determination of ambiguity involved in the statement.


When there was a good agreement among the judges in judging the degree of unfavourableness or favourableness of a statement, Q value was observed smaller than the scale value, but when there was relatively little agreement among the judges, Q value was observed bigger than the scale value. Only those items were selected whose (median) scale value were greater than Q values. However, when a few items had the same scale values, items having lowest Q value were selected. Based on the scale (median) and Q values, 17 statements were finally selected to constitute the scale to measure attitude of employees towards working pattern of SAU. The final format of scale is given in Table 1.

Table 1 : Scale to measure attitude of employees towards working pattern of State Agricultural University

Sr. No.

Statement ‘S’ value

‘Q’ value

1 Present working pattern of Agril. University is quite satisfactory. 4.00 1.41

2 A good work culture prevails in the university. 3.77 1.65

3 Present working pattern is only output oriented ignoring human element. 3.39 2.73

4 No good progress can be expected in such pattern. 3.88 3.30

5 I feel that reforms in the present working pattern are badly required. 3.58 2.18

6 Potential of certain employees remains underutilized in the present working pattern. 4.09 1.81

7 A due care for employees’ career is taken in the present pattern. 3.75 2.79

8 Administrative procedures seem to be cumbersome. 3.70 2.29

9 I am content with the present working pattern. 3.61 1.95

10 Much of time of researchers is unduly wasted in the administrative matter in the present pattern. 4.10 2.04

11 Good interpersonal relationship among employees can be expected in the present working pattern.

3.70 2.18

12 Human resource development is the prominent feature of the present working pattern. 4.00 1.92

13 Present pattern enables employees to identify and utilize their hidden capabilities for better output.

3.42 2.10

14 Present working pattern increases workload for sincere employees. 4.54 1.60

15 Present working pattern provides better integration among various units. 3.55 2.06

16 Good coordination and harmony among employees is a special characteristic of the present working pattern.

3.61 2.13

17 Present working pattern encourages tendency among employees to escape from responsibility rather than shouldering it.

3.71 2.69


23

Reliability of the scale

The reliability of this scale was also measured by employing Test-retest method. The correlation value between two sets was found to be 0.9032. Thus the developed scale was found reliable.

CONCLUSION

The scale developed to measure attitude of employees towards working pattern of State Agricultural University is reliable and valid. Hence the same can be used by other investigators elsewhere in the context of State Agricultural University or for other organizations with due modifications.

REFERENCES

Edwards, A. L. (1957). Techniques of attitude scale construction. Vekils, Feffer and Simons Private Ltd., Bombay.

Eysenck, K. J. and Crown, S. (1994). An experimental study in opinion-attitude methodology.

Likert, R. A. (1932). A technique for measurement of attitude. Psychology, New York, 140.

Thurston, L. L. (1946). The measurement of attitude. American J. of Sociology. Chicago University Press, 39-50.

Received : Sptember 2014 : Accepted : November 2014


24

INRODUCTION

A non-traditional crop of pigeonpea in a suitable and efficient groundnut-pigeon pea inter-relay cropping system has been successfully introduced through Front Line Dem-onstrations. In this system, as completion of intercultural operation in groundnut the relay arhar (Pigeonpea) is sown between the groundnut rows in August (60 to 65 days after sowing of groundnut) having three and four feet distance be-tween rows. This cropping system is becoming more popu-lar in the farming community of the region as it covers the risk of groundnut in abnormal monsoon years as well as it does not reduce area and production of groundnut. The area under inter-relay groundnut-pigeon pea is extended within a short span and going to increase day by day in the region. Even though the severe drought condition occurs frequently in Saurashtra region, the farmers prefer to sow pigeonpea on large scale to avoid the risk from single sole crop of ground-nut. Even with these circumstances, the productivity of this crop is not satisfactory. This may be because farmers are not adopting the recommended technologies in an appropriate way. Keeping this in view, the present investigation is made

to know and understand the constraints as perceived by farm-ers in groundnut pigeonpea inter relay-cropping system.

METHODOLOGY

Saurashtra is a main groundnut bowl of the country.The study was undertaken in South Saurashtra agro climatic zone of Gujarat state with ex-post facto research design.The South Saurashtra agro climatic Zone is consisted of 25 talu-kas of four districts of the state having common agro-climatic conditions. Out of four districts, Rajkot and Junagadh were selected purposively, where the groundnut-pigeonpea inter-relay cropping system has already been adopted by the farm-ers/demonstrations organized by the Pulse Research Station, Junagadh. From the two districts, one taluka from each dis-trict was selected for the study. From each selected taluka, two villages Motimarad andPipliya from Dhorajitaluka of Rajkot district, and Datrana, Nagalpur from Mendradataluka of Junagadh districtwere selected by random sampling meth-od. Thus, the total numbers of four villages were selected for the study.Total numbers of 120 farmers, 30 farmers from each selected village were selected by using purposive random sampling technique with a condition that the farmers have

Constraints Encountered by Groundnut Growers in Groundnut Pigeonpea Inter Relay-Cropping System

B. N. Kalsariya1, G. R. Gohil2 and P. B. Khodifad3

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture, JAU, Junagadh - 362 001

2 Assistant Extension Educationist, Office of Directorate of Extension Education, JAU, Junagadh – 362 001 3 Assistant Professor, Department of Extension Education, N. M. College of Agriculture, NAU, Navsari 396450

Email [email protected]

ABSTRACT

The present study was conducted in South Saurashtra agro climatic zone of Gujarat state.To identify the technologi-cal gaps in adoption of groundnut pigeon-pea inter relay cropping production technology with the ex-post-facto research design was used. The size of the sample was 120 respondents which were purposively selected from four villages namely Moti-marad and Pipliya from Dhorajitaluka of Rajkot district, and Datrana, Nagalpur from Mendradataluka of Junagadh district. The studies highlight that there are number of constraints which affect the process of adoption reversely, specially the extents of groundnut-pigeon pea inter-relay cropping system. The constraints faced by the respondents were, non-remunerative price of productfollowed by scarcity of labour at harvest time, heavy infestation of diseases & pests, lack of knowledge about the recommended doses of fungicides/pesticides, high price of chemical fertilizers. Whereas, remunerative price of the product should be made available followed by effective insect-pest control methods should be developed, quality seed supply should be ensured, input should be supplied at subsidized rate were offered suggestion by the respondents.

Keywords : Groundnut growers, Inter relay cropping sequence, Constraints


25

adopted this cropping system at least since last two years.The data were collected through specially developed interview schedules.

To understand and overcome the constraints while developing strategies for enhancing higher yield as well as to increase the area under this cropping system, this effort was made. The respondents were requested to express the con-straints faced by them in groundnut pigeon pea inter relay crop cultivation. The constraints were kept open to find out difficulties faced by the respondents. The general constraints regarding groundnut pigeon pea inter relay crop cultivation as opined by the respondents was collected and the percent-age were worked out for each constraint. The constraints

were ranked based on percentage.


Constraints experienced by the respondents in groundnut pigeonpea inter relay-cropping system

The benefit of a technology is actually derived only when it is efficiently utilized by farmers in their local situa-tion. The farmers are very much eager to get maximum bene-fits from the agricultural technology. However, many of them could not do so, because of a large adoption gap, culminating in low yield of groundnut pigeon pea inter relay crop in the area.

Table 1 : Constraints experienced by the respondents in Groundnut Pigeonpea inter relay cropping system n = 120

Sr. No. Constraints No. Per cent Rank

1 High price of improved seeds 59 49.16 XIV

2 Ineffectiveness of available chemicals for control the diseases and insects /pests 85 70.83 VI

3 Lack of storage facilities of groundnut 58 48.33 XV

4 Heavy infestation of diseases & pests 95 79.16 III

5 Difficulty to harvest the groundnut crop in relay crop system. 54 45.00 XVII

6 High price of insecticides/ pesticides & fungicides 75 62.50 VII

7 Non-availability of good quality FYM 63 52.50 X

8 High price of chemical fertilizers 90 75.00 V

9 Non- availability of irrigated water at important growth stages of pigeon pea 60 50.00 XII

10 Lack of knowledge to diagnose the proper pests and diseases in the crop. 59 49.16 XIII

11 Lack of knowledge about the recommended doses of fungicides/pesticides 92 76.66 IV

12 Lack of knowledge about the recommended methods to control diseases and pests 62 51.66 XI

13 Fear of reduction in the yield of groundnut Pegionpea in relay system as compared to sole groundnut crop.

55 45.83 XVI

14 Scarcity of labour at harvest time 98 81.66 II

15 Irregular visit of Village level workers 70 58.33 VIII

16 Inefficiency/inability of extension worker to solve the problems of the cropping system 65 54.16 IX

17 Lack of training on improved technologies 50 41.66 XVIII

18 Insufficient demonstration of improved technologies on farmers’ field. 40 33.33 XIX

19 Non-availability of finance in time 35 29.16 XX

20 Non- remunerative price of product 120 100.00 I


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It is obvious from the Table 1 that the constraints faced by the respondents were, non-remunerative price of productfollowed by scarcity of labour at harvest time, heavy infestation of diseases & pests, lack of knowledge about the recommended doses of fungicides/pesticides, high price of chemical fertilizers and ineffectiveness of available chemi-cals for control the diseases and insects / pests got first, sec-ond, third, fourth, fifth and sixth ranked, respectively.

Suggestions offered by the respondents to overcome the constraints

Table 2 : Suggestions of the groundnut Pegion pea inter relay crop growers to overcome the constraints in groundnut Pegion pea inter relay cropping system n = 120

Sr. No. Suggestions No. Per

centRank

1 Timely and quality seed supply should be ensured. 80 66.67 III

2 Effective insect-pest control methods should be developed. 85 70.83 II

3 Input should be supplied at subsidized rate. 60 50.00 IV

4 Remunerative price of the product should be made available.

120 100.00 I

5 More number of training programmes should be organized for the farmers in relation to this cropping system.

51 42.50 V

6 More numbers of Demonstrations on new technologies should be arranged farmers’ fields.

15 12.50 VIII

7 Village level workers should frequently contact the farmers to make them aware about new technologies.

45 37.50 VII

8 Crop insurance should be made available for all the farmers. 50 41.67 VI

9 Effective technology for harvesting the groundnut Pegionpea crop should be developed.

10 8.33 IX

The suggestions offered by of respondents were; remunerative price of the product should be made avail-able followed by effective insect-pest control methods should be developed, quality seed supply should be ensured, input should be supplied at subsidized rate, more number of train-ing programme should be organized farmers in relation to this systemand crop insurance should be made available for all the farmers got first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth

ranked, respectively.

It is clear from the suggestions made by the most of the farmers that these suggestions are based on the facilities that they have availed but are not satisfied to the extent of their expectation.Thus, it also could be inferred from the facts mentioned about that the facilities to the growers already be-ing provided by the various Government Agencies need be strengthened and tailored according to the requirement of groundnut pigeon pea inter relay crop growers.

CONCLUSION

It can be concluded that constraints faced by the re-spondents were, non-remunerative price of productfollowed by scarcity of labour at harvest time, heavy infestation of dis-eases & pests, lack of knowledge about the recommended doses of fungicides/pesticides, whereas suggestion made by respondents were remunerative price of the product should be made available followed by effective insect-pest control methods should be developed. For effective transfer of tech-nology support, it is suggested to organize more number of crop demonstrations. At least one demonstration should be conducted in a village. The regular visit of village level work-ers need be strengthened and to raise their technical compe-tency, especially in the field where farmers have very great problems.

REFERENCES

Baidiyavadra, D.A. 1993. Knowledge, technological gap and constraints of groundnut growers. M.Sc.(Agri.) Thesis (Unpublished), Gujarat Agricultural University, SardarKrushinagar.

Bhalara, V.G. 1981. An analysis of groundnut growers’ knowledge about plant production measures in groundnut. M.Sc. (Agri.) Thesis (Unpublished), Gujarat Agricultural University, SardarKrushinagar.

Dobe, V.K.,Singh, S.D.,Saini, R. and Saini, S.P.S. 1981. Gap and constraints analysis of wheat production. Indian J. Agric. Res.XV(1): 17.

Girase, K.A., Desai, B.S. and V.N. Rade 1991.Adoption behavior of groundnut growers.Maharastra J.Ext. Edn.X(2):358-360.

Varma, P.D. 2000. Yield gap and constraints analysis of groundnut production in South Saurashtra Agro climatic zone of Gujarat state. Ph.D. (Agri.) Thesis (Unpublished), Gujarat Agricultural University, SardarKrushinagar.

Received : July 2014 : Accepted : November 2014


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Frontline Demonstration Influences on Knowledge and Adoption of Mustard Growers

Girish Deshmukh1, H.B. Patel2 and Mahesh R. Patel3

1 Ph.D. Student(Agril. Extension), JAU, Junagadh - 362 0012 Assosiate Extension Educationist, DEE, AAU, Anand - 388 110

3 Assosiate Extension Educationist, EEI, Anand - 388 110

ABSTRACT

Frontline demonstration (FLD) is one of the most powerful tools for transfer of technology. Keeping in view of an effective extension approach of FLDs for dissemination of mustard technology, an impact assessment of FLDs conducted by Krishi Vigyan Kendra, located in Devataj, Anand district of Gujarat was assessed. The impactassessmentwasbasedonthecomparisonofbeneficiaryandnon-beneficiaryrespondentswithreferencetodistribution of respondents according to their knowledge, adoption and constraints faced by the respondents with regardstoadoptionofmustardproductiontechnologies.Itwasfoundthat88.34%ofbeneficiaryrespondentshadmediumtohighlevelofknowledgeand85%non-beneficiaryrespondentshadlowtomediumlevelofknowledgetowardsrecommendedmustardproduction technology.Theanalysisofdatashowedthat85%non-beneficiaryhadlowtomediumand76.67%beneficiarymustardgrowerswereadoptedmediumtohighlevelofrecommendedmustardproductiontechnology.Someoftheimportantconstraintsfacedbythebeneficiaryandnon-beneficiariesrespondents were high cost of fertilizer, high labor wages, ruminative price for the produce and high cost of seed in adoption of mustered production technologies in the study area.

Keywoards: Frontline demonstration, Impact, Knowledge, Adoption

INTRODUCTION

Front Line Demonstration (FLDs) is an appropriate tool to demonstrate recommended technologies among the farmers. This new concept of field demonstration evolved by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research with the in-ception of the Technology Mission on Oilseed Crops during mid eighties. The technologies developed through All India Coordinated Research Project on Rapeseed-Mustard through research activities are demonstrated under actual field con-ditions of the farmers through FLDs. The demonstrations conducted under the close supervision of scientists is called front-line demonstrations because the technologies are dem-onstrated for the first time by the scientists themselves be-fore being fed into the main extension system of the State Department of Agriculture. FLD is one of the most powerful tools of extension because farmers in general are driven by the perception that ‘seeing is believes’. The main objective of FLDs is to demonstrate newly released crop production and protection technologies and its management practices in the farmers’ field under different agro-climatic regions and farming situations. While demonstrating the technologies in the farmers’ field, the scientists are required to study the factors that are contributing to higher crop production and constraints faced by the respondents while adopting the new

mustered production technologies.

The major oilseed crops in India are ground nut, sunflower and mustered. Among them mustered is the one of the most important oilseed cope. Its oil is the important component of human diet and it has diversified domestic and industrial uses. These days rapeseed-mustard production in India had achieved three fold increases in the last two de-cades. Mustard has emerged as an important crop from the states like Gujarat, MP, Rajasthan. It is mainly because the technology development with regard to improved varieties and other inputs have played important role in raising pro-ductivity (Singh 2003).

Realizing the importance of frontline demonstrations in transfer of mustard production technologies, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Devataj, Bharatpur has regularly been conducted FLDs at adopted farmers’ field from past four years on mustard field in different talukas of Anand district with the objective of convincing farmers and extension functionaries together about the production potentialities of the mustard technologies for further wide scale diffusion. Keeping in view of an effective extension approach of FLDs for dissemination of mustard technology, it was thought that impact of FLDs conducted by KVK Devataj was to be assessed. Therefore the


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present study was conducted in 2011-12 was undertaken with the following specific objectives:

OBJECTIVES

(i) To know the knowledge of mustard growers

(ii) To know the adoption about mustard production technology

(iii) To know the constraints face by the mustard growers in adoption of mustard production technology

METHODOLOGY

The present investigation was carried in 10 villages of Petlad, Tarapur and Sojitra talukas of Anand district dur-ing 2011-2012. Purposely KVK Devataj was selected for the study because maximum number of FLDs was conducted on mustard crop. A sample of 120 respondents was taken com-prising 60 beneficiary and 60 non-beneficiary farmers. For

selection of beneficiary farmers a list of farmers where FLDs were conducted during preceding four years was prepared and for taking the equal representation, six beneficiary farm-ers from each one of the selected 10 villages making 60 ben-eficiary respondents were selected randomly. For the other half of the sample (60 non-beneficiary farmers), 60 farmers were selected randomly from the locality adjacent to KVK Devataj where FLDs were not conducted by any organiza-tions.

The data were collected through personal interview with the help of pre-tested schedule. Jha and Singh (1970) and Sengupta (1967) scales were used respectively with ap-propriative modifications to measure knowledge and adop-tion levels of mustard growers. The collected data were pro-cessed, tabulated, classified and analysed in terms of mean, percent scores, ranks, etc. in the light of objectives of the study.


Level of knowledge of mustard growers

Table 1 : Distribution of respondents according to their knowledge regarding recommended mustard production technology n=120

Sr.No. Level of Knowledge

Category of mustard growersBeneficiaries (n=60) Non- beneficiaries (n=60)

No. Per cent No. Per cent1 Low (Below 17.41 score) 07 11.67 19 31.672 Medium (Between 17.41 to 22.34 score) 34 56.67 32 53.333 High (Above 22.34 score) 19 31.67 09 15.00

Table 1 shows that majority (56.67 per cent) of beneficiary mustard growers had medium level of knowledge about recommended mustard production technology, followed by 31.67 per cent and 11.67 per cent of them had high and low level of knowledge about recommended mustard production technology, respectively. In case of non-beneficiary mustard growers, majority (53.33 per cent) of them had medium level of knowledge about recommended mustard production technology, followed by 31.67 per cent and 15.00 per cent of them had low and high level of knowledge about recommended mustard production technology, respectively.

The analysis of data showed that great majority of beneficiary (88.34 per cent) of mustard growers had medium to high and non-beneficiary (85.00 per cent) of mustard growers had low to medium level of knowledge about recommended mustard production technology.

It indicates that beneficiary mustard growers had significantly higher knowledge than non-beneficiary mustard growers. From the above finding an inference can be drawn that FLD had influenced in increasing the knowledge of the beneficiary mustard growers regarding mustard production technology.

Level of adoption of mustard

Table 2: Distribution of respondents according to their adoption regarding mustard production technology n=120

Sr. No. Level of adoption

Category of mustard growersBeneficiaries (n=60) Non- beneficiaries (n=60)No. Per cent No. Per cent

1 Low (Below 8.72 score) 14 23.33 28 46.672 Medium (Between 8.72 to 11.33 score) 30 50.00 23 38.333 High (Above 11.33 score) 16 26.67 09 15.00


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Data presented in Table 2 shows that half (50.00 per cent) of beneficiary mustard growers had medium level of adoption about recommended mustard production technology, followed by 26.67 per cent and 23.33 per cent of them had high and low level of adoption about recommended mustard production technology, respectively. In case of non-beneficiary mustard growers, majority (46.67 per cent) of them had low level of adoption about recommended mustard production technology, followed by 38.33 per cent and 15.00 per cent of them had medium and high level of adoption about recommended mustard production technology, respectively.

The analysis of data showed that great majority of non-beneficiary (85.00 per cent) of mustard growers had low to medium and beneficiary (76.67 per cent) mustard growers

had medium to high level of adoption about recommended mustard production technology.

The study reveals that there was significant difference in the adoption about recommended mustard production technology between the beneficiary and non-beneficiary mustard growers. It means that the beneficiary mustard growers had better adoption than non-beneficiary mustard growers in recommended mustard production technology.

From the above findings an inference could be drawn that FLD conducted by KVK, Devataj had played an important role in increasing the rate of adoption of the recommended crop production technology of mustard crop.

Constraints faced by the mustard growers

Table 3: Constraints faced by the mustard growers in adoption of mustard production technology n=120

Sr. No. Constraints

Category of mustard growersBeneficiaries (n=60) Non-beneficiaries (n=60)

Mean Rank Mean Rank1 Inadequate finance 1.800 V 1.717 VI2 Lack of technical guidance 1.700 VII 1.783 IV3 Unavailability of certified seed 1.067 XIII 1.383 X4 High cost of fertilizer 2.000 I 1.933 I5 Lack of irrigation water (Irregular rainfall) 1.733 VI 1.733 V6 Irregular supply of electricity 0.917 XIV 1.183 XII7 High rate of electricity 1.217 XI 1.267 XI8 Shortage and high wages of labor 1.983 II 1.833 III9 Attack of pests and diseases 1.617 VIII 1.633 VII10 Crop is susceptible to wilt 1.167 XII 1.483 IX11 Don’t get remunerative price of production 1.917 III 1.567 VIII12 High cost of seed 1.850 IV 1.900 II13 Lack of local market facility 1.300 X 0.867 XIV14 High production cost 1.417 IX 1.050 XIII

A glance of the Table 3 shows that high cost of fertilizers, shortage and high wages of labor, remunerative price of production, high cost of seed, inadequate finance, lack of irrigation water (irregular rainfall), lack of technical guidance, attack of pests and diseases, high production cost, lack of local market facility, high rate of electricity, crop is susceptible to wilt, unavailability of certified seed and irregular supply of electricity were main problems faced by beneficiary mustard growers in adoption of mustard production technology.

In case of non-beneficiary mustard growers, high cost of fertilizers, high cost of seed, shortage and high wages of labor, lack of technical guidance, lack of irrigation water

(irregular rainfall), inadequate financial, attack of pests and diseases, do not get remunerative price of production, crop is susceptible to wilt, unavailability of certified seed, high rate of electricity, irregular supply of electricity, high production cost and lack of local market facility were major problems faced by them in adoption of mustard production technology.

CONCLUSION

The above study showed that majority of beneficiary (88.34 per cent) mustard growers had medium to high and non-beneficiary (85.00 per cent) mustard growers had low to medium level of knowledge about recommended mustard production technology. In case of adoption non-beneficiary


30

(85.00 per cent) mustard growers had low to medium and beneficiary (76.67 per cent) mustard growers had medium to high level of adoption about recommended mustard production technology. It was found that significant difference in knowledge and adoption level between beneficiary and non-beneficiary mustered growing farmers. It can be interpreted that there was positive impact of FLDs conducted by KVK Devataj on knowledge and adoption of the mustard production technologies. Therefore, it can be concluded that frontline demonstration conducted under the close supervision of scientists is one of the most important tool of extension to demonstrate newly released crop production and protection technologies and its management practices in the farmers’ field under different agro-climatic regions and farming situations. FLDs are playing important role in motivating the farmers for adoption of improved agriculture technology resulting in increasing their yield and profits. Keeping in view of importance in transfer of technology, FLDs should be designed and conducted carefully and effectively and provisions should be made for other supportive extension activities such as field days, interaction meeting, etc. for

speedy dissemination of demonstrated technology among farming community.

REFERENCES

Jha, P. N. and Singh, K. N. (1970). A test to measure farmers’ knowledge about high yielding variety programme, Inter discipline. 7(1):65-67.

Kumawat, S.R. (2008). Impact of frontline demonstration on adoption of improved castor production technology. Raj. J. Extn. Edu. 16:143-47.

Lakhera, J.P. and Sharma, B.M. (2002). Impact of frontline demonstration on adoption of improved mustard pro-duction technology. Raj. J. Extn. Edu. 14: 43-47.

Patel, B.I., Patel, D.B., Patel, A.J., and Vihol, K.H. (2009). Performance of mustard in Banaskantha district of Gu-jarat. J. Oilseed Research. 26 (Special issue): 556-57.

Sengupta, T. (1967). A simple adoption scale used for farmers for high yielding programme of rice, Indian journal of Extension Education, 3:107-115.



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INTRODUCTION

The panchayati raj as a system of self-governance was introduced for the first time in 1959 following the Balwant Rai Mehta committee report (1958) that recommended a three-tier structure of local self-government consisting of gram panchayat at the village level, Taluka panchayat samiti at the sub-district level and zilla parishad at the district level. Accordingly, Panchayati raj system has been in operation in the country.

The village panchayat at the grass root level is the pivotal agency for the holistic development of the village, which in turn rests on the role performance of its members. These members in true sense are the formal leaders of the village and are regarded as the symbols of rural development and they reflect the entire community. Thus for proper development of the village, it is quite essential that the members should understand their role clearly and carry out it effectively. This role performance by the members may be affected by various characteristics of the members. Keeping in view present study was conducted with following objectives:

OBJECTIVES

(i) To ascertain the role performance of gram panchayat members

(i) To study the relationship if any between the profile of gram panchayat members and their role performance

METHODOLOGY

The present study was undertaken in Anand district, which is operational area of Anand Agricultural University. Three talukas viz., Anklav, Borsad and Petlad were selected for the study and from each selected taluka, eight villages with full fledged gram panchayat were randomly selected. From each selected village, five gram panchayat members were selected making the total sample of 120 respondents. The data were collected in the light of the objectives of the study with the help of well structured, pre tested Gujarati version interview schedule. For measurement of role performance, 17 different statements reflecting various roles of gram panchayat members were developed and weighed on four point continuum. Correlation of coefficient was worked out to study the relationship between role performance of gram panchayat members and their various characteristics.


Role performance of gram panchayat members

Sound development of village is only possible if gram panchayat members perform their role in effective manner. With this consideration, role performance of gram

Correlets of Role Performance of Gram Panchayat Members

K. L. Chaudhary1, Sunil R. Patel2 and T. R. Patel3

1 Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Extension Education, SDAU, Sardarkrushinagar-385 5062 Officer on Special Duty, College of Agriculture, AAU, Jabugam

3 Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Extension Education, B. A. College of Agriculture, AAU, Anand 388 110Email : [email protected]

ABSTRACT

The present investigation was conducted with 120 gram panchayat members selected from three talukas of Anand district. Roleperformancewasfoundtobegoodincaseofmorethantwo-fifth(44.17percent)ofgrampanchayatmembers,whereas it was excellent and moderate in case of 30.00 per cent and 23.33 per cent of gram panchayat members, respectively. Only 2.50 per cent of the gram panchayat members were observed in the category of poor role performance, while none of them was found in very poor category. The study also shows that only three variables viz. knowledge of role to be performed, co-ordinationabilityandcommunicationabilityhadpositiveandhighlysignificantcorrelationwiththeroleperformanceof gram panchayat members, whereas age, education, size of family, time spent for gram panchayat work, experience as gram panchayat member, caste, social participation, political contact, annual income and occupation could not show any significantcorrelationwiththeirroleperformance.

Keywords : Role performance, Gram panchayat members


32

panchayat members was studied. The data in this regard are presented in Table-1.

Table 1 : Distribution of the respondents according to their role performance n=120

Sr. No

CategoryGram panchayat

membersNo. Per cent

1 Very poor (17 to 26 score) 00 00.002 Poor (27 to 36 score) 03 02.503 Moderate (37 to 48 score) 28 23.334 Good (49 to 58 score) 53 44.175 Excellent (59 to 68score) 36 30.00

It is evident from the data presented in Table 1 that role performance was observed good in case of more than two-fifth (44.17 per cent) of gram panchayat members, whereas it was excellent and moderate in case of 30.00 per cent and 23.33 per cent of gram panchayat members, respectively. Only 2.50 per cent of the gram panchayat members were found in the category of poor role performance, while none of them fell under very poor category. Thus, it can be concluded that three-fourth (74.17 per cent) of the gram panchayat members had good to excellent level of role performance.

This might be because of the combined effect of their high to medium level of knowledge of the role to be performed, high to very high level of coordination ability and high to very high level of communication ability.

Correlates of role performance of gram panchayat members

As it is observed, only three variables viz. knowledge of role to be performed, co-ordination ability and communication ability had positive and highly significant correlation with the role performance of gram panchayat members, whereas age, education, size of family, time spent for gram panchayat work, experience as gram panchayat member, caste, social participation, political contact, annual income and occupation failed to establish significant correlation with their role performance. Thus, the results give us the indication that to have better role performance by gram panchayat members, efforts should be made to provide sufficient knowledge about role and develop coordination and communication ability among the gram panchayat members who are found poor in these qualities.

Table: 2 Correlates of role performance towards gram panchayat members about gram panchayat n=120

Sr. No. Variable Correlation Coefficient( r value )

X1 Age -0.1107NSX2 Education 0.1241NSX3 Size of Family -0.O726NSX4 Time spent for gram

panchayat work0.0735NS

X5 Experience as gram panchayat member

0.0768NS

X6 Caste 0.0414NSX7 Social participation 0.0488NSX8 Political Contact 0.0128NSX9 Annual Income 0.0384NSX10 Occupation 0.1055NSX11 Knowledge of role to

be performed0.3107**

X12 Co-ordination ability 0.5422**X13 Communication

ability0.5359**

** Significant at 0.01 per cent level of probability NS : Non Significant

CONCLUSION

To epitomize the results, it can be said that that three-fourth (74.17 per cent) of the gram panchayat members had good to excellent level of role performance. Only three variables viz. knowledge of role to be performed, co-ordination ability and communication ability had positive and highly significant correlation with the role performance of gram panchayat members, whereas other variables failed to establish significant correlation with their role performance.

REFERENCES

Diwan, Y. B. (2007). A Comparative Study between the performance of man and women sarpanches in Ahmadabad district of Gujarat, Ph.D. Thesis (Unpublished), AAU, Anand.

Rathi, R. J. (2005). Role Performance of Gram panchayat member towards village development activities in Raipur district of Chhattisgarh state, Unpublished M.Sc. (Agri.) Thesis, I.G.K.V.V., Raipur.

Received : August 2014 : Accepted : November 2014


33

ABSTRACT

Influenceofsocio-economicfactorslikeage,education,caste,occupation,landholding,familysizeand family income on the adoption of poultry farming in Banaskantha district of Gujarat state was studied. It was found that only Muslim community has accepted and adopted this business. Most of the poultry farmers (70 %) were between 31 to 45 years belonged to middle age group and 65 % were land owners. About 47.14 per cent poultry farmers were illiterate and 32.86 poultry farmers were educated up to primary level. 64.29 per cent respondent’s followed mixed farming system and rest were landless. The majority of poultry farmers had medium tohigherannualincome.Theannualincomeofthepoultryfarmershadpositiveandsignificantrelationshipwith extent of adoption of poultry practices. Thus, higher income poultry farmers apdopt recommended poultry practices due to risk bearing capacity as well as sound economic condition.

Keywords : Socio-economic factor, Adoption, Poultry farming

INTRODUCTION

Adoption of any recommended technology largely depends on personal, social and economic characteristics of the farmers, which play an important role in decision making process. Since, adoption is an action, the role of situation or an environment is very crucial is under standing human behaviour. Behaviour takes place in situation, which has profound influences on the individual’s action.

Acceptance of recommended poultry practices is not a unit act but a complex process involving sequence and through series of action. The action of an individual farmer is governed by personal, social and economic factor. Some farmers adopt new practices more quickly than other because of difference in personal characteristics. Similarly, if there is difference in economic factor, process of action is changed, thereby the pattern of adoption also changed.

Therefore an attempt has been made in this study to ascertain the relationship if any, between social, personal and economic characteristics of poultry farmers Banaskantha district of North Gujarat state and their extent of adoption recommended poultry farming practices.

METHODOLOGY

The study was conducted in Banaskantha district of North Gujarat region. A sample size of 70 poultry farmers was selected based on the purposive random sampling technique. The tool used for the study was interview schedule and pretested for its validity. By personal interview method from all the 70 respondents, responses were recorded in the schedule. Frequency and percentage were marked for the various items. Relationship between socio-economic characteristics of poultry farmers and their extent of adoption of recommended poultry farming practices was ascertained by calculating correlation co-efficient (r).The data were tabulated and statistically analyzed.


Socio-economic characterstics of poultry farmers

Most of the poultry farmers (70 %) were between 31 to 45 years belonged to middle age group and 65 % were land owners. About 47.14 per cent poultry farmers were illiterate and 32.86 poultry farmers were educated up to primary level. 64.29 per cent respondent’s followed mixed farming system and rest were landless. The majority of poultry farmers had

Influence of Socio-Economic Factors on Adoption of Poultry Farming

K. J. Ankuya1 and Miss P.B. Ashwar2

1 Assistant Research Scientist, Livestock Research Station, SDAU, S.K.Nagar - 385 5062 P.G. Student, ASPEE College of Home Science, SDAU, S.K.Nagar - 385 506



34

medium to higher annual income.

Table 1 : Relationship between Characteristic of poultry farmers and their adoption of recommended poultry practices n= 70

Sr.No. Independent Variable Correlation

co-efficient1 Age 0.1887 NS2 Education 0.09029 NS3 Flock size 0.05568 NS4 Land Holding 0.0612 NS5 Annual Income 0.2456*

* = Significant at 5 per cent level. NS = Non-Significant

The data presented in Table 1 revealed that the value of calculated correlation coefficient was 0.1887, which was found non-significant indicating no relationship between age of poultry farmers and their adoption of poultry farming practices. Hence it can be inferred that age and adoption are independent of each other.

The results presented in Table 1 indicate that education had non-significant relationship with the extent of adoption of poultry farming practices. Although in the present study statistical analysis revealed no impact of education on poultry farming practices and related technological advancement but the fact, that education improves individuals thinking and analyzing ability can not be ignored. As per the discussion the poultry farmers had low literacy level (up to primary). This might have attended the adoption rate and resulted in non-significant relationship.

The data presented in Table 1 revealed that flock size had non-significant relationship with the extent of adoption of poultry practices. Majority of the poultry farms were having large flock size. But the flock size were not affecting the rate of adoption as the farmers are from only one community which had low literacy level and seems to be adopted the business as secondary occupation and remain dependent on the traders for the requirement and marketing of the produce.

It is apparent from Table 1 that calculated ‘r’ value was 0.0612 indicating non-significant relationship between land holding of poultry farmers and their extent of adoption of poultry farming practices. It can be concluded that there is no significant relationship between land holding of the poultry farmers and their extent of adoption.

The probable reason might be that the poultry farmers are rearing poultry since long time, one third of farmers are landless and majority of respondents are governed by traders or they had tied-up arrangement with each other. The results are in accordance with the Shiva Sharnappa and

Veerana (1999).

It is evident from Table 1 that annual income of the poultry farmer had positive significant relationship with extent of adoption of poultry practices. It can be concluded that adoption is influenced by the annual income. The majority of the poultry farmers were having middle to higher income. A sound economical condition probably minimizes the risk factor and also the inhibition in adopting the new technologies.

CONCLUSION

The study concluded that majority of the poultry farmers were middle aged group and nearly half of them were illiterate. The most of poultry farmers were land holders and followed mixed farming and the majoritsy had middle to higher annual income.

The annual income of the poultry farmers had positive and significant relationship with extent of adoption of poultry practices. Thus higher income poultry farmers apdopt recommended poultry practices due to risk bearing capacity as well as sound economic condition.

REFERENCES

Mathiyalagan, P. and Subramanian, R. (1995). Economic status of poultry farmers. J. Ext. Edn. 6 (1): 1039-41.

Nimje, N.R.; Chaudhary, D.P. and Kulkarni, V.V. (1992).Knowledge and Management of poultry by poultry entrepreneurs. Maha. J. of Extn.Edu., 11: 282-285.

Patel. A.N. (1983). Constraints in adoption of Poultry farming in Valsad district of Gujarat state. Unpublished M.Sc. (Agri.) Thesis, Submitted to G.A.U., Anand Campus, Anand.

Patel, G.R. (1999). Study on Technological gap in adoption of Poultry farming. Unpublished M.Sc. (Agri.) Thesis, Submitted to G.A.U., Anand Campus, Anand.

Saiyad, A.S. (1986). A study on constraints in adoption of adoption of poultry farming in Kheda district of Gujarat state. Unpublished M.Sc. (Agri). Thesis, submitted to Anand campus, Anand.

Shiv Sharnappa, G. and Veerana, K.C. (1999). Poultry farmer’s attitude and adoption behavior with respect to poultry management practices. Poultry advisor. 32(4): 35-38.

Siddhartha, D.S.D. (2001). A study on personality traits of Poultry entrepreneurs in Anand district of Gujarat State. Unpublished M.Sc. (Agri.) Thesis, Submitted to G.A.U., Anand Campus, Anand.

Received : March 2014 : Accepted : October 2014


35

Information Needs of Bt. Cotton Growers

Pinakin. C. Patel1, J. B. Patel2and B. R. Panchasara3

1 & 3 M. Sc Scholar, BACA, AAU, Anand- 388 110 2 Associate Professor, Department of Extension Education, BACA, AAU, Anand - 388 110

Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Farmer’s needs are the main basis for developing meaningful agricultural programmes, therefore the study was undertaken in Idar taluka of Sabarkantha district of Gujarat state to know the information needs of Bt. Cottongrowers.Total60Bt.Cottongrowerswereinterviewed.Thefindingrevealsthatthefertilizermanagement,plant protection measures, and the sowing practices are the areas where Bt. Cotton growers of a selected area needs more information for better crop production. Education, mass media, social participation and economic motivationarehighlysignificantlybutnegativelycorrelatedtoinformationneedsandageissignificantlypositivelycorrelatedwithinformationneedsofBt.Cottongrowers.Thefindingalsoshowsthatthemajorconstraintsingetting information regarding Bt. Cotton is that the time of telecast of T. V. programme is not suitable.

Keywords: Information needs, Bt. Cotton growers, Constraints

INTRODUCTION

Bt. Cotton across the world led to spectacular farm level benefits. India granted approval for its commercial cultivation since 2002 and there has been phenomenal increase in its acreage.Agriculture development depends not only on technology generation process but also on dissemination of technology as per the needs of the farmers in a particular farming system. Therefore, prior to technology dissemination, extension agencies need to explore and understand farmer’s need and relevance of technology for a particular situation. Cotton is an important commercial crop of India cultivated across nine major states of the country. The pattern of cotton production and consumption shows that India has major strides since independence from net importer to self- sufficiency and a marginal exporter of raw cotton. Total area of cotton under cultivation of India was 119.78 lakh hectares for the year 2012-13 and having production of 365 lakh bales with productivity of 518 kg/ha. India’s 2013/14 cotton production is forecast at 34.5 million from 12 million hectares, the second highest area and production on record.Gujarat is leading cotton producer with the area about 24.97 lakh hectors and it produces 93 lakh bales with average productivity of 633 kg/ha.

The technologies generated by State Agricultural Universities may not have been reached to the farmer’s farm on a massive scale or the farmers really realized its contribution to increase production in short or to increase sustainability in long run. Acquisition of information has always been regarded as a factor playing an important role in molding human behaviour leading to decision for adopting of innovation. Identifying information needs of the users can become solid basis for developing meaningful information warehouse. Keeping in view the present study was carried out with following objectives.

OBJECTIVES

(i) To study the profile of the Bt .Cotton growers.

(ii) To know relationship between selected characteristics of the Bt. Cotton growers and their information needs.

(iii) To ascertain information needs of the Bt .Cotton growers

(iv) To analyze the constraints faced by Bt. Cotton growers in getting information.

METHODOLOGY

The present study was conducted in Idar taluka


36

of Sabarkantha district of Gujarat state. In Idar taluka five villages were selected randomly. From each of the villages Bt. Cotton growing farmers were selected by proportional random sampling, making a sample of total 60 respondents. The data were collected by the investigator with the help

of specially prepared and structured schedule employing personal interview technique. The area of different six information need is divided in to five sub need and measured by three continuums Eg. Not needed, needed and most needed. All the required statistical measures were used.


Components of Bt. Cotton growers

Table 1: Component of Bt. Cotton growers n=60

Sr. No.

Components Categories No. Per cent

1 AgeYoung age ( up to 40 years)Middle age (40 to 50 years) Old age (above 50 years)

192219

31.6736.6631.67

2 Education

a. illiterate b.read n write c.Primary (up to 7th) d.Secondry (8th to 12th) e.College level

00 03 04 2429

0.005.006.6740.00 48.33

3 Mass media

Very low(up to 2) Low level (3to 4 ) Medium level ( 5 to 6) High level (7 to 8) Very high(more than 8)

15 18 17 08 02

25.0030.0028.3313.333.34

4 Social participation

No membership. Membership in organization Membership in more than 1 Position holder

00 44 07 09

00 73.3311.66 15.00

5 Economic motivation

Very low(up to 10.8) Low level (10.9 to 15.6) Medium level ( 15.7 to 20.4) High level (20.5 to 25.2) Very high (25.3 to 30)

00 01 11 21 27

001.6618.34 35.0045.00

6 Total area of land

Marginal farmer (Up to 1 hectare) Small farmer (1.01 to 2 hectare) Medium farmer( 01 to 4 hectare) Large farmer (>4 hectare)

04 24 25 07

06.6640.00 41.6711.67

7 Land under cotton cultivation

Up to 41.00 per cent41.01 to 72.00 per centAbove 72.01 per cent

11 35 14

18.3458.3323.33

Age

Table 1 shows that 36.66 per cent of the farmers were in middle age group followed by equal per cent (31.66) of farmers in young and old age, respectively.

Education

Education is generally believed to have the effect on widening the mental horizon of a person and thereby predisposes him to be receptive to new ideas. The table shows that nearly less than half (48.33 per cent )of the farmers educated up to college level followed by 40.00 per cent and 6.66 per cent of the farmers educated up to secondary level

and primary level. Whereas 5.00 per cent were illiterate.

Mass media

Mass media is the different source from where farmers can get latest information regarding particular object. Table 1 shows that one third (30 per cent) of the farmers had medium level of mass media exposure followed by 28.33, 25, 13.33 and 3.33 per cent of the farmers had medium, very low, high and very high level of mass media exposure, respectively.

Social participation

Table 1 shows that the majority (73.33 per cent) of


37

the farmers had membership in one organization while, 11.66 per cent had membership in more than one organization and 15 per cent of the farmers were position holder.

Economic motivation

The data shows that nearly less than half (50per cent) of the farmers had very high level of economic motivation followed by 35, 18.33 and 1.66 per cent had high, medium and low level of economic motivation, respectively

Total area of land

The data shows that slightly more than two fifth (41.66 per cent) of the farmers were medium farmers followed by 40.00, 11.66 and 6.66 per cent were marginal, large and small farmers, respectively.

Land under cotton cultivation

The data shows that more than half (58.33 per cent) of the farmers had 41.01 to 72.00 per cent of their total land holding under cotton cultivation, followed by 23.33 per cent of the farmers had more than 72.00 per cent and 18.33 per cent had up to 41.00 per cent of their total land holding under cotton cultivation.

Relationship between selected characteristics of the Bt. Cotton growers and their information needs

The results presented in Table 2 revealed that out of seven independent variable i.e total area of land and total land under Bt. Cotton cultivation was found non significant. From the remaining five independent variable one variable namely age was found significant and positively related with the information needs and rest of all independent variables was found highly significant but negatively correlated with information needs.

Table 2 : Relationship between selected characteristics of the Bt. Cotton growers and their information needs n=60

Sr. No. Characteristics Correlation coeffi-

cient (‘r’ value)1 Age 0.265*2 Education -0.601**3 Mass media -0.456**4 Social participation -0.373**5 Economic motivation -0.714**6 Total area of land 0.186NS7 Land under cotton cultivation -0.249NS

* Significant at 0.05 per cent level of probability ** Significant at 0.01 per cent level of probabilityNS=Non Significant

Information needs of Bt. Cotton growers

Table 3 : Information needs of Bt. Cotton growers n=60

No. Area Mean Percent Score

Rank

1 Variety 0.98 IV2 Sowing 1.14 III3 Fertilizer Management 1.43 I4 Plant Protection 1.42 II5 Harvesting & Post Harvesting 0.94 V6 Marketing 0.91 VI

Table 3 explains that farmers of the study area, required highest information needs regarding “fertilizer management” in Bt. Cotton farming with 1.43 MPS rank first and “plant protection needs” (1.42 MPS), “sowing needs” (1.14MPS), “variety needs” (0.98 MPS), “harvesting & post harvesting needs” (0.94MPS) and “marketing needs” (0.91MPS) which were at 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th ranks needed by the Bt. Cotton growers, respectively.

Information needs regarding variety

Table 4 : Information needs regarding variety n=60

No. Areas of information MPS Rand1 Suitability of High yielding

variety1.00 III

2 Characteristic of high yielding variety

1.06 IV

3 Source of seed 0.43 V4 Stock of seed 1.15 II5 Rate of seed 1.26 I

Table 4 explains that farmers of the study area, required highest information needs regarding “rate of seed” with 1.26 MPS ranks first and “Stock of seed” (1.15 MPS), suitability of high yielding variety (1MPS),“characteristic of high yielding variety” (1.06MPS) and source of seed (0.43MPS) which were at 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th ranks needed by the Bt. Cotton growers, respectively.

Information needs regarding sowing

Table 5 : Information needs regarding sowing n=60

No. Areas of information MPS Rank1 Time of sowing 0.35 V2 Depth 1.01 IV3 Method of sowing 1.13 III4 Spacing 1.50 II5 Gap filling 1.71 I

Table 5 explains that farmers of the study area, required highest information needs regarding “gap filling” with 1.71MPS ranks first and “spacing”(1.5MPS), “method


38

of sowing” (1.13MPS),“ depth” (1.017MPS) and “time of sowing” (0.35MPS) which were at 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th ranks needed by the Bt. Cotton growers, respectively

Information needs regarding fertilizer management

Table 6 : Information needs regarding fertilizer management n=60

No. Areas of information MPS RANK

1 Price of fertilizer 0.78 V

2 Method of applying fertilizer 1.33 IV

3 Bio fertilizer 1.63 II

4 Dose of fertilizer 1.62 III

5 Nutrient requirement of plant 1.80 I

Table 6 explains that farmers of the study area, required highest information needs regarding “nutrient requirement of plant” with 1.80MPS ranks first and “bio fertilizer” (1.63MPS), “dose of fertilizer” (1.62MPS),“ method of applying fertilizer” (1.33MPS) and “price of fertilizer” (0.78MPS) which were at 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th ranks needed by the Bt. Cotton growers, respectively.

Information needs regarding plant protection measure

Table 7 : Information needs regarding plat protection measure n=60

No. Areas of information MPS Rank

1 Identification, nature of damage & control measures for insect/pest

1.53 II

2 Identification, nature of damage & control measures for disease

1.53 II

3 Integrated Pest Management 1.58 I

4 Price of pesticide &insecticide 1.20 IV

5 Trade name 1.26 III

Table 7 explains that farmers of the study area, required highest information needs regarding “integrated pest management” with 1.58MPS ranks first and “identification, nature of damage & control measures for disease” (1.53MPS), “identification, nature of damage & control measures for insect/pest” (1.53MPS), “trade name” (1.26MPS) “price of pesticide &insecticide” (1.2MPS), which were at 2nd, 2nd, 3th, 4th ranks needed by the Bt. Cotton growers, respectively.

Information needs regarding harvesting & post harvest management

Table 8 : Information needs regarding harvesting & post harvest management n=60


1 Time of harvest 0.23 V

2 Method of harvest 0.66 III

3 Care during picking of cotton 1.18 II

4 Care after picking of cotton 1.21 I

5 Grading, packaging & forward-ing to cotton market

0.55 IV

Table 8 explains that farmers of the study area, required highest information needs regarding “care after picking of cotton” with 1.21MPS ranks first and “care during picking of cotton” (1.18MPS), “method of harvest” (0.66MPS), “grading, packaging & forwarding to cotton market” (0.55MPS) “time of harvest” (0.23MPS), which were at 2nd, 3rd, 3th, 4th, 5th ranks needed by the Bt. Cotton growers, respectively.

Information needs regarding marketing

Table 9 explains that farmers of the study area, required highest information needs regarding “time of market inflow” with 1.33MPS ranks first and “facilities available at market” (1.25MPS), “marketing procedure” (0.80MPS), “market price” (0.73MPS) “place of market” (0.45MPS), which were at 2nd, 3rd, 3th, 4th, 5th ranks needed by the Bt. Cotton growers, respectively.

Table 9 : Information needs regarding marketing n=60


1 Place of market 0.45 V

2 Market price 0.73 IV

3 Marketing procedure 0.80 III

4 Facilities available at market 1.25 II

5 Time of market inflow 1.33 I


39

Constraints faced by Bt. Cotton growers

Table 10 : Constraints faced by Bt. Cotton growers in getting information n=60

Sr.No

Constraints Total Score

Per Cent

Rank

1 Agricultural information is not published regularly in paper

30 50.00 V

2 Agricultural information in paper is not supported by good photographs

15 25.00 VII

3 Agricultural information is news paper is not understandable

09 15.00 VIII

4 Time of broadcasting of radio programme is not suitable

07 11.66 IX

5 Agricultural information broadcasting through radio is not timely

06 10.00 X

6 Agricultural information broadcasted through radio is not understandable

05 08.33 XI

7 Agricultural information telecasted through TV is not timely

39 65.00 III

8 TV programmes are not repeated at peak time

33 55.00 IV

9 Time of telecast of TV programme is not suitable

50 83.33 I

10 Agricultural information telecasted through TV is not understandable

04 06.66 XII

11 Irregular visit of village level worker.

48 80.00 II

12 Articles and magazines are not published at proper time.

18 30.00 VI

CONCLUSION

We can say that the rate of adoption of any technology happens to be faster if that meets the felt need most. It is very tough for a person to categorically claim to know all of the information needs of farmers especially in an information dependent sector mostly like in agriculture where there are many new and highly complex problems becomes hurdle in daily routine of farmers. This study suggests that the information regarding sowing, fertilizer management, plant protection measures are the areas where Bt. Cotton growers of Idar taluka of Sabarkantha district require high need of information for higher Bt. Cotton production. It is advisable for the extension agencies of that area that they become engaged in transfer of recommended Bt. Cotton production technology and concentrate their strategy to give information regarding available technologies for better crop production.

REFERENCES

Anonymous (2013). www. articles. economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-05-02/news/ 38983439_/raw-cotton-cotton-sowing-cotton-production.

Adeniji, O. B. (2007). Constraints to improve cotton production in Kastina state, Nigeria. Journal of Applied Science7 (12) : 1647-1651.

Christian, B. M. (2001). A study on extent of adoption of IMP strategy by cotton growers of Vadodara district of Gujarat state. Unpublished M. Sc (Agri.) Thesis, G.A.U, Anand campus, Anand.

Joshi, P. J. (2003). Extent of knowledge and adoption of cotton growers about modern practices of cotton in bhal area of Gujarat. Unpublished M. Sc. (Agri.) thesis, BACA, G.A.U., Anand.



40

INTRODUCTION

The agricultural prosperity is directly connected with the publication and use of agricultural literature through dissemination of new technology among farming community.In Gujarat, only KRUSHIGOVIDHYA farm magazine is published by Anand Agricultural University,Anand.The Present circulation is 14,847. Morover, farm magazine is playing an important role in increasing the knowledge regarding agriculture technology. By reading the articles, naturally it is expected that farmers may be motivated to adopt the agriculture technology on thier farm. In this farm magazine, the informaion of agriculture technology are published for farmers as per the need and time. So, looking to this, it is necessary to ascertain the use of agriculture information by subscribers of KRUSHIGOVIDHYA on their farming.

METHODOLOGY

The questionnaire was constructed with respect

to collect the information regarding the use of agricultural information by subscribers of KRUSHIGOVIDYA on their farming. The questionnaire was mailed to all the subscribers in the issue of November-2013, December-2013 and January 2014 on page No. 41-42. Among them, only 70 subscribers were responded. Thus, the total sample size of respondents was 70. The data were analyzed in the light of the objectives with frequency, percentage, mean, sd. and coefficient correlation.

OBJECTIVES

(i) To know the profile of subscribers

(ii) To know the reading behaviour of subscribers

(iii) To know the use of agricultural information by subscribers on their farming

(iv) To know the relationship between characteristics of subscribers and use of selected agricultural information and reading behaviour.

Agricultural Information Used by Subscribers of KRUSHIGOVIDYAon Their Farming

N.V.Soni1, D.D.Patel2 and H.B.Patel3

1 & 3 Associate Ext. Edu.,Office of DoEE,Anand Agricultural University,Anand-3881102 Technical Officer to V.C., Office of Vice Chancellor, AAU, Anand-388110


ABSTRACT

The agricultural prosperity is directly connected with the publication and use of agricultural literature through dissemination of new technology among farming community. KRUSHIGOVIDHYA plays an important role in increasing the knowledge regarding agriculture technology. The information of agriculture technology are published in the farm magazine for farmers as per the need and time. So, looking to this, it is necessary to ascertain the use of agriculture information by subscribers of KRUSHIGOVIDHYA on their farming. The majority of subscribers were young to middle aged group, educated up to graduate and post graduate level, big farmers, farming as their main occupation and had annual income above ` 1,50,000 per annum whereas the great majority of the subscribers had medium to high level of reading behaviour.The great majority of the subscribers used the selected agriculture information on their farming viz, high yielding varieties, disease control methods, keep of farm account, fertilizer as per recommended dose, weed control method, seed treatment and soil testing .The cropping intensity, reading behaviour andannual incomeof thesubscribershadsignificantcorrelationwithextentofuseofselectedagriculture informationwhereasagehadsignificantcorrelationwhileannual incomeanduseofselectedagricultureinformationontheirfarminghadhighlysignificantcorrelationwithreadingbehaviourofthesubscribers.

Keywords: Agricultural information, Reading behaviour, Subscribers


41


Profile of subscribers

Table 1 : Profile of subscribers n=70

Sr. No.

Characteristics of subscribers

No. Per cent

1 AgeYoung Age (Up to 35 Years) 10 14.29Middle Age (35 to 50 Years) 27 38.57Old Age (Above 50 Years) 33 47.14

2 EducationPrimary 13 18.58Secondary 32 45.71Graduate 17 24.29Post Graduate 08 11.42

3 Size of Land holdingMarginal farmer (Below 1.0 ha)

01 1.42

Small farmer (1.01 to 2.0 ha) 15 21.42Medium farmer (2.01 to 4.0 ha)

17 24.28

Big farmer (Above 4 ha) 37 52.854 Cropping Intensity

Up to 100 per cent 30 42.85101 to 125 per cent 09 12.86126 to 150 per cent 07 10.00Above 150 percent 24 34.29

5 OccupationFarming alone 32 45.71Farming and others(service/business)

04 34.29

Farming and animal husbandry

12 17.13

6 Annual IncomeUp to ` 50,000/- 06 8.57Rs.50,001 to ` 1,00,000/- 08 11.43Rs. 1,00,000/- to Rs.1,50,000/-

11 15.71

Above 1,50,00/- 45 64.29

The Table 1 shows that the majority (52.86 per cent) were from young to middle age subscribers. The one third of the subscribers (35.71 percent) were educated up to graduate to post graduate level and the half of the subscribers (52.85 per cent) were big farmers. Among them, one third (34.29 per cent) of the subscribers had above 150 per cent cropping intensity. Nearly half (45.71 per cent) of the subscribers had farming alone as occupation as main source of livelihood and majority of the subscribers (64.29 per cent) had above ` 1,50,000 per annum income.

Reading Behaviour

(a) Characteristics of the reading behaviour

Table 2 : Distribution of respondents according to their reading behaviour n= 70

Sr. No.

Item No. Per cent

1 Duration of reading farm literaturea Up to 5 years 24 34.28b 6 to 10 years 09 12.85c 11 to 15 years 07 10.00d 16 to 20 years 05 07.14e Above 20 years 25 35.71

2 Time spared for reading a Daily 23 32.85b Weekly 32 45.71c Monthly 15 20.00

3 Store of old issues 60 85.714 Subscribe other farm maga-

zine58 82.85

5 Read agriculture news in newspaper

65 92.82

6 Use of farm literature in their farming

67 95.71

7 Hear agriculture news in radio 38 54.288 Watch agriculture news in

television63 90.00

9 Got agriculture information through internet

21 30.00

The Table 2 reported that nearly fifty percent subscribers (47.13 percent) read farm literature from 5 to 10 years and one third (32.85 percent) subscribers read farm literature daily. While the great majority of the subscribers had store old issues, subscribe other farm magazine, read agriculture news in newspaper and use of farm literature in their farming. Further, 54.28 percent of the subscribers hear agriculture news in radio whereas 90.00 percent subscribers watch agriculture news in television and 30.00 percent subscribers got agriculture information through internet.

(b) Level of reading behaviour

Table 3 : Distribution of respondents according to their level of reading behaviour n= 70

Sr. No.

Level of reading behaviour

No. Per cent

1 Low (below 7 score) 22 31.432 Medium (8 to 12 score) 32 45.713 High (Above 12 score) 16 22.86

Mean = 7.20 SD = 1.64


42

The Table 3 indicated that great majority (68.57 per cent) of the subscribers had medium to high level of reading behaviour.

Use of agricultural information by subscribers

Table 4 : Disribution of respondents according to the use of selected agricultural information n=70

Sr. No.

Use of selected Agriculture Information

No. Per cent

1 Soil testing 56 80.002 Use of fertilizer as per soil

testing report46 65.71

3 High yielding varieties 65 92.854 Seed Treatment 58 82.855 Vermicompost 40 57.14

(a) Self prepared vermicom-post

13 18.57

(b) Purchase vermicompost 18 25.71(c) Self prepared and pur-

chase vermicompost 09 12.85

6 Bio- fertilizers 42 60.007 Micronutrient 53 75.718 Fertilizer as per recommended

dose 56 80.00

9 Irrigation at critical stage 46 65.7110 Drip irrigation 27 38.5711 Mulching 24 34.2812 Recommended weed control

methods59 84.29

13 Biological control method 47 67.14(a) Pheromone trap 19 27.14(b) NPV 14 20.00(c) Tricoderma 17 24.28(d) Bio-pesticide 49 70.00

14 Disease control method 56 75.7115 pest control method 46 65.7116 Grading of farm produce 29 41.4217 Packaging of farm produce 20 28.5718 Value addition 08 11.4219 Green house technology 19 27.14

(a) Green house 03 4.28(b) Poly house 06 08.57(c) Net house 10 14.28

24 Keep of farm account 61 87.14

The Table 4 indicated that the great majority of the respondents’ use the selected agriculture information in their farming viz, high yielding varieties (92.85 per cent), disease control methods (75.71 percent), keep of farm account (87.14 percent), fertilizer as per recommended dose (80.00 percent), weed control method (84.29 percent) and seed treatment

(82.85 percent) followed by soil testing (80.00 percent), biological control (67.14 percent), pest control methods and irrigation at critical stage (65.71 percent each), bio-fertilizer (60.00 percent), use of fertilizer as per soil testing report (65.71 percent), micronutrient (75.71 percent), vermicompost (58.61 percent) while 27.14 percent subscribers used green house technology 5.67 percent and only 11.42 percent used value addition.

Level of subscribers according to use of selected agriculture information

Table 5 : Disribution of respondents accordingto level of subscribers about the use of selected agricultural information n=70

Sr. No.

Level of subscribers according to use of selected agriculture information

No. Per cent

1 Low (Below 11 score) 11 15.722 Medium (11 to 18 score) 45 64.283 High (Above 18 score) 14 20.00

Mean = 15.76 SD = 04.15

The Table 5 indicated that the great majority of the respondents (84.28 percent) had medium to high level of about the use of selected agriculture information on their farming.

Relationship between independent variables and extent of use of selected agriculture information

Table 6 : Relationship of independent variable with extent of use of selected agriculture information n=70

Sr. No. Independent variable Coefficient Correlation

1 Age -0.021 NS2 Education -0.032 NS3 Land holding 0.035 NS4 Cropping intensity 0.262**5 Occupation 0.098 NS6 Annual income 0.214*7 Reading behavior 0.242**

*significant at 0.05 level of probability * *significant at 0.01 level of probabilityNS = Non-Significant

The Table 6 reported that cropping intensity, reading behaviour and annual income of the subscribers


43

had significant correlation with extent of use of selected agriculture information. The reason might be that the subscribers had more cropping intensity and annual income as well as medium to high level of reading behaviour.

(b) Relationship between independent variables and extent reading behaviour

Table 7 : Relationship of independent variable with extent of reading behaviour n=70

Sr. No.

Independent variable Coefficient Corre-lation

1 Age 0.212*2 Education 0.010 NS3 Land holding 0.139 NS4 Cropping intensity 0.084 NS5 Occupation 0.017 NS6 Annual income 0.320**7 use of selected agriculture

information0.242**

** significant at 0.05 level of probability ** significant at 0.01 level of probabilityNS = Non-Significant

The Table 7 indicated that age had significant correlation while annual income and use of selected agriculture information on their farming had highly significant correlation with reading behaviour of the subscribers. The reason might to be that the subscribers read the farm literature since long time as daily habit as well as subscribe KRUSHIGOVIDHYA and other farm magazine and use radio and television for got more information. The another reason might be that the subscribers were well educated ,possessed more land holding means big farmers and had more annual income.

CONCLUSION

The majority of subscribers were young to middle aged group, educated up to graduate and post graduate level, big farmers, farming as their main occupation and had annual income above ` 1,50,000 per annum whereas the great majority of the subscribers had medium to high level of reading behaviour due to read farm literature since long time as daily habit.

The great majority of the subscribers used the selected agriculture information on their farming viz, high yielding varieties, disease control methods, keep of farm

account, fertilizer as per recommended dose, weed control method, seed treatment and soil testing .

The cropping intensity, reading behaviour and annual income of the subscribers had significant correlation with extent of use of selected agriculture information whereas age had significant correlation while annual income and use of selected agriculture information on their farming had highly significant correlation with reading behaviour of the subscribers.

REFERANCES

Chaudhari, V.M.; Soni, M.C.; Prajapati, M.R. and Patel, V.T. (1994). Reading Behaviour of Subscribers of Farm Magazine Krushi-Go-Vidya. Seminar on Role of Farm Literature in Agricultural Development, GAU, Sardar Krushinagar, 23.10.94:39-40.

Hingu, N.J. (1995). Study on Farm Magazine (Krushi-Go-Vidya) with reference to its Effectiveness, Reading behaviour and Knowledge gain by the Life members. (Unpublished) M.Sc.(Agri.) Thesis, GAU, Anand.

Hingu, N.J. and Patel, N.R. (1997 & 1998). Gain in Knowledge by the Life Member Farmers’ Through Krushi-Go-Vidya Farm Magazine. Guj. J. Extn. Edu. 8&9 : 19-22.

Joshi, K.M. (1993). A Study of Readership Pattern, Readability and Effectiveness of Farm Magazine ‘Krushi-Go-Vidya’ Among the Readers. (Unpublished) M.Sc.(Agri.) Thesis, GAU, Navsari.

Nain, Manjeetsingh. (2003). Effectiveness of farm magazine. A comparative analysis of various components as viewed by readers. Raj. J. Extn., Edn. 11: 9-15.

Natikar, K. V. (2001). Attitude and Use of Farm Journals by the Subscriber Farmers and Their Profile- A Critical Analysis. (Unpublished) Ph.D. Thesis, UAS,Dharwad.

Soni, N.V.; (2005). Impact of KRUSHIGOVIDYA Farm magazine on Subscriber Farmers (Unpublished) Ph.D. Thesis, AAU,Anand.

Received : February 2014 : Accepted : October 2014


44

ABSTRACT

In rural area more than 65 per cent population dependent on agriculture and the major part of agriculture in India facing scarcity of water, which is main resource for agriculture development. Due to the resources depletion there had been a major shift in cropping pattern and life style in rural area. There is no scope for alternative enterprise for income generation in majority area. There is need to think about suitable extension strategies for sustainable development of rural India. Peoples institutions which are the groups or association formed by villagers is the suitable alternative, which play a pivotal role in rural development. With consistent efforts by NGO, Govt. departments, Banks etc. on peoples institution (the village committee formation fromformal,informalgroups,whichisafocalpointforeffortstobedone)offerefficiency,effectivenessandequity of developmental activities. Strengthening of peoples institution with regular meeting and training is the process and efforts for development. Coordination and a good combination of bank staff, committed NGO, Govt. dept and enthusiastic SHGs, interest groups and village committee would produce results in terms of Natural resource management, improvement in agriculture, availability of water and fodder, animal husbandry enterprise, micro enterprises, recognition of gender roles, change in social status, capacity improvement of farmers.

Keywords: Peoples institution, Village development

INTRODUCTION

Peoples Institutions are the groups or association formed by villagers. Peoples Institution in the village play an important role in alround development of the village. In rural area the main occupation is farming and majority population are depend on agriculture. For agriculture the availability of water the vital resource for agriculture decreasing day by day, facing drastic depletion due to severe drought and over exploitation leading to high vulnerability. Due to the resources depletion there had been a major shift in cropping pattern and life style in rural India. There is no scope for alternative enterprise for income generation in majority area, needs to think about suitable extension strategies for sustainable development of rural India and at the time, peoples institutions is the suitable and efficient alternative which play a major role in rural development as experienced by many organizations.

There are many strategies of extension, privatization and developing the role of the individual entrepreneur.

Extension professionals have always sought to reach the ‘grass roots’, the small farmers. Success in this area has been limited, however, and relatively wealthy farmers have been the first, and sometimes only beneficiaries reached. The time has come for extension to use extension methods, to identify clearly the problems, priorities, resources and institution / social structures within which the poorest groups carry out their quest for survival. The group approaches in extension are there fore needed for :

(i) Efficiency : in terms of the resources required to reach large numbers of beneficiaries, group approaches / peoples institution offer widespread coverage reinforcement at low cost;

(ii) Effectiveness : group approaches result in better projects for more people in less time than do individual approaches.

(iii) Equity : in protecting the resources, rights and economic security of the poorest members of the society.

Peoples Institution for Resource Poor Village Development

S. D. Kavad1, R. B. Patel2 and G. R. Patel3

1 Assistant Extension Educationist, DEE, NAU, Navsari 3964501 Director of Extension Education, NAU, Navsari 3964502 Director of Extension Education, NAU, Navsari 396450



45

Most effective approach (model) for village development

If we see the development in a form of process, then it would be like this :

Village

committee

NGO

Govt. dept.

Bank

SHGs

Interest groups

Volunteers

•Social •Economical•Cultural•Natural resources development of the village

Integrated efforts are required with cooperation and coordination among Non Government Organization, different Govt. depts. / funding organization and Banks. Individual effort by only any of them will not yield the result, so integrated efforts and integration of various approaches is the need of the time.

Components of the model

1 Village committee : village committee (which is the focal point for efforts) formed with the representation from SHGs, Interest groups and Volunteers (Para extension workers from the village).

(i) Self Help Groups (SHGs) : Self help group is homogenous in nature, having common goal, formed voluntarily and having 11 to 20 members in each group.

Strengthening of SHG with support and guidance for regular motivation and encouragement for income generating activities / micro enterprise, intra loaning, linkage with financial institutions etc.

SHGs doing welfare activities jointly in the village, like tree plantation, forest protection, water harvesting and conservation, eradication of edicts and bed habits, village cleanliness and sanitation, nutritional status of family etc, in participatory mode.

(ii) Interest groups : Adverse livelihood conditions hasten the process of collective function. The members having common interest in terms of crop cultivation, occupation, problems etc. in common, maintain their interest and motivate / encourage them to strengthen bondage, and

help in find out solution to their problems.

(iii) Volunteers : Volunteers are the person or Para extension worker from the village, Being one of them, helps in better coordination and easy approach for awareness and implementation.

2 Non Government Organization : (NGO) helps in community organization, formation of SHGs, interest groups, volunteers, village committee. Motivation and training on every aspects and helps in project implementation.

3 Govt. Dept / Bank : These provide financial support for micro enterprise or group activities, provide technical support and training to members of the peoples institution.

Strengthening of peoples institution

Continuous / periodical technical as well as organizational training / meeting is essential for capacity building of the members. Periodic experience sharing forum on SHG between partners (SHG, Bank, NGO). These are the process and efforts required for strengthening of peoples institution.

Regular meeting

Periodical meeting and discussion helps in review the progress, sharing of experiences provide motivation to members, identify strength and weak point, and future plan of action in the direction of stated objectives.


46

Training to members serves the following major objectives

� Behavior is concerned with developing characteristics such as commitment, personal warmth, caring and professional excellence in the trainee.

� Self awareness is concerned with knowledge and attitudes towards oneself.

� A viable support system must be available to enhance the trainees’ technical knowledge base by expanding and improving their competence.

� From a global perspective, increasing an individual’s skills to solve the problems.

� Sometimes, trainees possess the required knowledge and skills but lack of desired motivation.

� Orientation is concerned with providing clearly stated, well articulated and generally understood expectations regarding procedures, conditions, policies, resources and norms found within the functional frame work of the institution.

Outcome

Effective coordination and a good combination of bank staff, committed NGO, Govt. dept and enthusiastic SHGs, interest groups and village committee would produce results.

The focal point - Village committee and its other components achieve good results in terms of Natural Resource Management, waste land development, forest protection, aforestation, water harvesting and other village development activities.

In long run solve the problems which improve agriculture, fodder and fuel availability, NTFP, availability of fodder and water encourage the animal husbandry

enterprise, crop diversification and stable regular income. Changes in roles within families. Recognition of gender roles and agreeing on adoption of beneficial values to overcome changing social needs and challenges. Capacity improvement of farmers in team building and simple resource management technologies and methodologies.

Future strategy

Following strategy needs to be keep in mind to develop the farming community by this approach :

Group approach – should get particular emphasis.

Inter departmental coordination and Association with NGOs.

Use of information and communication.

Bottom up – farmer centered and demand driven extension.

REFERENCES

Kashem, M. A. (1993). Appropriate Extension strategies for developing countries : The case of Bangladish. Extension strategies for agricultural development in 21st century. Mittal publications, New Delhi :29-50.

Mudrakartha, S. (2005). Rebuilding family livelihoods through building credibility. Livelihood summit, sept. 27-29, Udaipur.

Radhakrishna, Rama B. et al. (1993). Training of farmers and extension personnel. Extension strategies for agricultural development in 21st century. Mittal publications, New Delhi, pp:181-210.

Srivastava, J. N. L. (2005). Role of cooperatives and SHGs in changing agricultural scenario. In souvenir of International conference on plasticulture and precision farming :65-67.

Received : April 2014 : Accepted : September 2014


47

Socio-Personal Characteristics of Farm Women in Dairy Occupation

V.S. Parmar1 and O.P.Sharma2

1 P.G.Student, Deptartment of Extension Education, N.M.College of Agriculture,NAU,Navsari - 3964502 Associate Professor,Dept.Extn.Education, Vanbandu Vet. CollEge,NAU,Navsari - 396450


ABSTRACT

Animal husbandry now occupies the major part in income generation at rural level. Women are play-ing the major role for its success. The present study was carried out in Navsari district of Gujarat state. For the presentstudytotalfivevillageswereselectedrandomlyfromNavsaritalukaofNavsaridistrict.Thedatawerecollected with help of well-structured interview schedule following personal interview methods. It was found that majority of the farm women were from middle age group, up to secondary and high secondary level of education and medium family size, farm women had medium social participation, used medium sources of information and medium level of knowledge about dairy occupation, farm women were found with marginal land holding, medium sized milch animals and medium experience in dairy occupation.

Keywords: Dairy occupation, Farm women, Socio-personal characteristics

INTRODUCTION

Livestock sector is a prominent sector among agriculture and allied activities in India. India is the world’s single largest milk producing country with share of about 14 per cent milk production. In the dairy development map of India, Gujarat occupies a place of pride. Women are considered to be pioneer in all sorts of development. The contribution of women in agriculture estimated to be about 50-60 per cent. In many places entire livestock management looked after by women. Keeping in view the present investigation entitled Socio-personal characteristics of farm women in dairy occupation in Navsari district of south Gujarat was undertaken with the objective to assess the Socio-personal characteristics of dairy farm women,

METHDOLOGY

Navsari district of Gujarat state is one of the tribal dominated districts of the Gujarat State. For the present study total five villages were selected randomly from Navsari taluka of Navsari district viz Italva, Mogar, Nagdhara, Chhapra, Unn were randomly selected for the study. Ten farm women were

selected randomly from each village having dairy occupation. Thus, random samples of 50 dairy farm women were selected for the study. The respondents were contacted at their home, at their farm in the month of May; 2013.By using descriptive statistics the data was analaysed by calculating simple percentage.


The data presented in Table-1 revealed that majority (68.00 Per cent) of the farm women belonged to middle age group followed by 22 Per cent with young age and 10 Per cent were from old age group were having 48.00 per cent of the farm women were educated up to secondary and higher secondary level followed by 30.00 per cent of them were primary, 12.00 per cent of them illiterate and 10.00 per cent were graduate.

Regarding size of family majority (80.00 per cent) of the farm women belonged to the large sized families’ i.e. 4-7 members, while 14.00 per cent of them belonged to small size families having up to 4 members and 6.00 per cent of them belonged to large family having above 7 members.


48

Table 1 : Socio-personal characteristics of farm women in dairy occupation n=50

Sr. No.

Socio-personal Characteristic

No. Per cent

1 AgeYoung age (up-to 30 years) 11 22.00Middle age (31 to 55 years) 34 68.00Old age (Above 55 years) 05 10.00

2 EducationIlliterate (No formal education)

06 12.00

Primary (up-to 7th standard) 15 30.00Secondary& Higher secondary(8th to 12th standard)

24 48.00

Above higher secondary 05 10.003 Size of Family

Small family (up to 4 members)

07 14.00

Medium family (4 -7members)

40 80.00

Large family (above 7) 03 6.004 Land holding

Landless 15 30.00Marginal (up-to 1ha) 26 46.00Small (1.01 to 2.00 ha) 05 10.00Medium large (above 2.0 ha)

07 14.00

5 Social participationNo membership 06 12.00Member in one organization 41 82.00Member in more than one 02 4.00Holding potion 04 8.00

6 ExperienceLess (up to 10 years) 09 18.00Medium (Between 11 to 20 years)

30 60.00

More (Above 20 years) 11 22.007 Extent of sources of information

No used (Zero score) 00 00Less used (up to 10 score ) 07 14.00Medium used (between 10 to 20 score)

37 74.00

More used (20 and above) 06 12.008 Herd size

Small (up to 2 milch animals)

11 22.00

Medium (3– 8 milch animals)

32 64.00

Large (More than 8 milch animals)

07 14.00

9 knowledge levelLow 06 12.00Medium 36 72.00High 08 16.00

Table 1 further show that majority (46.00 per cent) of the respondents were with marginal land holding i.e. up to 1.00 ha followed by 30.00 per cent with landless and 14.00 per cent with medium size of land holding and 10.00 per cent of the respondents were small farmers. It was also concluded that majority (82.00 per cent) of the respondents had member in one organization followed by 12.00 per cent with no membership, 4 members in more than one and 8.00 per cent of the respondents were having holding potion.

It was revealed that majority 60.00 per cent of the respondents were found with medium followed by 22.00 per cent with more (above 20 years) experience and 18.00 per cent of them had less level of experience in dairy occupation were having that majority (74.00 per cent) of the farm women used medium sources of information for obtaining information about dairy occupation, whereas 14.00 Per cent and 12.00 Per cent of them used less and more sources of information, respectively.

It was observed that that three fourth (64.00 Per cent) of the farm women had medium sized milch animals followed by 22.00 Per cent had small sized milch animals. A small proportion (14.00 per cent) of them had large sized milch animals.

It was also raveled that that three fourth (72.00 Per cent) of the respondents were found with medium level of knowledge about dairy occupation, whereas 16.00 Per cent and 12.00 Per cent respondents were having with high and low level of knowledge, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Majority of the farm women were from middle age group, up to secondary and high secondary level of education and medium family size with marginal land holding, medium sized milch animals and medium experience in dairy occupation. Furthermore farm women had medium social participation, used medium sources of information and medium level of knowledge about dairy occupation.

REFERENCES

Lahoti S.R., Chole S.R. and Rathi N.S (2012) Role of women in dairy farming, Indian J.dairy sci.65(5):442- 446.

Rathod P., Nikam T.R., Landge S., Vajeswari S. and Hatey A. (2011) Participation of rural women in dairy farming in Karnatka, Indian Res.J.Ext.Edu.11(2):31-36.

Upadhyay S. and Desai (2011) Paticipation of farm women in animal husbandry in Anand district of Gujrat ,J.of community mobilization and sustainable development,Vol.6(2);117-121.

Received : April 2014 : Accepted : September 2014


49

Factor Associated with Adoption of Date Palm Cultivation Technology by the Farmers

S.P. Pandya1, M. R. Prajapati2, and K. P. Thakar3

1 Assistant Professor, Directorate of Students’ Welfare, SDAU, S.K. Nagar -3855062 Principal, C.P. College of Agriculture, SDAU, S.K. Nagar -385506

3 Assistant Professor, C.P. College of Agriculture, SDAU, S.K. Nagar -385506Email : [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Withaviewtostudytheknowledgeandadoptionofscientificdatepalmcultivationtechnologybythefarmersthisstudy was planned in Kachchh district of Gujarat state. The data revealed that 97.50 per cent of respondents were having medium level of knowledge. The adoption of date palm cultivation technology was also found medium (57.50 %). The independentvariableviz.,education,socialparticipation,scientificorientation,riskpreference,economicmotivationandknowledgewerepositivelyandsignificantlyrelatedwithextentofadoptionofscientificdatepalmcultivationtechnologybythe farmers.

Keywords : Adoption, Knowledge, Date palm

INTRODUCTION

Date palm is the oldest plant amongst the cultivated

fruit trees. In India, the commercial cultivation of date palm

is rare. In Gujarat, Kachchh district enjoys monopoly in the

commercial cultivation of this crop. Date palm in the district

is cultivated in 12200 hectares with the production of 82800

million tonnes. But, the average yield per plant per year in the

district is low. The knowledge of an innovation is pre-requisite

for adoption .In order to increase the level of adoption, farmer

must be aware of the scientific technology. On this ground,

a study was conducted to examine the adoption level of

farmers about scientific date palm cultivation technology.

The specific objectives of the study were;

OBJECTIVES

(i) To ascertain the knowledge level of the farmers about

scientific date palm cultivation technology.

(ii) To measure the extent of adoption of scientific date

palm cultivation technology by the farmers

(iii) To study the relationship between selected personal,

social, economic and psychological characteristics of

the farmers and their adoption of scientific date palm

cultivation technology.

METHODOLOGY

The present study was conducted in Kachchh district

of Gujarat state as the district ranks first as far as the area and

production under date palm is concerned. Two talukas viz.

Mundra and Anjar were selected purposively as they occupy

more than 70 per cent area of date palm in the district. Five

villages having highest area under date palm cultivation were

selected purposively from each taluka. Using proportionate

random sampling technique, 15 per cent date palm growers

were selected from each village making a sample of 120

respondents.

For the measurement of knowledge of scientific date

palm cultivation technology, the test was developed. With a

view to find out the extent of adoption of scientific date palm

cultivation technology, the date palm growers were asked to

give the information about the package of practices adopted

by them during last year.


50


Knowledge level of the farmers about Scientific Date Palm Cultivation Technology

Table 1 : Distribution of the respondents according to their level of knowledge index n=120

Sr. Category No. Per cent

1 Low (0 to 33.00 per cent) 00 0.00

2 Medium (33.01 to 66.00 per cent) 117 97.50

3 High (66.01 to 100.00 per cent) 03 02.50

The results in Table 1 postulate that clear majority of respondents (97.50%) were having medium level of knowledge. Only 2.50 per cent of them had high level of knowledge. It is interesting to note that no respondent was found having low knowledge.

Adoption level of farmers about scientific date palm cultivation technology

Table 2. Distribution of the respondents according to their adoption quotient n=120

Sr.No. Category No. Per

cent

1 Low (0 to 33.00 per cent) 50 41.66

2 Medium (33.01 to 66.00 per cent) 69 57.50

3 High (66.01 to 100.00 per cent) 01 0.84

The result presented in Table 2 indicates that 57.50 percent of the respondents were having medium level of adoption. On the other hand, 41.66 per cent of respondents falls under the category of low level of adoption. It is sad to know that only one respondent was found having high level of adoption.

Though all the farmers were having medium to high knowledge, their adoption was medium to low. This may be due to reason that their plantation was very old. Hence they could not adopt those technologies (variety, intercropping) recommended after plantation. Secondly, lack of resources with them could not permit them to adopt all the scientific technology.

Similar results were found by Chandawat et al (2012) and Pandya et al (2013)

Relationship between selected characteristics of farmers an their Adoption of Scientific Date Palm Cultivation Technology

The independent variables viz., education, social participation, scientific orientation, risk preference , economic motivation and knowledge were positively and significantly related with extent of adoption of scientific date palm cultivation technology by the farmers at 0.01 level of significance. Remaining variable viz., age, experience in date palm cultivation, family type, family size, size of land holding, occupation and annual income were failed to establish any significant relationship with extent of adoption of scientific date palm cultivation technology by the farmers.

Table 3 : Relationship between selected characteristics of farmers and their Extent of Adoption of Scientific Date Palm Cultivation Technology n=120

Sr.No.

Variables Coefficient of

correlation (‘r’ value)

X1 Age 0.0441 NS

X2 Education 0.2894 **

X3 Experience in date palm cultiva-tion

0.1177 NS

X4 Family type 0.1035 NS

X5 Family size 0.1053 NS

X6 Social participation 0.2735 **

X7 Size of land holding 0.1564 NS

X8 Occupation 0.0710 NS

X9 Annual income 0.1363 NS

X10 Scientific orientation 0.4972 **

X11 Risk preference 0.4583 **

X12 Economic motivation 0.5307 **

X13 Knowledge about date palm culti-vation technology

0.7700**

NS : Non-significant** : significant at 0.01 level of significance


51

CONCLUSION

The study revealed that a clear majority of the respondents (97.50%) had medium level of knowledge .Their adoption level was predominately medium (57.50%).The variables viz; education, social participation, scientific orientation, risk preference, economic motivation and knowledge were found to have positive relationship with adoption of scientific date palm cultivation technology. All the independent variables explained as much as 64.88 per cent total variation in the extent of adoption of scientific date palm cultivation technology.

REFERENCES

Chandawat, M.S. (2012), Sharma, P.K. and Parmar A.B., Extent of adoption about improved cultivation practices of gram crop and constraints faced by the farmers of Kheda district , Guj. J. of Extn. Edn. :23:26-29.

Pandya, C.D., Bhatt, S.T. and Chauhan, N.M.(2013), Knowledge and adoption level of farmers about scientific cultivation of Okra in Tapi district., Guj. J. Extn.Edn :24:102-104

Received : July 2014 : Accepted : November 2014


52

INTRODUCTION

In 21st century, as we engage in perhaps one of the greatest challenge of our times to meet imperative of increasing agricultural production in a sustainable way, we are more actually aware than ever before that all of us are the members of the vast common wealth of nature and as we continue our search for paths to human progress that meet the needs and aspirations of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

Irrigation has played a decisive role in India to available increased agricultural production. The success of agriculture is extricable linked with development of irrigation since rainfall is concentrated essentially only in four months of the year and irrigation facilities are critical to cultivate more than one crop in year.

Drip irrigation is an effective and efficient method of providing water directly to the root zone of plant. Drip irrigation represents one of the fastest expanding technologies in modern irrigation agriculture. Water is applied at low rate under pressure to keep soil moisture within the desired range for plant growth. This system saves 40.00 to 70.00 per

cent of irrigation water. A well drip irrigation system also promotes the efficient use of fertilizer, pesticides and other water soluble chemicals along with irrigation water. Research studies conducted worldwide have shown that this method leads not only to appreciable water saving, but also achieving high crop yield as compared to surface irrigation methods. This system is adaptable to most of the crops, under most of the soils and particularly suited to soil under condition of water scarcity. Crops like sugarcane, fruits, vegetables, oilseeds and cotton are ideally suited crops for drip irrigation.

METHODOLOGY

The present study was undertaken in Banaskantha district of North Gujarat purposively as the district rank first in the state so far area under drip irrigation is concerned. Two talukas viz., Danta and Amirgadh were selected purposively because both the talukas are covered under NAIP-III. Three villages were selected purposively from each taluka as are covered under National Agriculture Innovation Project. Thus, total six villages were purposively selected. From each selected village, 20 farmers were selected randomly making a sample of 120 respondents.

Association Between Selected Characteristics of the Farmers and Their Adoption of Management Practices of Drip Irrigation System

Surbhi Gauttam1, K. A. Thakkar2 and Sushil Suthar3

1 & 3 Ex. PG Student, Department of Extension Education, CPCA, SDAU, S.K. Nagar – 3855062 DEE, SDAU, S.K. Nagar – 385506


ABSTRACT

The main idea behind this investigation is to study and describe the adoption of drip irrigation system by the farmers of NAIP jurisdiction of Banaskantha district of Gujarat. Age, education, size of family, family education and annual income hadpositiveandnonsignificantassociationwiththeirextentofadoptionofdripirrigationsystem.Whereas,croppingintensity,areaunderdripirrigation,extensioncontactandriskorientationhadpositiveandsignificantassociationwiththeirextentofadoptionofdripirrigationsystem.Landholdinghadnegativebutsignificantassociationwiththeirextentofadoptionofdripirrigation system.

Keywords : Drip irrigation, Adoption, Management practices


53


Table 1 : Association between the selected characteristics of the farmers and their extent of adoption drip irrigation system n = 120

Sr.No. Independent variables Correlation co-efficient

(‘r’ value)X1 Age 0.00879NSX2 Education 0.08415NSX3 Size of family 0.00730NSX4 Land holding -0.28432**X5 Family education 0.09091NSX6 Annual income 0.00847NSX7 Cropping intensity 0.21341*X8 Area under drip irrigation 0.29629**X9 Extension contact 0.20951*X10 Risk orientation 0.22468**

* = Significant at 0.05 level of probability ** = Significant at 0.01 level of probability, and NS = Non Significant.

Personal Characteristics

Age

The data presented in Table 1 clearly indicate that the age of the farmers had positive and non-significant association with their extent of adoption of drip irrigation system. The probable reason might be that the rate of adoption is less among the old aged individual than young one.

Education

The data presented in Table 1 clearly indicate that the Education of the farmers had positive and non-significant association with their extent of adoption of drip irrigation system. Thus, it can be concluded that adoption is independent of education. The probable reason for non-significant association may be that majority of the farmers were either illiterate or had primary education.

Socio-economic characteristics

Size of family

The data presented in Table 1 show that the size of family of the farmers was found having positive and non-significant association with their extent of adoption of drip irrigation system. The probable reason of non-significant relationship can be attributed to the reason that majority of the farmers were belonged to medium size of family with the size of 5 to 7 members.

Land holding

It can be seen from the data presented in Table 1 that there was highly significant but negative association between land holding of the farmers and their extent of adoption of drip irrigation system. The probable reason for significant but negative association that a small farmer has to invest less amount for installing drip in their small land.

Family education

The data presented in Table 1 clearly indicate that the family education of the farmers had found positive and non-significant association with their extent of adoption of drip irrigation system. The probable reason for non-significant association may be that generally, the most of the farmers decision about installation of drip irrigation system is being taken only by husband and there is no role of other family members.

Annual income

The data presented in Table 1 portray that the annual income of the farmers had positive and non-significant association with their extent of adoption of drip irrigation system. The probable reason for having non-significant association may be due to reason that Government of Gujarat is giving 90.00 per cent subsidy to the tribal farmers for installation of drip system and hence farmers have to bear little amount.

Cropping intensity

The data presented in Table 1 show that there was positive and significant association between cropping intensity of the farmers and their extent of adoption of drip irrigation system. Thus, it can be concluded that there is positive and significant association between cropping intensity and extent of adoption. The probable reason might be that more intensity of land use and increase in area under different crop could be possible after the adoption of drip irrigation system by the drip owners of Banaskantha district. These facts might have resulted in such type of relationship between these two attributes.

Area under drip irrigation

The data presented in Table 1 clearly indicated that there was positive and highly significant association between area under drip irrigation of the farmers and their extent of adoption of drip irrigation system. he probable reason might be that recently government have approved the different subsidy scheme for the farmers to adopt the drip irrigation


54

system as the drip irrigation system is new, beneficial and advanced technology. So drip owners were involving with this technology. That might be the probable reason behind significant relationship between area under drip irrigation system and extent of adoption. The

Communication characteristics

Extension contact and extent of adoption : The data presented in Table 1 clearly mention that there was positive and significant association between extension contact of the farmers and their extent of adoption of drip irrigation system. The probable reason for positive and highly significant association between extension contact and extent of adoption may be due to interaction between extensions personnel and NAIP personnel with the farmers.

Psychological characteristics

Risk orientation and extent of adoption

The data presented in Table 1 show that there was positive and highly significant association between risk orientation of the farmers and their extent of adoption of drip irrigation system. The probable reason may be due to the fact that adoption of any innovation involves risk. The farmers who are risk oriented are likely to adopt the innovation to a greater extent without any hesitation. It resulted into the significant relationship between risk orientation and extent of adoption of drip irrigation system.

CONCLUSION

The five independent variables viz., age, education, size of family, family education and annual income had non-significant association with extent of adoption of drip irrigation system. The variables viz., cropping intensity, area under drip irrigation system, extension contact and risk orientation of the farmers had positive and significant association with their extent of adoption of drip irrigation system. Land holding was found to have negative but significant correlation with the extent of adoption of drip irrigation system.

REFERENCES

Barse, K.N.; Gohad, V.V. and Lunge, M.R. (2010). “Adoption of drip irrigation system by orange growers in Amravati taluka”. Department of Extension Education, Shri Shivaji Agriculture College, Amravati

Desai, C.P. (1997). A study on techno-economic consequences in adoption of drip irrigation system by mango orchard growers of Junagadh District in Gujarat State. Ph.D. Thesis (Unpublished), Gujarat Agricultural University, Anand.

Katkar, B. S.; Ahire, M. C. (2006). A study of knowledge level of farmers regarding drip system of irrigation in Maharashtra. Int. J. Argil. Sci., 2 (1) : 148-150.

Khajuria, R. (2000). “Assumptions and constraints of sprinkler system of irrigation in Rajasthan”. M.Sc. (Agri.) Thesis (Unpublished), RCA, Udaipur.

Patel, S.R. (1997). A study on drip irrigation management techniques in South Gujarat. Ph.D. Thesis (Unpublished), Gujarat Agricultural University, Campus- Anand.

Ratan, R. (1996). A study on adoption of drip irrigation system by the farmers of Sikar district (Raj.)”. M.Sc. (Agri.) Thesis (Unpublished), RAU, Campus- Jobner.

Shashidara, K. K.; Bheemappa, A.; Hirevenkanagoudar, L. V. and Shashidhar, K. C. (2007). Adoption of drip irrigation management practices by the plantation crop growers. Karnataka J. Agricultural Sciences. 20 (1) : 79-81.

Suthar K. D. (2010). Socio-economic impact of drip irrigation system among the farmers of Sabarkantha district of Gujarat state, M.Sc. (Agri.) thesis (Unpublished), Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University, Sardarkrushinagar.



55

Factors Responsible for Professionalism in Management of Dairy Co-operative Sector

R.M. Naik1 and B.M.Tandel2

1 Assistant Extension Educationist, Office of DEE, NAU, Navsar – 3964502 SMS, KVK, NAU, Navsari – 396 450


ABSTRACT

Professionalism is essentially a function of modernization in which co-operatives have to emerge as strong business enterprises so as to emerge triumphant amidst the winds of change in the economy. As they have matured as organizations, there is a corresponding need to infuse adequate doses of professionalism in their functioning. They will have to manage change throughscientificbehaviouraltoolsandinnovations.Theywillhavetodiscardtheiroldnormsoffunctioning,imbibeanewculture and sharpen their powers of resilience so as to march ahead in this tumultuous era. In this pursuit, professionalism competence of co-operatives should come to the fore.In order to assess the amount of contribution (influence) of eachindependent variable to the dependent variable, the effect of other was held constant. Efroymsons (1962) stated that stepwise regression is one such method which has been widely adopted in multiple regression analysis. Out of all independent variables, theprofessionalisminmanagementofdairyco-operativesectorwasaffectedandpredictedbyfive independentvariablesnamelyknowledgeaboutprinciplesofco-operation,perceivedbenefitsofco-operatives,faithinpeople,education,andgroupcohesiveness, which had together contributed to 90.95 per cent of the total variation in the perception of professionalism. The findingsaresuggestiveofthefactthatthefarmershavingmoreknowledgeaboutprinciplesofco-operation,moreperceptionregardingbenefitsofco-operatives,morefaithinpeoplehighereducationandhighergroupcohesivenesswerefoundtohavemore perception of professionalism in management of dairy co-operative sector.

Keywords: Professionalism, Dairy co-operative sector, Management

INTRODUCTION

Professionalism is essentially a function of modernization in which co-operatives have to emerge as strong business enterprises so as to emerge triumphant amidst the winds of change in the economy. As they have matured as organizations, there is a corresponding need to infuse adequate doses of professionalism in their functioning. They will have to manage change through scientific behavioural tools and innovations. They will have to discard their old norms of functioning, imbibe a new culture and sharpen their powers of resilience so as to march ahead in this tumultuous era. In this pursuit, professionalism competence of co-operatives should come to the fore. This can only materialize if attempts are made to follow the dictates of professionalism in demonstrating certain proficiency and excellence in practices, based on a systematic body of knowledge, aiming at inculcating among its members a sense of responsibility towards each other, and at establishing norms of behaviour,

and clearly defined qualifications for membership. Some may consider it as an idealistic assumption, but closely following its spirit would portray a serious endeavor towards fulfillment of the objective of professionalism in a sharp break from the past.

The co-operatives in the present times represent myriad socio-economic activities with a wide range and depth. Their management has become a complex phenomenon requiring a high degree of innovation, skills and ability to experiment with new ideas. The problems of management have become manifold requiring specialized attention in the spheres of marketing, banking, processing, consumption etc. Due to this, application of specific fields of management with their techniques and methodologies has become important in the field of co-operatives, where management at present is quite simple and elastic, portraying a disjointed and somewhat outdated outlook. The co-operatives should not show despondency by showing a lukewarm attitude to the


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rapid advances in the field of management. A definite spin off effect of professionalism will be rise in productivity for co-operatives, which will be an important yardstick of success for the growth of co-operative organizations.

The co-operative sector in India has emerged as one of the largest in the world with 504 thousand societies of various types with a membership of 20.91crore and working capital of ` 2,27,111.83 croresThe co-operatives in the present times represent myriad socio-economic activities with a wide range and depth.

METHODOLOGY

Ex-post-facto research design was used for the present study. The dairy co-operative sector is spread over and functioning in all the part of South Gujarat. Later on three co-operative societies from each sector were selected randomly. Three categories of respondents, viz., office-bearers, leaders and primary members of the societies were selected randomly at the ratio of 5:5:10. Thus, the total numbers of respondents were 180. The data were collected with the help of structured

schedule by personal interview method. The dependent and independent variables were measured by utilizing suitable scales and procedure adopted by other research workers. The statistical measures such as percentage mean score, standard deviation, co-efficient of correlation, stepwise multiple regression, standard partial regression co-efficient and path co-efficient analysis were used.


Stepwise multiple regression analysis of independent variables and professionalism in management of dairy co-operative sector

The data in Table 1 indicate that out of all independent variables, five variables, namely, education, knowledge about principles of co-operation, faith in people, perceived benefits of co-operatives and group cohesiveness were accounting influence on the professionalism in management of dairy co-operative sector. All the five independent variables together accounted 91.60 per cent of variation as indicated by R2value of professionalism. R2 value was found to be significant at 0.01 level of probability.

Table 1 : Stepwise multiple regression analysis of independent variables and professionalism in management of dairy co-operative sector n=180

Sr.No.

IndependentVariables

Partial regression coefficient

(b)

‘t’ Value Standard error of

regression coefficient (Se of b)

‘F’ Value Standard Partial

regression coefficient

( b’)

Rank

1 Education (x2) -1.1712 -0.415 0.4109 8.124* -0.1101 V2 Knowledge

about principles of co-operation (x10)

3.7505 14.924** 0.3295 129.549** 0.6338 I

3 Faith in people (x14) 0.4183 2.504* 0.1260 11.017* 0.1440 IV4 Perceived benefits of co-

operatives (x15)0.3931 11.213** 0.1160 11.485** 0.2339 II

5 Group cohesiveness (x17) 0.3989 9.041** 0.1678 5.649* 0.1493 III

*, ** Significant at 5 and 1 per cent probability levels, respectively R =0.9608 R2=0.9160** The partial b values of these variables were converted into standard partial b’ values. The ‘t’ values of partial b were observed to be significant at 0.01 level of probability for two variables, namely, knowledge about principles of co-operation and perceived benefits of co-operatives and group motivation, whereas, it was found to be significant at 0.05 level of probability in case of faith in people and group cohesiveness. Based on the absolute values

of standard partial b’ these four variables were ranked from the highest to the lowest order of the contribution. The rank order given for knowledge about principles of co-operation was the first, second to perceived benefits of co-operatives, third to group cohesiveness, fourth to faith in people and fifth education. It is, therefore, clear that the relative importance of knowledge about principles of co-operation was more than other four factors.


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Table 2 : Stepwise variation accounted by different independent variables on professionalism in management of dairy co-operative sector n=180

Sr. No.

Variable included Coefficient of multiple determination ‘R2’

Total variation accounted (%)

1 Knowledge about principles of co-operation (x10)

0.7934 79.34

2 (x10) +Perceived benefits of co-operatives (x15) 0.8879 88.793 (x10) + (x15) + Faith in people (x14) 0.9019 90.194 (x10) + (x15) + (x14)+ Education (x2) 0.9090 90.905 (x10) + (x15) + (x14)+(x2)+ Group cohesiveness (x17) 0.9160 91.60

As a result of stepwise regression analysis, the regression model developed as y3 = a + b2x2 + b10 x 10 + b14 x 14 + b15 x 15 + b17x17

Where,

y3 = Professionalism in management of dairy co-operative sector

a = Intercept i.e. 36.8118b2 = Coefficient of partial regression of y3 on x2 i.e.

1.1712b10 = Coefficient of partial regression of y3 on x10 i.e.




0.3989x2 = Education x10 = Knowledge about principles of co-operationx14 = Faith in peoplex15 = Perceived benefits of co-operativesx17 = Group cohesiveness

Therefore, the fitted equation would be as under:

y3 = 36.8118 + (1.1712) x2+(3.7505)x10+(0.4183)x14+ (0.3931) x15+ (0.3989) x17

It is obvious from the data in Table 2 that the variable knowledge about principles of co-operative alone contributed to 79.34 per cent variation in the professionalism in management of dairy co-operative sector, followed by knowledge about principles of co-operative + perceived benefits of co-operative accounted for 88.79 per cent the earlier two variables + faith in people accounted for 90.19 per cent earlier three variables + education accounted for 90.90 per cent and earlier four variables along with group

cohesiveness together accounted for 91.60 per cent variation in professionalism.

CONCLUSION

The discussion leads to conclude that the professionalism in management of dairy co-operative sector was affected and predicted by five independent variables namely knowledge about principles of co-operation, perceived benefits of co-operatives, faith in people, education, and group cohesiveness, which had together contributed to 90.95 per cent of the total variation in the perception of professionalism. The findings are suggestive of the fact that the farmers having more knowledge about principles of co-operation, more perception regarding benefits of co-operatives, more faith in people higher education and higher group cohesiveness were found to have more perception of professionalism in management of dairy co-operative sector.

REFERENCES

Apte, D.P.(2009). Sugar Co-operatives in Western Maharashtra: Causes of Success/ Failure, Ind.J. Agril. Econ., 51 (4)

Dabas, J.P.S. (2003). Professionalism in management of co-operative sectors of Haryana State. Unpublished Ph. D. Thesis IARI , New Delhi.

Kainth, M.P. (2012). Co-operative movement in India- A Comparative View, The Co-operatator.March ‘2012, Vol. 31, NO. 4. : 302-303

Ravishankar, K, and Thimmaiah(1995). Professional approach in the education and training for co-operatives.The Co-operator.Jan ‘ 1995, Vol, 37No.4. : 302-304

Singh, K. (2002) Cooperation as an Instrument of Rural Development. Kurukshetra, February, 2002, 50 (4) : 8-12.

Received : September 2014 : Accepted : December 2014


58

Applications of Grid Computing in Agriculture: An Indian Scenario

Xitij U. Shukla1, P.S. Parsania2 and Krunal C. Kamani3

1 Assistant Professor, B.A. College of Agriculture, AAU, Anand – 388 1102 Assistant Professor, College of Food Processing Technology and Bio Energy, AAU, Anand – 388 110

3 Assistant Professor, S.M.C. College of Dairy Science, AAU, Anand - 388110Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Grid computing is a recent phenomenon associated with coordination and federation of computing resources distributed across organizations. The architectural style, components, present status and potential applications of Grid Computing in agricultural research in India is surveyed here.

Keywords: Grid Computing

INTRODUCTION

Networked computers demonstrated a novel approach towards communication and promised an unfathomed horizon of endless applications in the late 1960’s following the cut-throat competition to achieve excellence in satellite and space technologies in the either super-power countries. Supported by United States Department of Defense’s ARPA (Advance Research Project Agency), ARPANET became the first operational infrastructure for networked computers. (J.C.R. Licklider And The Universal Network, 2000)

Dr. Leonard Kleinrock – one of the major contributors to the research of this network had envisioned the utility of networked computers in 1969, as “As of now, computer networks are still in their infancy … but as they grow more sophisticated, we will probably see the spread of ‘computer utilities’, which, like present electric and telephone utilities will service individual homes and offices across the country” (UCLA to be first station in nationwide computer network, 1969). This might have seemed as a mere dream at those times though it has become a solid reality in present era. ARPANET eventually lead the scientific community towards the Internet, upon development of the TCP/IP protocol

suite (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) – a universal specification and means for assimilation of data across the heterogeneous network.

Figure 1 : Grid Computing

Image Courtesy (http://www.adarshpatil.com/)

Grid Computing

CPU (Central Processing Unit), RAM, storage space, network bandwidth, software etc. are classified as computational resources. Tasks solved by computers require some or all of these computational resources depending upon the complexity of the tasks. If the task is more complex it requires higher computational resources and so on.

Many research oriented activities such as weather forecast, climate change modeling, earthquake simulation, aircraft designing, protein mapping, data analysis etc. require


59

higher computational power. If they are solved on a single computer, the computation may take more time. If they are distributed on multiple computers and computed collectively, the time taken will be relatively less in comparison to the former approach.

Supercomputers consisting of thousands of CPUs, higher RAM and massive storage space are used to undertake such tasks.

However, it is not always possible to utilize such dedicated supercomputers on account of very high initial cost, complexity in operation and recurring maintenance for organizations specifically academic institutes involved in such research. Often multiple organizations are working on a common research goal. In such scenario some organizations have one type of computational resources and some have the other.

Grid Computing bridges this gap of resource scarcity among these organizations, through federation and sharing of these resources across. Grid Computing is defined as a phenomenon “That coordinates resources that are not subjected to central control, built using standard, open and general purpose protocols and interfaces and that delivers non-trivial quality of service”. (Figure 1) (Foster I. , 2002)

Figure 2 : Virtual Organizations

Image Courtesy Borja Sotomayor

Grid computing introduces the concept of virtual organizations, a boundary transparent architecture for flexible, dynamic, secure, coordinated sharing of resources. (Figure 2) (Foster I. K., 2001).

Grid computing infrastructure is built over Web Services – an operating system and programming language neutral distributed computing framework over XML (eXtensible Markup Language) based technologies. The

commonly used technologies are WSDL (Web Services Description Language), SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) and UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery and Integration). (Ian Foster, 2002) (Borja Sotomayor, 2006)

XML provides a framework skeleton for exchange of messages by web services. SOAP lets the hosts communicate via XML across the network by transporting messages over HTTP. Web service’s interface e.g. types of operations, message format etc. are defined by WSDL (Web Service Description Language). UDDI provides a registry service to announce the availability of a web service.

Role of NABG

Under ICAR’s (Indian Council of Agricultural Research) NAIP (National Agricultural Innovation Project), component 1 NABG (National Agricultural Bioinformatics Grid) Grid has been set up within organizations such as National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR)– New Delhi, National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources (NBAGR) – Karnal, National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (NBFGR) – Lucknow, National Bureau of Agriculturally Important Microorganisms – Kusmaur, National Bureau of Agriculturally Important Insectsc(NBAII) – Bangluru. (NABG)

These organizations are acting as partner organizations, under the lead centre Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute – New Delhi. The major objectives of this initiative are to create local databases and Bioinformatics Data Warehouse (BinDW) for genomic resources across species and to promote inter-disciplinary research groups with focus on agricultural bioinformatics.

The partner organizations are involved in collection, compilation, validation and storage of the genomic data of their respective domain, followed by identification of bioinformatics related issues in them.

The lead centre facilitates a bioinformatics data warehouse (BinDW) through the data provided by the partner organizations and a mechanism for effective storage and retrieval of the same. Further, it also provides a web based information system on biological resources in agriculture – a framework for analysis of genomic data to the partner organizations requiring higher amount of computational power. (Figure 3)


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Figure 3

Through Grid computing, NABG shall not only provide effective platform for research but also an opportunity to interact with different people associated with different domain and a platform for holistic capacity building of the human resource.

CONCLUSION

Grid computing can provide a collaborative approach to problem solving by letting associated organizations utilize each other’s resources. Resources are scarce at sometimes and costly at some other and are not always possible to acquire, install, own and maintain for every other individual/organization. Through Grid computing, associated organizations can collectively mitigate this issue, work in a more collaborative way and at the same time reduce their total cost of ownership through sharing their resources.

REFERENCES

Borja Sotomayor, (2006) Globus Toolkit 4, Programming Java Web Services. Morgan Kaufmann Publishers.

Foster, I. K. (2001). The anatomy of the Grid: Enabling scalable. International Journal of Supercomputer Applications , 15 (3).

Foster, I. (2002). What is Grid? : A Three Point Checklist.

How does the Internet work? (n.d.). Retrieved from World Wide Web Consortium: http://www.w3.org/wiki/How_does_the_Internet_work

Ian Foster, C. K. (2002). The Physiology of Grid.

J.C.R. Licklider And The Universal Network. (2000).

NABG. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://nabg.iasri.res.in

Requirements for the Internet Hosts (1989)- Communication Layers. IETF.

Roy Fielding, J. M.-L. (1996). HTTP/1.1 (RFC2616). Network Working Group, Internet Engineering Task Force.

Tanenbaum, A. S. (2003). Computer Networks. Prentice Hall.

UCLA to be first station in nationwide computer network. (1969).



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INTRODUCTION

The establishment of Agricultural Technology Information Centre (ATIC) under NATP has provided the mechanism of dissemination of quality agricultural extension services to the farmers and end users. The idea behind starting these ATIC is to help farmers for getting information, publications, planting material advisory services at one place thus total 44 ATIC were established in the country.

The Agricultural Technology Information Centre (ATIC) has been started from August, 2001 is a single window delivery system of the University. The extension activities like field visits, replying the queries of the farmers and other stakeholders, diagnostic team visits, trainings and sale of publications are being performed by the ATIC. To fulfill the needs and expectations of the visiting farmers’ ATIC scientist’s interacted with the farmers regarding the improved agricultural technologies developed by the

university. Besides this ATIC provides input facilities to the farmers.

Keeping this in mind to know the services rendered by the ATIC to the farmers and end users the present study on ‘Services Provided by ATIC to the Farmers and End Users’ was undertaken. It was therefore, felt necessary to collect and analyze the information from the helpline registers of SMS, Visitor Registers, letters, past annual reports of ATIC etc.

METHODLOGY

The study was conducted at the Agricultural Technology Information Centre, Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri, Dist. Ahmednagar of M.S. in India.

The data regarding services and facilities provided by ATIC to end users was available since 2001 to 2010 was used for the present study. The collected data were complied

Services Provided by ATIC to the Farmers and End Users

Patil S. D. 1, S. B. Shinde2 and B. D. Ramode 3

1 Public Relations, Officer and Asstt. Professor (Agril. Extension), Directorate of Extension Education; MPKV, Rahuri Dist. Ahmednagar (M.S.) - 413 722

2 Professor & Head, Department of Extension Education, MPKV, Rahuri, Dist. Ahmednagar (M.S.) - 413 722 3 Senior Research Assistant, ATIC, MPKV, Rahuri, Dist. Ahmednagar (M.S.) - 413 722


ABSTRACT

The Agricultural Technology Information Centre (ATIC) of Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri has been started from August, 2001. The different extension based activities are being performed by the ATIC for the transfer of agricultural technology to the farmers and end users. Keeping this in mind to know the services rendered by the ATIC to the farmers and end users the present study on ‘Services Provided by ATIC to the Farmers and End Users’ was undertaken. The data regarding services and facilities provided by ATIC to end users was available since 2001 to 2010 was used for the present study. From the study it was observed that, from inception more than six lakh farmers and visitors were personally visited the ATIC and more than one-lakh farmers contacted through the helpline, phone calls and letters. Besides the advisory services, facility of soil and water sample analysis was provided by ATIC. About two lakh and forty two thousand publications were soldduringtheperiod.MorethanfivethousandkilogramsseedsofdifferenttypeofvegetablecropsweresoldbytheATICduring the last ten years. Besides the vegetable seed, the different types of Bio-pesticides, Bio-fertilizers, Vermicompost and Vermiculture are available and sold through ATIC. ATIC organized trainings to farmers, scientist actively participated in agricultural exhibitions, radio talk and TV programmes.

Keywords : ATIC, End users, Services


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and analyzed according to the nature of services provided to the end users in order to draw meaningful conclusions in terms of frequency and percentage.


Information provided to end users through ATIC

It was observed from the Table 1 that, during the last ten years i.e. from inception more than six lakh farmers and visitors were personally visited at ATIC and visited the Crop Cafeteria and demonstration units. In the year 2005-06 the Agro Technology Week was organized by the university at Central Campus MPKV, Rahuri therefore the numbers of visitors were increased up to 2.5 lakhs in the year 2005-06.

More than one-lakh farmers contacted through the helpline and get the necessary remedial solution. From Table 1 it is also seen that during the same period some farmers (2651) are in touch with scientist of ATIC through writing the personal letters. The trend of asking queries through the letters is going to reduced due to increasing number of phones and mobiles with the farmers. During the visit, farmers visited the information museum and by watching and seeing the display boards of new varieties and technology and gathered the information. This helps the visitors to get first hand information about the different technologies developed by the MPKV. ATIC also organized training programmes to farmers (207), scientists actively participated in radio talk and TV programmes and agricultural exhibitions.

Table 1 : Year wise trend of information provided to end users through ATIC

Particulars No. of farmers visited the

ATIC

No. of telephone

calls received

No. of letters

received

No. of training

organized

No. of radio talk

broadcasted

No. of TV programmes

telecasted

No. of Exhibitions attended

No. of VIP Visitors visited

2001-02 15295 915 271 04 0 11 09 632002-03 25551 3489 275 27 8 05 09 722003-04 26580 2937 134 51 16 05 02 752004-05 26506 2543 167 30 14 03 07 882005-06 265799* 2813 458 18 18 02 05 1282006-07 30162 3693 605 16 17 04 04 432007-08 26669 11993 473 15 14 02 01 572008-09 48820 25294 119 15 18 04 04 712009-10 73676 31532 95 17 11 03 04 282010-11 66050 33200 54 14 07 04 02 76

Total 605108 118409 2651 207 123 43 47 701Note: * In the year 2005-06 Agro Technology Week was organized by the university at Central Campus, MPKV, Rahuri.

Soil and water testing services provided to end users

Besides the advisory services and input supply, ATIC provide the soil and water testing facilities for farmers and visitors. Through the ATIC; facility of soil, water and plant sample analysis was provided during the period. From Table 2 it was observed that, total 7798 samples of soil, 4740

of water and 2193 plant sample were analyzed during the period. After the year 2005-06, the vigorous emphasis was given on soil health programme by the Dept. of Agriculture, Govt. of Maharashtra. Due to this soil test campaigning, more number of samples were tested and analyzed by District Soil Testing Laboratories and laboratories of others.

Table 2 : Soil and water testing services provided to end users through ATIC

Particulars 2001- 02

2002- 03

2003- 04

2004- 05

2005- 06

2006- 07

2007- 08

2008- 09

2009- 10

Total

Soil testing 95 2910 1859 376 1392 273 318 268 307 7798

Water testing 70 1385 1321 1015 359 80 94 124 292 4740

Plant testing 13 695 380 207 217 82 148 372 79 2193

Publications sold to farmers through ATIC

From Table 3 it was revealed that, about two lakh

and forty two thousand publications like Krishidarshani, Shri Sugi, other university publications and ICAR publications were sold during the period.


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Table 3 : Year wise trend of publications sold to farmers through ATIC

Publications 2001- 02

2002- 03

2003- 04

2004- 05

2005- 06

2006- 07

2007- 08

2008- 09

2009- 10

2010- 11

Total

Krishidarshani 10200 10000 12000 11126 10000 24000 15000 16373 20976 21186 150861Shri Sugi 8015 7500 7500 8387 8500 9500 8978 5512 6500 9302 79694Others 55 278 749 1783 1596 2101 2526 1547 1893 988 13516Total 18270 17778 20249 21296 20096 35601 26504 23432 27369 31476 242071

Seed sold to farmers through ATIC

Besides the advisory services and information provided to visitors ATIC also performed the function of sale of agricultural inputs and

technology products. Various types of vegetable seed are available At ATIC for sale, which are developed and produced by university.

Table 4 : Year wise trend of seed sold to farmers through ATIC (Kg.)

Vegetable 2001- 02

2002- 03

2003- 04

2004- 05

2005- 06

2006- 07

2007- 08

2008- 09

2009- 10

2010- 11

Total

Onion & Garlic

45.00 - 150 - 128.00 1321.5 1323 483.00 13 - 3463.5

Brinjal 0.40 04.47 13.44 07.91 04.00 04.34 2.35 1.69 0.30 3.00 41.91

Tomato - 01.50 03.50 - 04.95 05.00 0.68 5.24 0.97 0.51 22.35

Bhendi - 55.00 - 15.00 40.00 - 100.00 - - - 210.00

Wal - - - 15.00 16.00 92.50 - 15.00 47.00 107.00 292.50

Chilli - 18.70 22.40 17.00 12.00 81.70 105.10 103.00 94.00 53.75 507.65

Methi - - 15.00 - - - 60.00 - - 75.00

Gourd crops

- 25.70 116.80 40.30 28.00 66.80 132.70 55.60 111.70 69.35 646.95

Cucumber - 43.50 27.00 30.00 49.70 15.60 - - - - 165.80

Total 45.40 148.87 333.14 140.21 282.65 1587.44 1663.83 723.53 266.97 233.61 5425.65

From Table 4 it was revealed that, more than five thousand kilo grams seeds of different type of vegetable crops like onion, leafy vegetables, gourds, cucumber, fruit vegetables etc. were sold by the ATIC during the last ten

years. The separate seed sale counter was available near the ATIC for sale of cereals, pulses and other coarse seed. Large quantities of seedling materials were also sold by Horticulture Nursery and Director of Farm Nursery nearby ATIC.

Input sold to end users through ATIC

Table 5 : Year wise trend of bio-pesticides sold / provided to end users at ATIC (Lit.)


2003- 04

2004- 05

2005- 06

2006- 07

2007- 08

2008- 09

2009- 10

2010- 11

Total

Heliokill 38 24.45 72 13 23 11.75 37.75 10.25 12 242.20

Phule Trichoderma & Bugicide

185 400.00 125.5 260.5 139 45.00 80.00 31 20 1286

Total 223 424.45 197.5 273.5 162 56.75 117.75 41.25 32 1528.20


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Table 6. Year wise trend of bio-fertilizers sold / provided to end users at ATIC (Kg.)

Bio- fertilizers

2002- 03

2003- 04

2004- 05

2005- 06

2006- 07

2007- 08

2008- 09

2009- 10

2010- 11

Total

Azotobactor 50.50 15.50 24.50 433.75 120.00 55.75 17.00 76.75 07.75 801.50P.S.B. 53.50 35.00 35.00 503.50 165.50 103.25 37.25 89.25 41.50 1063.75Rhizobium 19.75 23.25 47.00 153.75 70.50 50.50 20.50 27.00 102.00 514.25Azospyrillium 06.25 06.25 05.00 43.00 09.50 35.00 - 10.00 30.00 145.00Acetobactor 09.50 15.00 - 62.00 - - - - - 86.50Compost culture 32.50 24.00 15.50 224.00 15.50 - - - - 311.50

Total 172.00 119.00 127.00 1420.00 381.00 244.50 74.75 203.00 181.25 2922.5 Besides the vegetable seed, the different types of Bio-pesticides, Bio-fertilizers, Vermicompost and Vermiculture are available and sold through ATIC. From the Table 5 it was revealed that, more than fifteen hundred litre of different type of Bio-pesticides like Heliokill, Phule Trichoderma and Phule Bugicide were sold by the ATIC. About three thousands kilograms of Bio-fertilizers like Azotobactor, P.S.B., Rhizobium, Azospyrillium, Acetobactor, Compost

culture etc. and more than seven thousands kilograms of Vermicompost and Vermiculture was sold and utilized by the ATIC for the garden in premises (Table 6 & 7). Beside this, separate sale counter are available at Bio-pesticides and Bio-fertilizers production unit / lab in university campus, where large quantity of Bio-pesticides and Bio-fertilizers were available and sold.

Table 7 : Vermicompost and Vermiculture sold / provided to end users (Kq)


2003- 04

2004- 05

2005- 06

2006- 07

2007- 08

2008- 09

2009- 10

2010- 11

Total

Vermicompost 500.00 1341.00 1508.00 977.00 600 743.00 650.00 542.00 630.00 7491.00Vermiculture 1.50 11.60 17.20 5.81 4.50 5.21 5.50 7.30 6.50 46.82Total 501.50 1352.6 1525.2 982.81 604.5 748.21 655.5 549.3 636.5 7537.82

CONCLUSION

From the study it was concluded that, during the year 2001 to 2010 more than six lakh farmers and visitors were personally visited at ATIC and visited the crop cafeteria and demonstration units to gathered the information of new agricultural technology. Farmers had contacted and get the necessary remedial solution through the helpline, phone calls and letters. ATIC organized trainings to farmers, scientist actively participated in agricultural exhibitions, radio talk and TV programmes. Besides the advisory services and input supply, ATIC provided the soil and water testing facilities. About two lakh and forty two thousand publications were sold during the period. More than five thousand kilo grams seeds of different type of vegetable crops were sold during these ten years. More than fifteen hundred litre of different type of Bio-pesticides and about three thousands kilograms of bio-fertilizers were sold by the ATIC.

REFERENCES

Anonymous. (2010) Report of ATIC Presented in National workshop on ATIC for evaluation of performance of ATIC at ICAR held on 3rd July, 2010. Conference hall, NASC, New Delhi.

R. Sathiadhas and Sheela Immanuel. 2003. Agricultural Technology Information Centre Activities and Achievements. Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, (Indian Council of Agricultural Research), Post Box No. 1603, Cochin - 682 014, Kerala, CMFRI Special Publication No. 76. ISSN No.0972-2351.

Received : December 2013 : Accepted : October 2014


65

Important Qualities of Agricultural College Teachers as Perceived by Students of Agriculture College

P.M.Bhatt

Director, Institute of Distance education, “Krushi Gangotri” Borsad Chowkadi, AAU, Anand, Gujarat

E-mail : [email protected]

ABSTRACT

The present survey was conducted at B.A. College of Agriculture, AAU, Anand. The students studying in (finalyear)eighth’ssemesterofagriculturalcollegewasconsideredastherespondents.Sixtystudentshavebeenselected for the study. On the base of past research studies and consultation with expert, qualities of Agricultural CollegeTeacherswereselected.ListTotalfortyteachershavebeenselectedtostudytheprofile.Responsesoftheeach student with respect to quality of each selected teachers were gathered through questionnaire. The responses of the students qualities of Agricultural College Teachers were selected. The collected data were analyzed in light of the objectives. Perception of the agriculture college student was found medium to high in all the selected qualities of agriculture college teachers. The result from the study revealed that Perception of the agriculture college student was found medium to high in all the selected qualities of agriculture college teachers was found medium to high in all the selected qualities of agriculture college teachers. Among various subjects, higher mean score was observed in cases of Ext.edu.(2.55), Statistics (2.48), Biotechnology and Entomology (2.18), Plant pathology,(2.16) Agril chemistry (2.10) and Agronomy (2.05). Further, negative significant relationshipwasfound between age of agriculture college teachers and qualities of agricultural college teachers as perceived by students. Variables like Professional zeal and job satisfaction had possitive significantrelationshipwithqualitiesof agricultural college teachers as perceived by students.

Keywords: Qualities of agricultural college teachers, Perception, student

INTRODUCTION

Education in any form is the production of desirable changes in what people know, do and think or perceive. The teacher in a class room situation is the key element to bring these changes. He plays a vital role in creating situation that facilitates the learning process. The successful teacher is one who can create and manage effective learning situations.It is widely believed that the qualities of a teacher greatly influence the teaching learning process in the educational institutions. Therefore, an attempt was be made to know the perception as well as opinions of the students about the qualities of agricultural college teachers with following objectives.

OBJECTIVES

(i) To know the perception of the students about the qualities of agriculture college teachers.

(ii) To ascertain the relationship between the profile

of agriculture college teachers and qualities of Agricultural College Teachers as perceived by students of Agriculture College.

METHODOLOGY

The present survey was conducted at B.A.C.A., AAU, Anand during 2012-13. The students studying in (final year) eighth’s semester of agricultural college was considered as the respondents. Sixty students have been selected for the study. On the base of past research studies and consultation with expert, qualities of Agricultural College Teachers were selected. List of the concerned teachers who have taught during first to seventh semester was prepared. Total forty teachers have been selected to study the profile. Before collecting the responses, the aim of the study was explained to the students. Responses of the each student with respect to quality of each selected teachers were gathered through questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed in light of the objectives.


66


The data from Table-1 indicate that perception of the agriculture college student was found medium to high in all the selected qualities of agriculture college teachers. Out of twentyfive selected qualities of agriculture college teachers, seventeen had gain more than 2.00 score. Further, it was also interesting to note that among various subjects, higher mean score was observed in cases of Ext.Edu.(2.55), Statistics (2.48), Biotechnology and Entomology (2.18), Plant pathology,(2.16) Agril chemistry (2.10) and Agronomy (2.05).

Table 2 : Relationship between profile of agriculture college teachers and qualities of agricultural college teachers as perceived by students of agriculture college n=40

Sr No

Variables correlation coeffi-cient (‘r’)

1 Age -0.39701*2 Academic performance

(OGPA) 0.15049 NS

3 Total experience -0.09633 NS4 Experience as U.G.Teacher -0.04468 NS5 Habit of information col-

lection 0.083213 NS

6 Training received -0.11753 NS7 Professional zeal 0.41268*8 Library exposure 0.12231 NS9 Internet exposure 0.21542 NS10 Workload -0.08700 NS11 Job satisfaction 0.36720*

* Significant at 0.05 level of probability NS- None Significant

The data presented in Table-2 indicates that there was negative significant relationship between age of agriculture college teachers and qualities of agricultural college teachers as perceived by students, reflecting that qualities of agricultural college teachers as perceived by students was observed better among young and middle age agriculture college teachers than the old aged teachers. It is understandable that the young and middle age agriculture college teachers in any organization have high degree of enthusiasm, interest and energy.

Further, the data also indicated that there was possitive significant relationship between professional zeal of the agriculture college teachers and qualities of agricultural college teachers as perceived by students. It imitate that qualities of agricultural college teachers as perceived by students was observed better among those agriculture college teachers, who had more liveliness and input in publication, seminar, symposia, conference and association in professional journals. It is accepted fact that person with positivism to develop his professional career will have need of information and innovative ideas; computer is such an ideal stand by which person can get any kinds of information from the any corner of the world via internet. The data bring to light that relationship with qualities of agricultural college teachers as perceived by students and level of job satisfaction of agriculture college teachers was observed positive and significant. The positive significant relationship relate that level of job satisfaction of agriculture college teachers was increased with increase in level of perception regarding qualities of teacher. It is natural that the person with high degree of satisfaction with his job will always try to engage more and more in his job, this makes him more positive in collecting useful information through modern media for the development of his job. Rest of variables like academic


67

Tabl

e 1

: Per

cept

ion

of st

uden

ts a

bout

the

qual

ities

of a

gric

ultu

re c

olle

ge te

ache

rs

n=

60

Qua

litie

s of T

each

er

Dis

cipl

ine

Agronomy

Chemistry

Botany & PhysiologyExtension Education

Horticulture

Entomology

Plant Pathology

Economics

English

Animal Husbundry

Meteriology

Statistic

Maths

Engineering

Biotechnology

Biochemistry

Mean Score

Level

Kno

wle

dge

of th

e su

bjec

t2.

022.

161.

912.

501.

652.

232.

201.

891.

651.

871.

602.

531.

771.

701.

852.

121.

98M

Skill

to m

otiv

atio

n st

uden

ts to

pa

rtici

pate

in le

arni

ng2.

102.

022.

032.

452.

042.

422.

411.

661.

971.

881.

782.

531.

951.

802.

132.

272.

09H

Inte

rest

in te

achi

ng2.

052.

231.

802.

421.

882.

242.

011.

612.

272.

181.

102.

371.

981.

921.

972.

222.

01H

Effe

ctiv

enes

s of s

peec

h2.

022.

142.

022.

262.

082.

032.

072.

001.

782.

181.

802.

431.

781.

572.

182.

372.

04H

Punc

tual

ity1.

961.

992.

032.

531.

852.

202.

162.

131.

882.

082.

082.

571.

881.

772.

431.

852.

09H

Con

fiden

ce in

teac

hing

2.05

1.88

1.79

2.30

1.48

2.30

2.13

1.84

2.43

2.27

1.78

2.50

1.83

1.90

2.42

1.55

2.03

H

Bia

snes

s1.

992.

072.

172.

631.

902.

602.

401.

912.

172.

222.

072.

532.

171.

932.

302.

232.

21H

Skill

of u

sing

A.V

. aid

s1.

922.

032.

102.

811.

752.

452.

511.

842.

282.

071.

282.

551.

471.

432.

232.

252.

06H

skill

of u

sing

Cha

lk b

oard

2.04

1.81

2.00

2.51

1.74

2.22

2.16

1.74

2.25

1.57

1.58

2.30

1.55

1.48

1.82

1.93

1.92

M

Com

man

d on

lang

uage

1.95

2.24

2.05

2.56

1.65

2.38

2.01

1.69

1.70

2.03

1.57

2.38

1.70

1.77

2.57

1.55

1.99

M

Con

trol o

n st

uden

t2.

082.

171.

832.

731.

802.

262.

181.

782.

172.

001.

352.

701.

981.

852.

331.

752.

06H

Skill

to so

lve

quer

ies r

aise

d by

st

uden

ts d

urin

g te

achi

ng.

1.90

2.21

2.11

2.61

1.74

2.44

2.22

1.86

2.10

1.87

1.77

2.52

2.10

2.05

2.43

2.18

2.13

H

Skill

to su

stai

n st

uden

ts e

nthu

si-

asm

of l

earn

ing

durin

g cl

ass.

2.22

2.23

1.87

2.54

1.72

2.38

2.30

1.77

2.33

2.18

1.58

2.62

1.50

1.57

2.37

2.08

2.08

H

Skill

to c

reat

e ea

gern

ess a

mon

g th

e st

uden

ts to

lear

n du

ring

clas

s.

1.91

2.08

2.01

2.73

1.77

2.37

2.21

1.77

2.32

2.08

1.75

2.55

1.38

1.65

2.17

2.10

2.05

H

Con

tinue

...


68

Qua

litie

s of T

each

er

Dis

cipl

ine

Agronomy

Chemistry

Botany & PhysiologyExtension Education

Horticulture

Entomology

Plant Pathology

Economics

English

Animal Husbundry

Meteriology

Statistic

Maths

Engineering

Biotechnology

Biochemistry

Mean Score

Level

Skill

to ta

ke fe

edba

ck fr

om th

e st

uden

ts.

2.07

2.18

1.87

2.62

1.74

2.26

2.28

1.68

1.35

1.92

2.02

2.42

1.37

1.98

1.90

2.20

1.99

M

Ove

rall

com

mun

icat

ion

skill

.2.

042.

091.

902.

481.

522.

252.

281.

752.

131.

701.

772.

171.

631.

971.

752.

131.

97M

Hab

it to

upd

ate

clas

s not

e2.

052.

051.

702.

681.

452.

332.

241.

792.

321.

601.

702.

271.

371.

621.

652.

351.

95M

Abi

lity

to m

aint

ain

disc

iplin

e du

ring

clas

s.2.

002.

041.

792.

511.

512.

092.

151.

732.

331.

531.

652.

331.

901.

981.

672.

201.

96M

Men

talit

y to

allo

w st

uden

ts to

ra

ise

quer

ies a

nd q

uest

ions

.2.

122.

171.

772.

631.

682.

072.

101.

752.

452.

221.

722.

351.

651.

382.

321.

682.

00M

Abi

lity

to te

ach

thro

ugh

prac

ti-ca

l app

roac

h.2.

162.

131.

522.

621.

621.

872.

121.

692.

082.

171.

902.

622.

132.

032.

371.

732.

05H

Lead

ersh

ip q

ualit

ies a

s a te

ache

r on

e lik

es to

follo

w to

be

a te

ache

r in

futu

re.

2.15

2.01

1.53

2.41

1.64

1.93

2.00

2.02

1.92

2.18

1.88

2.50

1.92

1.95

2.25

1.72

2.00

M

Abi

lity

to c

reat

e id

eal s

ituat

ion

for l

earn

ing

for t

he st

uden

ts.

2.15

2.32

1.74

2.66

1.54

1.71

2.04

1.72

2.23

2.13

1.67

2.57

2.23

1.53

2.25

2.08

2.04

H

Dec

ency

with

stud

ents

.2.

202.

202.

072.

511.

591.

891.

961.

772.

072.

002.

022.

322.

071.

402.

501.

872.

03H

Leve

l of C

reat

ivity

2.16

2.35

1.86

2.45

1.44

1.69

1.83

1.67

2.35

1.70

1.77

2.40

1.80

1.65

2.38

2.28

1.99

M

Ove

rall

qual

ity a

s tea

cher

2.15

1.82

2.01

2.54

1.65

1.95

2.02

1.82

2.43

1.82

1.83

2.88

1.63

1.58

2.50

1.77

2.03

H

Mea

n Sc

ore

2.05

2.10

1.90

2.55

1.70

2.18

2.16

1.80

2.12

1.98

1.72

2.48

1.79

1.74

2.18

2.02

--

Leve

lH

HM

HM

H

H M

H M

M

H

M

M

H

H-

-

M- M

ediu

m

H- H

igh


69

performance, total experience, experience as U.G.Teacher, training received, library exposure, internet exposure, and workload were observed non significant with qualities of agricultural college teachers as perceived by students. So, It can be generalized that qualities of agricultural college teachers as perceived by students had some what uniform level and did not persuade among these variables.

CONCLUSION

• Perception of the agriculture college student was found medium to high in all the selected qualities of agriculture college teachers.

• Among various subjects, higher mean score was observed in cases of Ext.Edu.(2.55), Statistics (2.48), Biotechnology and Entomology (2.18), Plant pathology,(2.16) Agril chemistry (2.10) and Agronomy (2.05).

• Negative significant relationship was found between age of agriculture college teachers and qualities of agricultural college teachers as perceived by students.

• Variables like Professional zeal and job satisfaction had possitive significant relationship with qualities of agricultural college teachers as perceived by students.

REFERENCES

Nimje et.al. (1992). Profile of trainees and their performance in national workshop. Maha. J. Extn. Edn., 2: 227-23

Rajiv. Bairsthi, R.L.Soni, and Ramakant Sharma ( 2011 ). Participants response on usefullness of national training course on post harvest technology.Raj. J. Extn. Edn., 19: 34-37.

Singh, Anupriya, K. (1989). Training profile of extension personnel and their effectiveness for rural development. IJTD 5 : 37-44.



70

ABSTRACT

Women cultivators and agriculture laborers perform about 70% of all the agriculture activities, yet their valuable contribution is ignored and they are not acknowledged as farmers. Women play a crucial role in all farm-related activities from land preparation to marketing. They contribute a higher proportion of labor in agricultural sector than men. However, they are not active in decision making. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report reveals in most parts of the world, including India, that women are way behind men inownershipoffarmland.TheFAOfiguresshowthatwomenownperhapsone-quarteroftheworld’sland.InItaly, women own 31.9 percent of the land; in Thailand, 33 percent; in the United Kingdom, only an estimated 19 percent and in India only 9.21%. In India traditionally women have been mentioned as the provider or food. But socially, women’s role has mostly perceived as the one who serves, rather than one who grows the food, as the business of growing food has been recognized as a male domain for centuries. But the shift in cultural attitudes towards women is yet to happen. Investing in women farmers can be the key to the future of food security. A study by the International Food Policy Research Institute found that across 63 countries, women’s education led to more productive farming and resulted in a 43 percent decline in malnutrition. This shows a direct linkage between women’s education and food security. As a result of our gendered agrarian system globally women farmers received only 2 to 10 percent of extension services worldwide. If women had better access to farm land,fertilizerandagriculturaltraining,technology,financialservices,educationandmarketswomencouldincrease agricultural production and reduce the number of hungry people worldwide. This study discusses the empowerment of women through agriculture. It stresses on various techniques of motivating women to take farming as profession. It also comes up with future strategies to make women a more active part of important farm decisions both at the household and legislature level.

Keywords : Participation of women, Gender, Constraints

Women cultivators and agriculture laborers perform about 70% of all the agriculture activities, yet their valuable contribution is ignored and they are not acknowledged as farmers. Women play a crucial role in all farm-related activities from land preparation to marketing. They contribute a higher proportion of labor in agricultural sector than men. However, they are not active in decision making. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report reveals in most parts of the world, including India, that women are way behind men in ownership of farm land. The FAO figures show that women own perhaps one-quarter of the world’s land. In Italy, women own 31.9 percent of the land; in Thailand, 33 percent; in the United Kingdom, only an estimated 19 percent and in India only 9.21%. In India traditionally

women have been mentioned as the provider or food. But socially, women’s role has mostly perceived as the one who serves, rather than one who grows the food, as the business of growing food has been recognized as a male domain for centuries. But the shift in cultural attitudes towards women is yet to happen. Investing in women farmers can be the key to the future of food security. A study by the International Food Policy Research Institute found that across 63 countries, women’s education led to more productive farming and resulted in a 43 percent decline in malnutrition. This shows a direct linkage between women’s education and food security. As a result of our gendered agrarian system globally women farmers received only 2 to 10 percent of extension services worldwide. If women had better access to farm

Women as Future Farmers

Nitu Sindhu1 and Joginder Malik2

Ph.D. Student1 and Professor2

Deptt. of Agri. Extension EducationChaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar



71

land, fertilizer and agricultural training, technology, financial services, education and markets women could increase agricultural production and reduce the number of hungry people worldwide. This study discusses the empowerment of women through agriculture. It stresses on various techniques of motivating women to take farming as profession. It also comes up with future strategies to make women a more active part of important farm decisions both at the household and legislature level.

In India traditionally women have been mentioned as the provider or food. But socially, women’s role has mostly perceived as the one who serves, rather than one who grows the food, as the business of growing food has been recognized as a male domain for centuries but women play a crucial role in all farm-related activities from land preparation to marketing. They contribute a higher proportion of labor in agricultural sector than men. However, they are not active in decision making. But the shift in cultural attitudes towards women is yet to happen. It also comes up with future strategies to make women a more active part of important farm decisions both at the household and legislature level. This study includes following objectives :

OBJECTIVES

(i) Role and participation of women in agriculture

(ii) Gender based differences faced by women in agriculture

(iii) Women’s constraints in agriculture

(iv) Empowering women for agricultural development

Role and participation of women in agriculture

The present status of women in Indian agriculture is due to the lack of attention paid to women as farmers, producers and farm workers, both wage and non-wage. It’s not too late to integrate the lessons we’ve learned and avoid the pitfalls of the past. To move forward, however, the world community must make a significant shift in its thinking about women, agriculture and the global marketplace to see women as key economic agents of change in rural communities who in their own right contribute to local, national and global food production and economic growth.

Agriculture is their primary source of employment for most of the women living in rural areas of our country. Rural women produce half of the world’s food and, in developing countries, between 60 percent and 80 percent of food crops. They produce both food and cash crops and have multiple and diverse roles. They work on their own plots

and those of others; they work as unpaid or paid workers, employers and employees, and as wage-laborers. Women also are more likely than men to spend their income on the well-being of their families, including more nutritious foods, school fees for children and health care. As major buyers of family food and meal-makers, women ensure adequate food security. As primary providers of nutrition to the young children, women are the major decision-makers in ensuring nutrition to the next generation.

The mode of female participation in agricultural production varies with the land-owning status of farm households. Very little land is owned by women but they participate in almost all the agriculture related activities. Their roles range from managers to landless labourers. Studies earlier conducted shows that in overall farm production, women’s average contribution is estimated more than half of the total labour with percentages much higher in certain regions. In the Indian Himalayas a pair of bullocks works 1064 hours, a man 1212 hours and a woman 3485 hours in a year on a one-hectare farm, a figure which illustrates women’s significant contribution to agricultural production (Singh in Shiva, 1988).

Women provide half of the labour force in rice cultivation in India. In the plantation sector women are the crucial labourers. Depending on the region and crops, women’s contributions vary but they provide pivotal labour from planting to harvesting and post-harvest operations.

Crop production

In certain areas in India women play a key role as seed selectors and in seedling production. Their knowledge on seeds and seed storage contribute to the viability of the agricultural diversity and production. As weeders, women contribute to crop management. Women prepare and apply green and farmyard manure. As integrated pest management practices are introduced, it could be expected that women’s work will increase due to more labour-intensive activities.

Livestock

In India, livestock plays a multi-faceted role in providing draught power for the farm, manure for crops, and energy for cooking and food for household consumption as well as the market. In animal husbandry women have a multiple role; their activities vary widely ranging from care of animals, grazing, fodder collection, cleaning of animal sheds to processing milk and livestock products. In livestock management, indoor jobs like milking, feeding, cleaning, etc. are done by women in 90% of families.


72

Women accounted for 93% of total employment in dairy production (World Bank, 1991). Women perform the various tasks like collecting fodder, collecting and processing dung and composting. Women also prepare cooking fuel by mixing dung with twigs and crop residues. Though women play a significant role in livestock management and production, women’s control over livestock and its products is negligible. The vast majority of the dairy cooperative membership is assumed by men, leaving only 14% to women (MOA, 1991).

Rural production

Women in rural India generate income in various ways. Women are highly involved in processing, particularly in small-scale enterprises. This includes basket, broom, rope making, tasar silk cocoon rearing, lac cultivation, oil extraction, bamboo works, etc.

Gender based differences faced by women in agriculture

1 Land: Land title and tenure tend to be vested in men, either by legal condition or by socio-cultural norms. Land reform and resettlement have tended to reinforce this bias against tenure for women. Land shortage is common among women. Women farmers have smaller and more dispersed plots than men and are less likely to hold title, secure tenure, or the same rights to use, improve, or dispose of land.

2 Extension: Women farmers have less contact with extension services than men, especially where male-female contact is culturally restricted. Extension is often provided by men agents to men farmers and is transferred inefficiently or not at all from husband to wife.

3 Technology: Women generally use lower levels of technology because of difficulties in access, cultural restrictions on use, or regard for women’s crops and livestock as low research priorities.

4 Finance: Women have less access to formal financial services because of high transaction costs, limited education and mobility, social and cultural barriers, the nature of their businesses, and collateral requirements, such as land title, they can’t meet.

5 Time: Women face far greater time constraints than men. They may spend less time on farm work but work longer total hours on productive and household work and paid and unpaid work, due to gender-based division of labor in child care and household responsibilities.

6 Mobility: Women are less mobile than men, both because of their child care and household responsibilities and because of sociocultural norms that limit their mobility.

7 Education and training: Women are less educated in many parts of our country. Illiteracy hampers their access to and ability to understand technical information. Worldwide, women have less access to education and training in agriculture

Women’s constraints in agriculture

Women face significant barriers in agriculture, especially inequalities in access to and control over crucial resources and inputs such as land, labor, fertilizer and finance. Women also face barriers to membership in rural organizations and cooperatives, agricultural inputs and technology such as improved seedlings, training and extension, and marketing services.

Some other constraints are as following

1 Women account for approximately three out of four agricultural laborers and nine out of 10 food-producing laborers, yet they own only a fraction of the land.

2 Unavailability of fertilizer, tools and other inputs.

3 Women producers are not taken as seriously as men producers.

4 Isolation from other women and men farmers.

5 Need for child care.

6 Lack of family support for role in managing farm.

7 Lack of education and computer knowledge.

8 Lack of Web/email access.

9 Insufficient educational and Technical Training Need.

10 Lack of female extension workers.

Empowering women for agricultural development

Efforts to enable women to contribute more

effectively to agricultural development, we must recognize women as farmers and agents of economic change. Following recommendations are required to reach such a state.

1 Implement gender-responsive approaches to improve productivity in subsistence farming: As government commit additional resources to agriculture in response to the current food crisis, they should ensure that increased investments are made in women farmers and that interventions are appropriately designed to be


73

gender-responsive.

2 Improve knowledge about women in commercial agriculture: women are not currently fully involved at particular points in commercial agriculture, help and support is required to strengthen their roles, make them more competitive and enable them to obtain better returns.

3 Engender policies and practices of agribusiness: Agribusinesses need to be made aware of the gender dimensions of agriculture and of the need for gender-responsible engagement with women, both as self-employed farmers and wage-workers. Specific recommendations include: Contract directly with women farmers i.e. Agribusinesses and other companies should contract directly with women farmers so that women can directly accrue payment for their own labor instead of having to negotiate through their spouses. At a minimum, women and men should have joint contracts. In this case, women’s share of earnings should be specified in the contract so their claim is clear and can be legally enforced.

4 Provide women direct access to resources and services: It is not enough to contract directly with women. They must be offered access to the whole package of services, technologies and training, market linkages provided by companies or development assistance programs. These resources and services must be gender-relevant and responsive, informed by the best and most up-to-date knowledge and information about agricultural development.

5 Strengthen women’s roles in mixed-gender farmer groups: Women must have equal access to membership and its full rights and obligations, and with full voice and influence. This will require deliberate actions to change or support group norms and rules to permit women to become members in their own right and to participate fully in group activities and assume leadership roles.

6 Improve wages, benefits and occupational mobility for women: As shown above, women’s low earnings are linked to employment in low-skilled tasks. Breaking out of gender-segregated low-skill and low-paying positions

will require opportunities to be trained in higher-skilled tasks. On-the-job training may be a cost-effective solution but it will require employers to be aware of gender-related needs and to consciously adopt policies that address them.

CONCLUSION

If women had better access to farm land, fertilizer and agricultural training, technology, financial services, education and markets women could increase agricultural production and reduce the number of hungry people worldwide.

Women farmers’ access to extension services must lead to concrete improvements for rural women themselves, as well as enhance the productivity of the agricultural sector and national food security through increasing marketed output.

REFERENCES

EIU, (1997) India Nepal: Country Profile, The Economist Intelligence Unit, London.

ESCAP, (1997). Women in India: A country profile. United Nations, New York.

FAO, (1991). Women’s Role in Dynamic Forest-based Small Scale Enterprises: Case Studies on Uppage and Lacquerware from India.Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Bangkok.

FAO, (1997). Forest Dependent Survival Strategies of Tribal women: Implications for Joint Forest Management in Andhra Pradesh, India. RAP Publication: 1997/24. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Bangkok.

UNDP, (1997). Human Development Report, Oxford University Press, New York.

Venkateswaran, S. 1992. Living on the Edge: Women, Environment and Development, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, New Delhi.

World Bank, (1991). A World Bank Country Report: Gender and Poverty in India, World Bank, Washington D.C.

Received : April 2014 : Accepted : December 2014


74

INTRODUCTION

A breakthrough in any field of agriculture is not possible without an effective communication support to disseminate the research findings. Speedy dissemination of agricultural information and technological knowhow to the farmers is essential for bridging the gap between the agricultural scientists and the farmers. The existing extension services are too meager to perform this task. Hence, the mass media with their tremendous speedy range and force of impact offer the greatest possibility for effective communication of agricultural technology. In the 21st century, the widening reach of mass communication methods such as radio, television, videos and print media offer good prospects for its effective utilization in disseminating agricultural information (Farrington et al., 1998). Written materials/publications are regarded as very credible sources of information in rural areas. Among various print media, farm magazine being published at a regular intervals pertained latest agriculture technology and recommendations which is the most reliable source to the farming community, providing improved package of

practices of different crops and other allied fields. Among various print media, farm magazine contains technology and recommendations in local languages and dialects, which makes it more popular for the practical utilization on the field of the farmers. The farm publications are designed to provide precise and reliable scientific information in simple language and interesting style of presentation. To meet the information need of the farming people, newspapers and magazines are the important print materials being used by extension workers to promote adoption of innovations among farmers. Increase in the production is the final goal of any technology which could be only possible through print media.

Jaljivan farm magazine is being published regularly since October 2010 by Gujarat Green Revolution Company Ltd. (GGRC), at Vadodara with a circulation of 5000 copies per month during 2013-14 throughout Gujarat. The aim of the magazine is to disseminate and popularize scientific methods of irrigation. In this farm magazine, the information of irrigation technology is published as per the need of the farmer. This magazine mainly contains information regarding

Exploring Suggestions From the Subscriber Farmers of JALJIVAN to Make the Farm Magazine More Effective

Sunny Jani1, Mahesh R. Patel2 and Arun Patel3

1 Ex. PG Student, IDEA, AAU, Anand - 388 1102 Assoc. Ext. Educationist, EEI, AAU, Anand - 388 110

3 Director, EEI, AAU, Anand - 388 110


ABSTRACT

The farm magazine is one of the important media to disseminate agricultural information to the farming community. “Jaljivan farm magazine” is being published regularly since October 2010 by Gujarat Green Revolution Company ltd., Vadodara,withthemainaimtodisseminateandtopopularizethescientificmethodsofagricultureinfarmingcommunity.The most important suggestions offered by the JFM subscriber farmers to make the JALJIVAN farm magazine more effective were: (a) Article based on Interview of Drip using progressive farmer regarding their experience, Article based on aftercare of MIS and Article based on maintenance of MIS should be published in Jaljivan farm magazine. (b) Information based on use of Drip irrigation in different crops like Groundnut and Coconut, Maintenance of Drip irrigation in saline water and Marketing of farm produce should be published in Jaljivan farm magazine. (c) Photographs related to articles published in JFM should be printed on cover page to increase effectiveness of Jaljivan farm magazine. (d) Article based on facility for subscription of JFM magazine should be available at village level and Awareness about JFM magazine should be made through advertising on radio, T.V and newspaper.

Keywords: Jaljivan, Subscribers, Suggestion, Farm magazine


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efficient use of irrigation water and to reduce production cost. Hence it is named as JAL=water, JIVAN=life i.e “JALJIVAN”. Looking to its popularity, it is necessary to ascertain the impact of JALJIVAN farm magazine (JFM) on gain in knowledge regarding selected agriculture technology of JFM subscriber farmers. It was necessary as very few scientific and systematic efforts have been made in the past by researchers in this direction. This study tried to understand the suggestions offered by the JFM subscriber farmers to make farm magazine more effective with the following objective:

OBJECTIVE

To seek suggestions from the subscriber farmers of Jaljivan farm magazine to make the farm magazine more effective.

METHODOLOGY

An attempt was also made to know the suggestions of JFM subscriber farmers to make the JALJIVAN farm magazine more effective. The suggestions offered by the respondents were marked in interview schedule. Numbers of respondents making the same suggestion(s) were counted in frequency and percentage. The suggestions were classified into two groups viz., most important suggestion, which are highly recommended by subscribers to be published in JFM and less important suggestion, which are less recommended by subscribers to be published in JFM, on the basis of above 50 per cent and below 50 per cent frequency of the respondents, respectively.


Subject of article for general demand

Table 1: Suggestions Given By The Jaljivan farm magazine subscriber farmers on subjects of article for general demand n=60

Sr. No. Suggestions No. Per cent

1 Article based on interview of Drip using progressive farmers regarding their experience should be given 36 60.00**

2 Article based on aftercare of MIS should be given 32 53.33**

3 Article based on maintenance of MIS should be given 33 55.00**

4 Article based on fertigation should be given 27 45.00*

5 Article based on available water soluble fertilizers should be given 8 13.33*

6 Article based on use of Drip irrigation in Horticulture crops should be given in a issue 6 10.00*

** Most important (> 50.00 per cent) *Less important (<50.00 per cent)

It is apparent from the Table 1 that two-third (60.00per cent) of the respondents suggested that article based on interview of Drip using progressive farmers regarding their experience should be given in JFM magazine. More than half (53.33 per cent) of the respondents suggested that article based on aftercare of MIS should be given and more than half (55.00 per cent) of the respondents suggested that article based on maintenance of MIS should be given. Above mentioned suggestions were the most important suggestions offered by the JFM subscriber farmers for the subjects of

article for general demand that are strongly recommended by respondents to be published in JFM. The less important articles suggested by JFM subscriber farmers were, nearly half (45.00per cent) of the respondents suggested that article based on fertigation should be given, 13.33 per cent of the respondents suggested that article based on available water soluble fertilizers should be given and 10.00 per cent of the respondents suggested that article based on use of Drip irrigation in Horticulture crops should be given in a issue.


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Subject of article for specific demand

Table 2 : Suggestions given by the Jaljivan farm magazine subscriber farmers on subject of article for specific demand n=60


1 Information based on use of Drip irrigation in different crops should be given in article like Groundnut, Sugarcane and Coconut. 39 65.00**

2 Information regarding maintenance of Drip irrigation in saline water should be given in article 37 61.66**

3 Information on marketing of farm produce should be given in article 32 53.33**

4 Information on subsidized inputs for farm products should be given in article 26 43.33*

5 Colourful photographs related to respective technology should be given in ar-ticle 19 31.66*

** Most important (> 50.00 per cent) *Less important (<50.00 per cent)

It was found from the Table 2 that nearly two-third (65.00 per cent) of the respondents suggested that information based on use of Drip irrigation in different crops should be given in article like Groundnut, Sugarcane and Coconut., more than three-fifth (61.66 per cent) of the respondents suggested that information regarding maintenance of Drip irrigation in saline water should be given in article and more than half (53.33 per cent) of the respondents suggested that information on marketing of farm produce should be given in article. These were the most important suggestions offered by

the JFM subscriber farmers for subject of article for specific demand. While less important suggestions recommended by respondents viz., 43.33 per cent of the respondents suggested that information on subsidized inputs for farm products should be given in article and nearly one-third (31.66 per cent) of the respondents suggested that colourful photographs related to respective technology should be given in article. Thus it can be inferred that information on use of drip irrigation and its maintenance, marketing, economic aspects and photographs should be given in articles.

Cover page

Cover page is one of the main component that determines the effectiveness of farm magazine.

Table 3 : Suggestions given by the Jaljivan farm magazine subscriber farmers on cover page n=60

Sr.No. Suggestions No. Per cent

1 Photographs related to articles given in JFM should be printed on cover page 33 55.00**

2 All cover pages should be laminated 23 38.33*

** Most important (> 50.00 per cent) *Less important (< 50.00 per cent)

The data in Table 3 indicated that more than half (55.00 per cent) of the respondents suggested that photographs related to articles published in JFM should be printed on cover page was the most important suggestion and highly recommended by respondents to be published in JFM, whereas more than one-third (38.33 per cent) of

the respondents suggested that all cover pages should be laminated was the less important suggestion offered by the JFM subscriber farmers for cover page. Thus, it can be concluded that the Photograph related to article should be given on cover page.


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Other suggestions

Table 4 : Other Suggestions Given by the jaljivan farm magazine subscriber farmers n=60


1 Facility for subscription of JFM magazine should be available at village level 33 55.00**

2 Awareness about JFM magazine should be made through advertising on radio, T.V and newspaper 29 48.33*

3 JFM should be published monthly instead bimonthly 28 46.66*4 Quality of the paper and printing should be improved 19 31.67*

5 The information about admission on agriculture and related fields should be given in magazine 17 28.33*

** Most important (> 50.00 per cent) *Less important (<50.00 per cent) The data in Table 4 shows that more than half (55.00per cent) of the respondents suggested that facility for subscription of JFM magazine should be available at village level. This was the most important suggestion offered by JFM subscriber farmers for making the JALJIVAN farm magazine more effective, whereas slight less than half (48.33 per cent) of the respondents suggested that awareness about JFM magazine should be made through advertising on radio, T.V and newspaper. The less important other suggestions recommended by respondents like 46.66 per cent of the respondents suggested that JFM should be published monthly instead of bimonthly, nearly one-third (31.67 per cent) of the respondents suggested that quality of the paper and printing should be improved” and 28.33 per cent of the respondents suggested that the information about admission on agriculture and related fields should be given in magazine.

Thus, it can be concluded that JALJIVAN farm magazine should be available everywhere for farming community as well as the information of farm magazine should be given on radio and television to make aware the farming community.

CONCLUSION

The most important suggestions offered by the JFM subscriber farmers to make the JALJIVAN farm magazine more effective were:

(a) In relation to Subjects of article for general demand, article based on Interview of Drip using progressive farmer regarding their experience, Article based on aftercare of MIS and Article based on maintenance of MIS should be published in Jaljivan farm magazine.

(b) With reference to Subjects of article for specific demand, Information based on use of Drip irrigation in different crops like Groundnut and Coconut, Maintenance of Drip irrigation in saline water and Marketing of farm produce should be published in Jaljivan farm magazine.

(c) More than half (55.00 per cent) of the respondents suggested that photographs related to articles published in JFM should be printed on cover page.

(d) More than half (55.00per cent) of the respondents suggested that facility for subscription of JFM magazine should be available at village level and nearly half (48.33 per cent) of the respondents suggested that awareness about JFM magazine should be made through advertising on radio, T.V and newspaper.

REFERENCES

Farington, J., Suleman, R. and Pal, S. (1998). Improving the effectivenss of agricultural research and extension in India, policy paper No., NCAEPR , New Delhi and Overseas Development Institute, London.

Patel, J. R. (2012). Impact of “Krushijivan” farm magazine pertaining to cognitivedomain on subscribers, M.Sc(Agri.) Thesis (Unpublished), AAU, Anand

Patel, B. T. , Soni, N. V. and Dabhi, R. A. (2002). Role of Farm Magazines in 21st Century. Seminar on Transfer of Agricultural Technology in 21st Century, GAU, Sardar Krushinagar : 5-7.

Soni, N. V. (2005). Impact of Krushigovidhya Farm Magazine on Subscriber Farmers Ph.D, Thesis (Unpublished), GAU, Anand.

Received : July 2014 : Accepted : October 2014


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INTRODUCTION

The primary objectives of the frontline demonstrations (FLDs) are important method for transfer of new package of practices to the farmers with effective interaction with scientist. Farmers can learn new technologies of agricultural production under real farming situation at own field and the demonstrations motivate them to adopt a new technology by showing its result and hence bridge the research-adoption gap. The scientist through frontline demonstrations on farmers field have demonstrated that by adopting new high yielding varieties and following agronomic practices coupled with need based plant protection measures, the yield level of agricultural crops can be improved. As demonstration involved principle “learning by doing” it is expected to increase knowledge and their by developing positivism towards innovation and in turn resulted in to adoption and hence it is essential to assess knowledge level of FLD beneficiaries and factors which affect them. Keeping in view present study entiltled “Determinants of knowledge about castor production technology among Frontline demonstrations beneficiaries” was undertaken with following objectives :

OBJECTIVES

(i) To know the knowldedge level of FLD beneficiaries about castor production technology

(ii) To ascertain relationship between profile of FLD beneficiaries and their knowledge about Castor production technology

METHODOLOGY

The present study was undertaken in operational area of Krishi vigyan Kendra, Devataj, The Frontline demonstrations conducted on castor crop in Petlad, Khambhat and Sojitra talukas of Anand district. Thus all these three talukas were selected purposively. Four villages from each taluka were selected and from each village 10 respondents were randomly selected. Thus, total 120 respondents were selected for the study. The well structured pre tested interview scheduled was prepared on line of the objective and the data were collected through personal interview. The statistical measures such as percentage, mean, standard deviation and coefficient of correlation were used.

Determinants of Knowledge about Castor Production Technology Among Frontline Demonstrations Beneficiaries

G.N.Bhoi1, J.K.Patel2 and B. S. Patel3

1 P.G. Scholar, B.A.C.A.Deprtment of Extension Education, AAU.Anand - 388 1102. Associate Professor (Extension), Dairy Vigyan Kendra, AAU, Anand-388 110

3 Training Associate, T & V System, DEE, AAU, Anand – 388 110E mail : [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Thepresentinvestigationwascarriedouton120randomlyselectedFrontlinedemonstrations(FLD)beneficiaries’of Petlad, Khambhat and Sojitra talukas of Anand district which is operational ares of KVK, Devataj. The result revealed thatgreatmajorityofFLDbeneficiaries(83.33percent)hadmediumtohighlevelofknowledgeaboutcastorproductiontechnology. Independent variables viz., education, social participation, land holding, annual income, source of information utilized, extension participation, mass media exposure, economic motivation, scientific orientation, risk orientation andinnovativenessofFLDbeneficiarycastorgrowershadexertedpositiveand significantwiththeirknowledgeregardingcastorproduction technology.

Keywords : Determinants of knowledge, Castor production, FLD


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Level of knowledge regarding castor production technology

Table 1 : Distribution of respondents according to their knowledge about castor production technology n=120

Sr. No. Level of Knowledge

Castor growers

No. Per cent1 Low (Below 17.41 score) 20 16.67

2 Medium (Between 17.41 to 22.34 score) 70 58.33

3 High (Above 22.34 score) 30 25.00

The perusal of data revealed that majority of the frontline demonstration beneficiaries (58.33%) had medium level of knowledge about recommended castor production technologies followed by high and low with 25.00 per cent and 16.67 per cent respectively. Thus FLD had great influence in determination of knowledge about castor production technology.

Relationship between profile of FLD beneficiaries and their knowledge about castor production technology

To study the relationship between characteristics of frontline demonstration beneficiaries and their level of knowledge about castor production technology is of great importance. These factors plays important role in deciding the level of knowledge due to intervention of FLD. In order to determine the relationship between the personal, social, economical, communicational and psychological characteristics of frontline demonstration beneficiaries the with their knowledge, correlation coefficient was computed and presented in Table 2.

The Table 2 revealed that out of fifteen personal, socio-economic, communicational and psychological traits of frontline demonstration beneficiaries farmers, thirteen variables viz education, social participation, land holding, annual income, source of information utilized, extension participation, mass media exposure, economic motivation, scientific orientation, risk orientation and innovativeness of FLD beneficiary castor growers had exerted positive and significant with their knowledge regarding castor production technology and the rest variables viz, age, occupation and land under castor cultivation and animal possession of FLD beneficiary castor growers failed to show any significant correlation with their knowledge.

Table 2 : Relationship between profile of frontline demonstration beneficiaries and their knowledge about castor production technology n=120

Sr. No. Variable

Correlation-coefficient (r-Value)

X1 Age 0.129 NSX2 Education 0.284 *X3 Social participation 0.285 *X4 Occupation 0.120 NSX5 Land holding 0.290 *X6 Land under castor cultivation 0.196 NSX7 Milch animal possession 0.089 NSX8 Annual income 0.267 *X9 Source of information 0.265 *X10 Extension participation 0.276 *X11 Mass media exposure 0.274 *X12 Economic motivation 0.288 *X13 Scientific orientation 0.344 **X14 Risk orientation 0.297 *X15 Innovativeness 0.320 *

* Significant at 0.05 level **= Significant at 0.01 level NS= Non-Significant

CONCLUSION

Thus the result implies that all thirteen variables had significant influence in determination of knowledge about castor cultivation technologies and these factors must be reckon while planning of Front Line Demonstration for its effective implementation.

REFERENCES

Chhodavadia, H. C. (2001). Impact of Frontline demonstration on groundnut – pigeon pea relay cropping system in saurashtra region of Gujarat state. M.Sc.(Agri.) thesis (Unpublished), Gujarat Agricultural University, Junagadh.

Lakhera, J. P. and Sharma, B. M. (2002). Impact of front line demonstration on adoption of improved mustard production technology. Rajasthan Journal of Extension Education, 10:43-47.

Vasava, J. M. (2005). Knowledge and adoption of recommended pigeon pea production technology by pigeon pea growers. M.Sc.(Agri.) thesis (Unpublished), Anand Agricultural University, Anand.



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INTRODUCTION

The application of computers to education is filled with generic terms such as computer-based instruction (CBI), computer-assisted instruction (CAI), and computer-assisted learning (CAL), generally describing drill-and-practice programs, more sophisticated tutorials, and more individualized instruction, respectively (Parr & Fung, 2004). LMS has its history in another term, integrated learning system (ILS) which offers additional functionality beyond instructional content such as management and tracking, more personalized instruction, and integration across the system. An LMS is the infrastructure that delivers and manages instructional content, identifies and assesses individual and organizational learning or training goals, tracks the progress towards meeting those goals, and collects and presents data for supervising the learning process of organization as a whole (Szabo & Flesher, 2002). Every learning professional knows

that the struggling global economy has caused considerable distress in the past year. Organizations have been forced to look for ways to cut costs with more pressure than ever. Have learning functions been targets or have they developed ways to adapt? (Mosley, 2014)

Student Corner is a user-friendly web based application and is parsed perfectly in all browsers on a computer which is connected to network. It imparts information related to topics being taught in various faculties of Anand Agricultural University to its students anytime, anywhere via web medium. As student can access information via Student Corner, it reduces interval between information and students, also it increases transparency level as attendance and result of all students is visible to all students and ultimately helps in increasing unbiased image of a teacher, also all rules and regulation of a college or course or institute can be avail via notice board option, which can be

Web Based Customized E-Learning Management System for Students’ Academic Evolution

M. P. Raj1, D. R. Kathiriya2, R. S. Parmar3

1 Assistant Professor, College of Agricultural Information Technology, AAU, Anand - 388 1102 Dean & Principal, College of Agricultural Information Technology, AAU, Anand -388 110 3 Associate Professor, College of Agricultural Information Technology, AAU, Anand 388 110


ABSTRACT

During last decade of twentieth century there was extraordinary development in information and communication technology (ICT) which led to a transmutation of processes and practices in almost all aspects of human activities. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are the technologies used in the conveying, manipulation and storage of data by electronic means. World Wide Web a service of Internet is one of the important tools of ICT which helps in imparting e-resources to the students. Student Corner is a web application. It serves some purpose of eLearning Management System (ELMS) or it is tailor made ELMS. It is developed with a notion to provide information related to topics being taught in various faculties of Anand Agricultural University to its students anytime, anywhere via web medium. It is developed using ASP.Net technology with VB.NET as a backend language and SQL server 2008 as a database. Few more technologies like CSSandJqueryarealsousedtoenhanceitslookandfeel.StudentCornerusesbothfeaturesofSQLserverandwindowsfilemanagement service. Student Corner reduces interval between information and students, it also leverages transparency level, as all rules and regulation as well as daily activity such as attendance of all students is visible to all students. Student can get informationabouttopicswithoutsearchingoninternet.StudentsgetbestinformationorarefinedmaterialasCourseteachermay pick the best articles or material from internet and upload it on student corner or may utilize it to prepare best reading materialandcanuploaditontheStudentCornerthisindirectlyhelpsinreducingnetworktrafficespeciallyinternettrafficand increase productivity of the students. It is very easy to integrate new college information in Student Corner application.

Keywords : E-learining management system, Academic evolution


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accessed even by unauthorized or a guest users. Student can get information about topics without searching on internet.

Student Corner allows authorized users to access or update information. Authenticated course teachers can update their course content and manage it. It provides many roles for the users of an academic institute. Categories of roles are normal users (i.e. students), Principal, Academic In-charge, Rector, Student Representative Council Chairman, Placement Officer, Clerk and AAO. Dashboard is provided for all types of users. Breadcrumb available in header helps in navigation. Principal role has super user rights for a particular college. User with principal rights can access all subjects, can authorize other users to access his college information and assign rights to other staff for their relevant courses to upload e-resources, attendance. Also he can update student details. Student and normal users of this application are separate entities as a result; there is no restriction for normal users in accessing information.

All users can update their own profile, change password, change faculty, semester etc. As teaching staff user can be guest faculty for multiple faculties, s/he can select multiple faculties or college and his dashboard shows subjects/courses of multiple colleges. Students can update their current semester details and thus they can access e-resources pertaining to the courses of any semester, also they can refer to their previous semester topics. Student entity having a valid registration number from university can only be added to student corner. Once student is entered in Student corner it cannot be deleted, but its status can take values like ACTIVE, DROPPED, RUSTICATED and LEFT.

Separate notice board for different activities like academic, hostel, SRC, General, Placement is provided for each college. This notice board can be accessed from the home page without authentication. User having rights to update a particular notice board can manage it. User can have rights to update utmost one category of notice board. These rights can be assigned by principal to any user. Principal and AAO can update GENERAL notice board. Rules and regulations are also made available online as a part of notice board, these increases transparency level. Circular and notices related to staff members can also be uploaded by any staff members and accessible to staff only.

Attendance of student in any academic institute is important information which shows punctuality and sincerity of a student and should be recorded in unbiased way by a responsible person with complete transparency. Manually it is a tedious and time consuming process. Time consumed

in recording attendance is directly proportional to number of students in the class and this activity ultimately reduces lecture delivery time. Number of LSM are available in market but most of them does not provide attendance module because attendance recorded by any university or institute varies accord (Watson 2007).

Attendance module in Student Corner helps in overcoming above problems. Dashboard of Users having teaching staff rights when login gets a list of course taught by them with an attendance link in it. When user enters attendance module by clicking on this link a list of students appearing for that course are listed with a checkbox in front of their name, roll number and unique registration number. Teacher entering attendance has to simply check those students who are absent and save details of presence for the selected date’s practical or lecture. In case of practical attendance, user can also select practical batch.

Student Corner’s attendance module can handle a case like a teacher may conduct more than one lecture or practical for same course. All users are allowed to access cumulative date wise lecture/practical attendance and this increases transparency level. It also shows presence percentage. List of students having presence less than a particular percent is also available. Student having partial attendance for a day are highlighted for that day.

These ways, the Student Corner for AAU student partly works as library of e-books, old papers and various videos.

Architecture of Student Corner

In order to meet timely response and traffic load this application requires separate server for each activity viz. for saving notes or material or old papers and videos for a particular server a separate file server is required. In order to provide dynamic content as per user’s authentication and authorization and to store student’s attendance a dedicated database server is used. Reports like daily attendance and semester course attendance matrix summary and also summary of all students whose attendance short falls by a particular percentage are provided by report server. As it is a web application all client or user request is justified by a web server

.Usage Statistic Comparison

This application is accessible in intranet of AAU and till 12/03/2014 it is hit 63887 times.

67 teaching staff and 175 students have created their


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login. Course material of all courses of B. Tech (AIT) and one course of B. Tech (DT) is uploaded by concerned faculty. Upload – download usage statistics from this application is as below for three faculty.

Sr. No.

Faculty Upload Download

1 AIT 856 313322 AGR 5 1893 DSC 8 119

REFERENCES

Mosley, A. P. (2014, 03 20). Learning in a Down Economy. Retrieved from http://www.learningcircuits.org/: http://www.learningcircuits.org/?p=67

Parr, J.M.; Fung, I (September 28, 2004). “A Review of

the Literature on Computer-Assisted Learning,

particularly Integrated Learning Systems, and

Outcomes with Respect to Literacy and Numeracy.”

New Zealand Ministry of Education. Retrieved

April 2, 2005.

Szabo, Micheal; Flesher, K. (2002). “CMI Theory and Practice: Historical Roots of Learning Management Systems”. Proceedings of World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education 2002 (White Paper) (Montreal, Canada: In M. Driscoll & T. Reeves (Eds.)): 929–936. ISBN 1-880094-46-0.

Watson, William R. (2007). “An Argument for Clarity: What are Learning Management Systems, What are They Not, and What Should They Become?” TechTrends 51 (2): 28–34. Retrieved 13 February 2013.



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Nuritional, Sensory and Physical Analysis of Processed Multi Grain Weaning Mix

Gayatree R. Jadeja

Assistant Professor, KrushiVigyan Kendra, AAU, Arnej - 382 230Email : [email protected]

ABSTRACT

The present study was on the development of weaning food based on wheat, chickpea and ragi and adapting the Malting, Germinating and Popping technology. The sensory was physicochemical and nutritional quality of malted, germinated and popped and control weaning mix was carried out. The results suggest that the weaning foods based on wheat, chickpea and ragi are nutritionally balanced and possess good growth promotingpotentiality. The traditional technologies such as Malting, Germinating and Popping of cereals and legumes could be easily adapted to prepare weaning and supplementary foods from wheat, chickpea and ragi. Malting, Germinating and Popping have a high potential for developing low cost weaning and supplementary foods.

Keywords: Weaning mix, Nutritional quality

INTRODUCTION

Having a baby at home is a wonderful experience. Looking after the baby and caring for it is an even more fulfilling experience. There are several important stages in an infant’s growth. But one of the most important aspect, and often misunderstood stage is the weaning. The introduction to solid feeding and the gradual replacement of breast milk by solid food as the main source of nutrition is the process known as weaning. Weaning is a period of transition for the infant during which the diet changes in terms of consistency and source(Usha et al., 2010). At six months, a baby’s digestive system has matured enough to cope with solid food, and other developmental changes (such as the ability to bite and chew) means your baby is ready to experience new tastes and textures.

However, the capacity of a weaning diet to meet the protein and energy requirements of infants depends on its nutritional quality as well as its dietary bulk. This can be achieved through legume supplementation of cereal-based weaning foods. However, their role appears to be limited because of several factors including low protein and starch digestibility, poor mineral bioavailability and high anti-nutritional factors (Kamchan et al., 2004, Negi et al., 2001). It has been reported that protein and thiamin (Sattar et al., 1989, Savelkoul 1992) mineral bioavailability and protein

and starch digestibility (Preet and Punia, 2000) increased, whereas phytic acid and tannin decreased during germination of legumes.

Legumes are known to contain lysine in a quantity that exceeds the requirements for human but with the low content of sulphur amino acids. Cereals, on the other hand, are high in the sulphur amino acids but deficient in lysine. A mutual complementation of amino acids and consequent improvement in protein quality is therefore achieved when legumes are blended with cereals in the right proportions. Cereals form the major part of most weaning mixes and contribute to 70-80% of daily energy intake(Mahajan andChattopadhey, 2000). Legumes are largely replacing milk and other sources of animal proteins, which are expensive and not readily available in India as suitable substitutes for high quality protein.

METHODOLOGY

Wheat, chickpea and ragi purchased from a local market (Anand, India) were cleaned and used for the studies. Three different processing techniques (Malting, Germination & Popping) used for the development of processed multi grain weaning mix.ForMaltingWheat, chickpea and ragi were soaked separately in water for overnight,drained water,sun dried, and milled into flour using grinding mill.


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For GerminationWheat, Chickpea and Ragiwere soaked overnight in water separately, packed individually in wet muslin cloth for sprouting.After that all were sundried and milled into flour.For PoppingWheat, Chickpea and Ragi were roasted in dry sand individually at high temperature for short period of time andmilled into flour.

“Nestle Cerelac Stage 1(6+months) Wheat”used as a control product. The experimental products include the addition of different proportion of cereals and pulses. That were treated for Malting, Germination and Popping and milled into flour.

Development of Standard Product

Sr. No.

IngredientsControl

(g)

Experimental Weaning MixA

Without Process (g)

BMalted

(g)

CGerminated

(g)

DPopped

(g)1 Nestle Cerelac 100 - - - -2 Wheat flour - 25 25 25 253 Chickpea flour - 10 10 10 104 Ragi flour - 25 25 25 255 Skimmed Milk Powder - 30 30 30 306 Crystal sugar powder - 10 10 10 10

For testinginstant weaning mix powderswere mixed into lukewarm water with proper and continuous stirring until homogeneous mixture obtained.

For sensory evaluation, score cardoftwo different sensory tests i.e. Numerical scoring test and Hedonic rating testwere used. All the weaning mix products were evaluated for Visual Attributes (i.e. Color, Appearance, Consistency and Texture), Organolaptic Attributes (i.e. Stickiness, Easy of swallowing, Aroma, Taste, After Taste, Chewability and Overall Acceptability) using following scales; Excellent (9-10); Very good (7-8); Good (5-6); Fair (3-4); and Poor (1-2). The different products were ranked for individual quality attributes and also to score Overall Acceptability on a 10 point scale by 10 panal members.

Both control as well as experimental products were undergone for nutrient analysis using standard methods. Fat and ash by AOAC (1984), nitrogen by Khjeldhal (1883), carbohydrate by Anthrone (Hedge and Hofreiter, 1962). The samples were ashed in a muffle furnace and solution was prepared. The solution used to estimate Iron using colorimetricallyDipyridyl method (Ramsay, 1954), Calcium usingtitrimetric method (Clark and Collip, 1925), Phosphorus by colorimetric method (Fiske and Subbarow, 1925). Insoluble and soluble dietary fibre was estimated by AOAC method. Zinc was determined by titrimetric method (Jeffery et al., 1889).

Physicochemical property i.e. the Water Holding Capacity (WHC) of the samples were determined using the

centrifuge technique of Gandhi and Srivastava(2007).

The analysis was carried out in triplicates for all determinations. The mean, standard deviation of means, standard error of means were calculated. A multiple comparison procedure of the means was performedusing the ‘T’ test. Significance of the differences was defined as p<0.05.

RESULTS AND DISCCUSION

Table 1 shows the Sensory Attributes of Control and experimental Weaning Mix. It revealed that “Germinated weaning mix” and “Popped weaning mix” were scored higher for most of all the characteristics compared to the non-processed and “Malted weaning mix” as well as the Control i.e. “Cerelac weaning mix”.

In Visual attributes Appearance, Colour, Consistency, Texture and Aroma were included. For the appearance,texture and aroma attributes the germinated weaning mix shows significant difference (p<0.05) compared to the Cerelac.

In Organoleptic attributes the Taste, Chew ability, Easy of swallowing, After taste and Overall Acceptability were evaluated. For all the Organoleptic attributes the germinated weaning mix was significantly higher (p<0.05) compared to the control while the other experimental weaning mixs were scored less compared to the control. That means the germinated weaning mix found more acceptable even the commercially available mixes.

Table 1: Sensory score for control and experimental


85

weaning mix powder

Nutrients

Weaning Mix Food

ControlExperimental

A B C D

Visual Attributes

Appearance 8.222±0.364

7.111±0.351

7.388±0.161

8.888*

±0.1388.500

±0.220

Color 8.274±0.364

7.366±0.345

7.488±0.188

8.565*±0.204

8.233±0.375

Consistency 8.166±0.383

7.500±0.275

7.286±0.135

8.666±0.243

8.482±0.165

Texture 8.388±0.245

7.488±0.284

7.445±0.205

8.375±0.185

8.825±0.168

Aroma 8.233±0.155

7.366±0.155

7.323±0.172

8.446*

±0.1888.128

±0.206

Organoleptic Attributes

Taste 8.166±0.325

7.155±0.144

7.432±0.177

8.766*

±0.1558.556

±0.395

Chew ability 8.566±0.288

7.344±0.256

7.452±0.121

8.955*

±0.2338.725

±0.226

Easy of swallowing 8.144±0.375

7.322±0.353

7.322±0.182

8.433*

±0.4528.115

±0.255

After taste 8.166±0.325

7.185±0.286

7.452±0.225

8.588*

±0.1188.495

±0.144

Overall acceptability 8.166±0.305

7.333±0.322

7.522±0.311

8.875*

±0.1668.556

±0.220

Control :Cerelac Weaning Mix, A : Weaning Mix without processing B : Malted Weaning Mix, C : Germinated Weaning Mix, D : Popped Weaning Mix

Mean of three replication ±SEM,Value sharing a common superscript within a control are not significant different *p<0.05= significant difference**p<0.01=highly significant difference, NS = Non significant difference

Table 2 shows the selected nutrient contents and Water holding Capacity of Control and experimental weaning mixs. The calcium content was found the highest in the without process weaning mix and the lowest in the germinated weaning mix. Phosphorus value of all experimental weaning mixs was found lower as compared to the control. The Iron and Zinc contents of all the experimental weaning mixs were found higher compared to the control with highly significant

difference (p<0.01).The Carbohydrate was found lower in all the experimental weaning mix compared to the control and they were significantly differ (p<0.01) too. Protein content was also found slightly higher compared to the Cerelac and the significant difference (p<0.05) was seen in the Malted and Popped weaning mix in comparison of Cerelac. The Water holding capacity of all the experimental weaning mix was lower compared to the control as it contained higher amount


86

of carbohydrate.

Table 2: Nutrient Content of Control and Experimental Weaning Mix

Nutrients Weaning Mix

Cerelac(Control)

ExperimentalA B C D

Ash (g%) 2.763±0.064

2.725±0.022

2.655±0.035

2.470±0.119

2.780±0.083

Calcium (mg%) 539.259±15.983

615.185**

±15.072550.370±6.676

185.555**

±7.856402.222**

±3.928

Phosphorus (mg%) 296.305±2.216

258.947**

±2.292292.820*

±4.847281.171*

±5.100288.396*

±2.967

Iron (mg%) 14.590±0.794

27.360**

±1.43129.970**

±0..67028.906**

±0.60533.801**

±0.618

Zinc (mg %) 0.553±0.009

1.315**

±0.0081.466**

±0.0091.358**

±0.0080.956**

±0.003

Carbohydrate (g%) 96.000±0.333

54.888**

±0.88863.555**

±0.37663.555**

±0.37670.888**

±0.200

Fat (g%) 4.666±0.666

4.666±0.421

5.333±0.421

3.666±0.333

7.333*

±0.421

Protein (g%) 13.883±0.583

18.433±0816

20.008*

±0.29114.466±0.583

21.350*

±0.534

Crude fiber (g%) 0.753±0.003

1.703**

±0.0031.996**

±0.0161.860**

±0.031.833**

±0.016

Water Holding Capacity (g%) 1.822**

±0.0220.611**

±0.0300.866**

±0.0720.944**

±0.0240.955**

±0.024Control :Cerelac Weaning Mix A : Weaning Mix without processing B : Malted Weaning Mix, C : Germinated Weaning Mix D : Popped Weaning Mix

Mean of three replication ±SEM,Value sharing a common superscript within a control are not significant different, *p<0.05= significant difference,**p<0.01=highly significant difference,NS = Non significant difference.

CONCLUSION

Overall all the sensory attributes were found higher in the Germinated weaning mix. The other processed samples were also scored up to level on the acceptable.

After the sensory evaluation of the control and the experimental weaning mix, they were nutritionally analyzed. The Calcium was higher in without process weaning mix. The Phosphorous and Zinc were higher in the Malted weaning mix. Whereas the Iron, Carbohydrate, Fat and Protein were higher in the Popped weaning mix. The Crude Fiber was found higher in the all the experimental weaning mix compared of the control sample.

In Conclusion of the study our results suggest that the weaning foods based on wheat, chickpea and ragi are nutritionally balanced hence they may possess good growth promoting quality. The Germinating of cereals and

legumes could be easily adapted to prepared weaning and supplementary foods from wheat, chickpea and ragi. Since better quality mix could be produced even control. Thus it has high potential for developing low cost weaning and supplementaryfoods.

REFRENCES

AOAC (1984), “Official Method of Analysis” 14th Edn. Associationn of official analytical chemists, Washington DC.

Clark F. P. and Collip J. B, (1925),”Determination of calcium by titremetric method”, journal of biological chemistry, 63,461.

Fiske C. H. and Subbarow (1925),“Colorimetric Determination of phosphorus”, journal of biological chemistry, 66 : 375-400.

Gandhi, A.P. and Srivastava, T. (2007), “Studies on the


87

production of protein isolates from defatted sesame seed (Sesamumindicum) flour and their nutritional profile, Asian Food Journal, 14(3), 175-180.

Hedge, J.E. and Hefreiter, B.T. (1962), “Methods in carbohydrate chemistry”, Vol. 17 (Eds.), Whistler R.L. and BeMiller, J.N., Academic Press, New York, p.420.

Jaffery G. H., Bassett J., Mendham J.(1989),”Vogel’s quantitative analysis of chemicals”, Hangman Harlow., 5 : 284-294.

Kamchan A., Puwastien P., Sirichakwal P.P. and Kongkachuichai R.(2004),’’In vitro calcium bioavilability of vegetables, legumes and seeds’’, J. Food Composition and Analysis., 17 : 311-32.

Kjeldahl, J. (1883), New method for the determination of nitrogen in organic substances, Zeitschrift fur analytischechemie, 22(1): 366-383.

Mahajan P.V. and Chattopadhey P.K.(2000),’’Development of chemically leavened cereal legume based instant mix (dhokla)’’,J Food Technol., 37 : 459-464.

Negi A., Boora P. and Khetarpaul N.(2001),’’Starch and protein digestibility of newly released moth bean

cultivars: Effect of soaking, dehulling, germination and pressure cooking’’,Nahrung., 45(4) : 251-254.

Preet K., Punia D.(2000), ‘’Antinutrients and digestibility (in vitro) of soaked, dehulled and germinated cowpeas’’, Nutr. Health.,14(2) : 109-117.

Ramsay W. N. M.(1969),’’Method of iron estimation’’, journal of biological chemistry,17, Practical clinical biochemistry – 4th edition.

Sattar A., Durrani S.K., Mahmood F., Ahnad A. and Khan I.(1989), ‘’Effect of soaking and germination temperatures on selected nutrients and antinutrients of mung bean’’, Food Chem., 34 : 111-120.

Savelkoul F.H.M.G., Vanderpeol A.F.B. and Tamminga S.(1992),’’The presence and inactivation of trypsin inhibitors, tannins, lectins and amylase inhibitors in legume seeds during germination. A review’’, Plant Foods for Human Nut., 42 : 71-85.

Usha R., Lakshni M. and Ranjani M.(2010), ‘’ Nutritional, Sensory and Physical Analysis of Pumpkin Flour Incorporated into Weaning Mix’’, Mal J Nutr., 16(3) : 379-387

Received : April 2014 : Accepted : December 2014


88

Technological Gap in Adoption of Recommended Turmeric Production Technology Among Turmeric Growers

Dipika. D. Aglawe1, D. S. Kokate2, M. Lairenlakpam3

1 Assistant Professor, College of Agriculture, Tondapur, Tah. kalamnuri Dist. Hingoli2. Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Extension Education

Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri-4137223 PG Student, Department of Extension Education, BCKV, West Bengal,


ABSTRACT

Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is an important spice crop. Also, known as Goldmine of India. It is well known for its wide use in medicines and processing industry. The present investigation was conducted with view to study the extent of technological gap between recommended and actually adopted turmeric technologies by the respondent turmeric growers. Present study was conducted in 10 villages, randomly selected villages of Umarkhed and Mahagoan tahsil of Yavatmal district. From each selected village, 12 respondents were selected on random basis. Hence, in all 120 respondents were interviewed personally. Majority of the respondent turmeric growers were found in the medium level of technological gap i.e. 61.60 per cent. The 15.90 per cent of the respondent turmeric growers were found in high technological gap while, 22.50 per cent of the respondent turmeric growers were found in low technological gap.

Keywords: Technological gap, Turmeric, Recommended technologies

INTRODUCTION

Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) the ancient and sacred spice of India known as ‘Indian Saffron’ is an important commercial crop grown in India. It is used in diversified forms as a condiment, flavouring and colouring agent and as a principal ingredient in Indian culinary as curry powder. It has anti cancer and antiviral activities and hence, finds use in the drug industry and cosmetics industry. ‘A type of starch is also being extracted from a particular type of turmeric. The increasing demand for natural products as food activities makes turmeric as ideal produce as a food colourant.

In the year 2000-2001 India produced 3726 thousand tones of turmeric and in 2009-10 the production was 4016 thousand tones (The Hindu survey of agriculture 2010).Maharashtra is also one of the important states in turmeric production. In the Maharashtra about 113.60 thousand ha of cultivation area under turmeric crop and produce 96.60 thousand tones of turmeric. Looking towards increase in area under turmeric, present study was carried out with following subjects.

OBJECTIVES

(i) To know the technological gap of repondents in turmeric production technology

(ii) To know the extent of adoption of respondents in turmeric production technology

METHODOLOGY

The list of turmeric growing villages of Umarkhed and Mahagoan tahsil was obtained from Taluka Agriculture Officer. There are 158 and 116 villages in Umarkhed and Mahagoan tahsils respectively. The area under turmeric cultivation in Umarkhed and Mahagoan tahsils were 300 ha and 200 ha. The area out of these, five villages each from Umarkhed and Mahagoan tahsil were selected having highest area under turmeric cultivation. A list of turmeric growers was prepared from village functionaries. The 12 farmers from each village were selected by random sampling technique. Thus, total 120 respondents were as a sample for the study.


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Technological gap was operationally defined as the gap between two levels i.e. recommended turmeric production technology and its actual adoption by the respondent turmeric growers. Responses of the respondents were collected in three continuum scale i.e. fully adopted 2, partially adopted 1, and not adopted 0 on the basis of score obtained. Technological gap was measured by using following formula :

R - A Technological gap = ---------- x 100 RWhere, R = Recommended score A = Adopted score

Total gap for all practices of crop Mean technological gap = -----------------------------------------------------------

Number of practices recommended for the crop


Table 1: Distribution of the respondent turmeric growers by their overall technological gap in turmeric production n=120

Sr. No.

Technological gap Frequency Per cent

1 Low (Upto Scores 37) 27 22.502 Medium (Scores 38 to 67) 74 61.603 High (Scores 68 and above) 19 15.90

From the above Table-1 it is observed that, majority of the respondent turmeric growers were found in the medium level of technological gap 61.60 per cent.15.90 per cent of the respondent turmeric growers were found in high technological gap, while, 22.50 per cent of the respondent turmeric growers were found in low technological gap group.

Table 2 : Distribution of the turmeric growers by their extent of adoption and technological gap with regard to individual practice of the turmeric production technology n=120

Sr. No. Name of practice Standard score

Extent of adoption per cent

Technological Gap

per cent

Rank

1 Time of planting 02 97.50 2.50 I

2 Selection of soil 02 92.50 7.50 II

3 Method of planting 02 91.60 8.40 III

4 Land preparation 06 90.83 9.17 IV

5 Selection of planting material 04 88.12 11.8 V

6 Harvesting 04 84.16 15.83 VI

7 Water management 04 82.08 17.92 VII

8 Earthing up 04 81.50 18.50 VIII

9 Post harvest practices 24 71.05 28.95 IX

10 Variety 06 61.66 38.37 X

11 Weed management 06 55.69 44.31 XI

12 Chemical fertilizer 08 52.50 47.50 XII

13 Intercrop 02 51.66 48.38 XIII

14 Pest management 06 45.83 54.17 XIV

15 Disease management 04 31.38 68.62 XV

16 Seed treatment 04 22.87 77.92 XVI

Average 88 68.80 31.20


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It was observed from Table-2 that, high technological gap in seed treatment (77.92 per cent), disease management (68.62 per cent), pest management (54.17 per cent), intercrop (48.34 per cent), whereas, medium technological gap was observed in practices viz., chemical fertilizer (47.50 per cent), weed management (44.31 per cent), variety (38.34 per cent) and post harvest practices (28.95 per cent). However, low technological gap existed in earthing up (18.50 per cent), water management (17.92 per cent), harvesting (15.83 per cent), selection of planting material (11.88 per cent), land preparation (9.17 per cent), method of planting (8.40 per cent), selection of soil (7.50 per cent) and time of planting (2.50 per cent).

The average technological gap of the turmeric growers was 31.20 per cent.

CONCLUSION

It was concluded that a majority of the respondent turmeric growers had medium level of technological gap and the average technological gap of the respondent turmeric growers was 31.20 per cent. The extent of adoption of improved practices was 68.80 per cent.

A wide technological gap existed with respect to

seed treatment, disease management, pest management. Since, these practices are important from the point of increasing production and net return, it warrants the attention of extension workers and scientist to intensify their efforts in these areas where wide gap observed and appropriate educational activities like organizing trainings, demonstrations and exhibitions should be undertaken to reduce technological gap.

REFERENCES

Andhari, V.V. (2009). Technological gap in tomato cultivation from Western Maharashtra. Ph.D. Thesis (unpublished) MPKV, Rahuri.

Jadhav, P.L. (2009). A study of technological gap in onion production from Phaltan taluka of Satara district. M.Sc. (Agri.) Thesis MPKV, Rahuri (Unpublished)

Kadam, S.T. (2008). A study of technological gap in ginger cultivation. M.Sc. (Agri.) Thesis MPKV, Rahuri.

More, V.S. (2006). Adoption of recommended cultivation practices of turmeric by the turmeric growers in Satara district. M.Sc. (Agri.) Thesis MPKV, Rahuri (Unpublished)

Received : October 2014 : Accepted : December 2014


91

Impact of Front Line Demonstration on Mustard Growers

Rakesh N. Patel1 and Jaydeep R. Patel2

1. Agriculture Officer, Krushi Vigyan Kendra, SDAU, Deesa - 385 5352. Ph.D Scholar , Department of Agricultural Extension, CPCA, SDAU, S.K.Nagar - 385 506

E-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

To accelerate the production of crops, ICAR has started FLD programme through KVK. Latest recommended package ofpracticesaredemonstratedonfarmersfield.ThepresentstudywasconductedinBanaskanthadistrict.ThevillagesnamelyHadmatiyaandSalemkotwereselectedpurposivelyandtwenty-fivefarmersfromeachvillagewererandomlyselected.Thus50 musturd growers were selected as sample. Technologies generated by scientists are of no use unless adopted by farmers. With a view to know the extent of adoption of mustard production technologies before and after FLD given by Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Deesa, majority of mustard growers adopted timely sowing, line sowing and application of basal fertilizer. It showed the impact of FLD on adoptionof mustard protection technologies.

Keywords: Front line demonstration, Adoption, Mustard growers

INTRODUCTION

Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) has been functioning in the Banaskantha district since 22th June 1976. The KVK is sanctioned by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and constituent of Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University situated at Deesa, Dist. Banaskantha. The main aim of KVK is transfer of technology through on and off campus training programmes for farmers and extension functionaries, front line demonstrations, on farm trials and other extension activities. Front line demonstrations on different crops grown in the district is the mandatory activity of KVK. Krishi Vigyan Kendra has given front line demonstrations on mustrad crop sanctioned by ZPD, Jodhpur. Thus, evaluation of mustard front line demonstrations given by Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Deesa was felt necessary. The study was under taken with following objectives.

OBJECTIVES

(i) To evaluate the FLD in terms of adoption of recommended mustard production technology.

(ii) To know the yield of mustard crop on farmers field before and after FLD.

(iii) To study the profitability of mustard crop before and after FLD.

METHODOLOGY

The present study was conducted in Banaskantha district. The villages namely Hadmatiya and Salemkot were selected purposively in which mustard FLDs had been given by KVK, Deesa. List of farmers to whom FLD mustard had been allotted were prepared and twenty-five farmers from each village were randomly selected. Thus, total fifty farmers / respondents were selected for present study.

The data were collected by personal interview. The respondents were same for before and after FLD data collection. The interview schedule was developed through discussion with experts, scientist and extension officers working in the district. The data were analyzed with appropriate statistical procedures.


In order to find out the extent of adoption of improved agricultural practices of mustard crop, imported practices were identified for the study which was presented in Table 1.


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Table 1: Extent of adoption of recommended package of practices of mustard crop before and after FLD n=50

Sr.No.

Package of practice

Adoption (Before FLD)

Adoption (After FLD)

No. Percent No. Percent1 Use of timely sown

mustard 26 52.00 44 88.00

2 Sowing time for mustard

23 46.00 31 62.00

3 Seed treatment for disease management (Stem rot)

18 36.00 25 50.00

4 Seed rate for mustard 24 48.00 29 58.005 line sowing 28 56.00 41 82.006 Fertilizer dose for

mustard21 42.00 38 76.00

7 Adoption of top dressings for mustard

22 44.00 33 66.00

8 Application of last irrigation at 70 DAS

12 24.00 35 70.00

9 Weed management in mustard

09 18.00 18 36.00

10 Application of sulfur in mustard

18 36.00 32 64.00

The data in Table 1 indicated that majority (88.00 percent) of the respondents had adopted timely sowing of mustard varieties, line sowing (82.00 percent), application of basal fertilizer dose (76.00 per cent), adoption of top dressing for mustard (66.00 per cent), application of sulfur in mustard (64.00 percent), sowing time of mustard (62.00 percent), seed rate for timely sown Mustard (86.87 percent), seed rate for late sown Mustard (80.00 percent) and line sowing (81.67 percent). Very less number of respondents (36.00 percent) adopted weed management in mustard.

Yield of mustard crop

Table 2: Yield of mustard before FLD and after FLD n=50

Sr. No.

Average yield of mustard crop Kg/ha

Per cent

Before FLD After FLD

1 1835 2356 28.39 t=9.52 (Calculated t) t=1.96 (Table t at 0.05 percent) ** (H.S.)

The data in Table 2 revealed that the yield of Mustard per hectare was increased 28.39 percent after FLD. The t test also indicates the significant difference in yield before FLD and after FLD.

Profitability of FLD mustard crop

Table 3: Profitability of mustard before and after FLD

Sr. No.

Items Before FLD

After FLD

1 Cost of cultivation (`/ha) 11897 13635

2 Yield of Mustard (qt/ha) 18.35 23.56

3 Gross income (`/ha) 40187 51596

4 Net profit (`/ha) 28289 37961

5 BCR 1.00 3.78

The data in Table 3 reveled that before FLD the yield of mustard was 18.35 qt/ha while after FLD the yield was 23.56 qt/ha. The prevailing market price was ` 2190=00 per quintal and on that base profitability was calculated which showed that net profit from mustard crop before FLD was ` 28289.00/ha while the net profit from mustard crop after FLD was ` 37961./ha. The BCR for before FLD was 1.00 while after FLD was 3.78.

CONCLUSION

On the set of technologies of mustard crop before FLD, the adoption was very less but after conducting the FLD programme on farmers field most of the farmers became aware about recommended production technologies of mustard crop. Majority of the farmers have adopted most of the production technologies of mustard after FLD as compare to before FLD. It shows impact of FLD on adoption.

REFERENCES

Saxena, A.S. and Tripathi, S.N. (1999): Utility of Krushi Vigyan Kendra Training Programmes, Maharastra.Jr.Ext.Edu.XVIII: 61-63.

Thakor, R.F. and Patel A. R. (2005-06): Usefulness of krushi vigyan Kendra as perceived by the Sugarcane growers Guj.J.Extn.Edu.XVI-XVII: 51-54.



93

Constraints faced by Farmers in Adoption of Recommended Paddy Production Technology

H. N. Maheriya1, R.C.Patel2 and J.B.Patel3

1 P.G.Student, Department of Extension Education, BACA, AAU, Anand - 388 110 2 Ret. Associate Professor (Extension), A/44-Kubernagar Society

Kapadwanj.Dist- Kheda 3 Associate Professor, Department of Extension Education, BACA, AAU, Anand

E-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Present study was conducted in Anand district of Gujarat state to identify the constraints by the farmers in adoption of paddy production technology. 120 respondents were selected from 10 randomly selected villages of khambhat and Tarapur Talukas and data were collected through interview schedule. Results indicates that, lack of knowledge in the practices namely recommendeddoseoffertilizers,controlmeasuresofpestsanddiseases,identificationofpestsanddiseases,recommendationof chemical weed control measures in paddy, high cost of fertilizers and pesticides, high labour charges at the time of transplanting and harvesting, labour shortage at the time of transplanting and harvesting and short supply of fertilizers at required time, low market price of paddy and poor contacts of extension workers with farmers were major constraints faced by paddy grower. Remunerative market prices of paddy, facility of crop insurance scheme in case of failure of season, minimum support price of paddy should be declared well in advance were important suggestion to overcome/minimize the constraints in adoption of new technology in paddy cultivation

Keywords: constraints, Paddy production technology, Suggestions

INTRODUCTION

Rice is one of the most important cereal crops of the country. In Gujarat most of the area under rice crop is confined to middle and south Gujarat comprising the districts of Kheda, Anand, Vadodara, Dahod, Godhra, Ahmadabad, Surat, Valsad, Dang and Navsari. Paddy is one of the important commercial crops of Anand district having with total area of 87700 hectares with total production of 1.85 million tones (Anon 2011). Khambhat and Tarapur are major rice growing taluka of the district. Majority of the farmers in the area has undertaken the cultivation of paddy since a very long time. However it is observed that recommended paddy production technology is not adopted by the farmers up to the extent for higher production due to some technological, economical and marketing constraints. Therefore, study was conducted to identify the constraints faced by the farmers in adoption of recommended paddy production technology and to seek their suggestions to overcome these constraints.

METHODOLGY

Anand district was purposively selected for the

study. Khambhat and Tarapur taluka of Anand district were purposively selected as it coverage maximum area under paddy cultivation in the district. A sample of 120 respondents were selected from 10 randomly selected villages of khambhat and Tarapur Talukas. An interview schedule based on objective of the study was developed and respondents were personally interviewed for collection of information. The respondents were asked to mention the constraints faced by them in adoption of paddy production technology. The constraints expressed by them were noted and it was categorized in five groups namely; technological constraints, economical constraints, service and supply constraints, marketing constraints and communication constraints. Based on the frequencies and intensity each particular constraint was converted in percentage. At the same time suggestions of the farmers were also collected to minimize the constraints. Frequency and percentage were used to analyze the data draw the meaningful conclusion.

OBJECTIVES

(i) To know the constraints faced by the farmers in adoption of recommended paddy production technology

(ii) To seek their suggestions to overcame the constraints.


94

It is observed from Table.1 that, lack of knowledge about recommended dose of fertilizers (70.83 per cent), lack of knowledge about control measures of pests and diseases (62.50 per cent), lack of knowledge about identification of pest and diseases (58.33 per cent), lack of knowledge about recommendation of chemical weed control measures (56.66 per cent), were their major technological constraints. High cost of fertilizers and pesticides (70.83 per cent), high labour charges at the time of transplanting and harvesting (66.66 per cent), lack of finance for purchasing farm inputs (62.50 per cent), were major economic problems.

Labour shortage at the time of transplanting and harvesting(75.00 per cent), Sort supply of fertilizers at required time (66.66 per cent) and irregular supply of canal water for irrigation (54.16 per cent) were major constraints related to service and supply. low market price of paddy (62.50 per cent) followed by, lack of marketing facility in rural area (54.16 per cent) major marketing problems for paddy growers in study area. Poor contacts of extension workers with farmers (58.33 per cent), non-availability of farm information in time (54.16 per cent) and irregularity of

extension workers in rural area (50.00 per cent) were major information transfer constraints for paddy growers.

Suggestions to overcome the constraints

Table 2 indicated that great majority of the farmers suggested that remunerative market prices of paddy should be provided to the (91.67 per cent), farmers should be protected by crop insurance scheme in case of failure of season (87.50 per cent), minimum support price of paddy should be declared well in advance by the Government (83.33 per cent), extension system should be streamlined to disseminate farm technology (73.33 per cent), proper technical guidance should be given to the farmers as and when they needs (68.33 per cent), training on new cultivation technology should be imparted to the farmer(65.00 per cent), farm information centers should be established at village level (62.50 per cent), Farm consultancy services should be made available to the farmers at village level (58.33 per cent), required farm inputs should be made available at village level(56.66 per cent),timely supply of canal water (54.16 per cent) and electricity should be supplied regularly(50.00 per cent).


Constraint in technology utilization

Table: 1. Constraints of respondents in technology utilization of paddy cultivation n=120

No. Constraints No. Per centI Technological constraint1 Lack of knowledge about recommended dose of fertilizers 85 70.832 Lack of knowledge about control measures of pests and diseases 75 62.503 Lack of knowledge about identification of pests and diseases 70 58.33

4 Lack of knowledge about recommendation of chemical weed control measures in paddy 68 56.66

II Economical constraints1 High cost of fertilizers and pesticides 85 70.832 High cost of labour charges at the time of transplanting and harvesting 80 66.663 Lack of finance for purchasing farm inputs 75 62.50

III Service and supply related constraints1 Labour shortage at the time of transplanting and harvesting. 90 75.002 Shortage of fertilizers at required time 80 66.663 Irregular supply of canal irrigation water 65 54.16

IV Marketing constraints1 Low market price of paddy at harvesting time 75 62.502 Lack of marketing facilities in rural area 65 54.16V Communication constraints1 Poor contacts of extension workers with farmers 70 58.332 Non availability of farm information in time 65 54.163 Irregularity of extension workers in rural area 60 50.00


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Table: 2 Suggestions offered by paddy growers to overcome the constraints in technology utilization of paddy production technology. n=120

No. Suggestions No. Per cent Rank1 Remunerative market prices of paddy should be provided to the farmers 110 91.67 I2 Farmers should be protected by crop insurance scheme in case of failure of season 105 87.50 II3 Minimum support price of paddy should be declared well in advance by Government 100 83.33 III4 Extension system should be streamlined to disseminate farm technology. 88 73.33 IV5 Proper technical guidance should be given to the farmers as and when they needs. 82 68.33 V6 Training on new cultivation technology should be imparted to the farmer. 78 65.00 VI7 Farm information centers should be established at village level. 75 62.50 VII8 Farm consultancy services should be made available to the farmers at village level. 70 58.33 VIII9 Required farm inputs should be made available at village level. 68 56.66 IX10 Timely supply of canal water for irrigation 65 54.16 X11 Electricity should be supplied regularly 60 50.00 XI

CONCLUSION

It can be concluded that major constraints experienced by the farmers in paddy cultivation were Lack of knowledge about recommended dose of fertilizers, High cost of fertilizers and pesticides, Labour shortage at the time of transplanting and harvesting, Low market price of paddy at harvesting time, Poor contacts of extension workers with farmers. Remunerative market prices of paddy, facility of crop insurance scheme in case of failure of season, minimum support price of paddy should be declared well in advance , extension system should be streamlined , proper technical guidance and, organization of training to the farmers were important suggestions to overcome/minimize the constraints in adoption of paddy production technology.

REFERENCES

Desale M.M. (2009).Extent of Adoption of Hybrid Castor production technology by the farmers in Kheda district of Gujarat state. M.Sc. (Agri.) Thesis (unpublished), AAU, Anand.

Maheriya H.N. (2013) Technology Utilization Behavior of Paddy growers in Anand district of Gujarat

State M.Sc. (Agri.) Thesis (unpublished), A.A.U, Anand.

Jana H. and, Verma H.K. (2003) Constraints faced by the paddy growers in adoption of recommended plant protection practices, Rural India, Aug-2003.p.155.

Parmar P.B. (2006). A study on knowledge and extent of adoption of paddy growers about recommended paddy production technology in Khambhat taluka of Anand district. Unpublished M.Sc(Agri) thesis, AAU, Anand.

Patel D.F (2006) Attitude of paddy growers towards the use of pesticides in Tarapur, Sojitra and Petlad talukas of Anand district. M.Sc. (Agri.) thesis (Unpublished), GAU, Anand.

Prakash Vinod, Harish Chandra Singh and Prajapati, M.K. (2003).Extent of adoption of Rice growers regarding rice production technology. Raj.j. Ext. edu.xi:55-58.



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Problems Faced by Paddy Growers in Adoption of Scientific Technology

A. R. Makwan1, A. C. Vaidhya2 and D. D. Patel3

1 Assistant Professor, Polytechnic in Agriculture, AAU, Vaso Dist. Kheda2 Associate Professor, College of Veterinary Science, AAU, Anand – 388 0013 Technical officer to V.C., Office of Vice Chancellor, AAU, Anand - 388 110


ABSTRACT

The study was conducted with randomly selected 120 paddy growers of three selected talukas of Kheda district. The study revealed that high rate of inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, insecticides/pesticides etc., low price of paddy at the time of harvesting, limited and irregular supply of electricity, high rate and shortage of labours, diseases and insect-pests, ad lack of timely technical advice were the major problems, while major suggestions offered by them were: efforts should be made to minimize the cost of inputs, reasonable support price ofthepaddyshouldbedetermined,timelyandsufficientelectricpower& fertilizers should be provided and training on new technology & plant protection measures should be imparted.

Keywords:Scientifictechnology,Adoption,Problems

INTRODUCTION

Paddy cultivation is the main source of livelihood for rural populations living in developing countries. Achieving self-sufficiency in rice production and maintaining price stability are important objectives in low-income countries. To achieve this goal one important factor is to make paddy growers knowledgeable about recommended rice farming techniques.

OBJECTIVES

(i) To identify the problems faced by paddy growers in relation to paddy cultivation.

(ii) To ascertain suggestions from paddy growers to overcome the problems

METHODOLOGY

The present investigation was undertaken “A study on problems faced by paddy growers in adoption of scientific technology of Kheda District.” Kheda District was purposively selected for the study where paddy is grown extensively. Further, three Talukas, viz. Nadiad, Matar and Mehmdavad were selected on the basis of maximum area under paddy cultivation. From the selected each Taluka four-four villages were selected on the basis of maximum area under paddy cultivation. From the above 12 selected

villages, 10 paddy growers were randomly chosen from each village. In such a way 120 paddy growers were selected for detail study. Data was collected with the help of developed interview schedule by survey method.


Problems faced by paddy growers in adoption of scientific technology

Problems in adoption of new technology never end. However they can be minimized if known to policy makers, planner and scientific knowledge of paddy. The data in this regard are presented in Table 1.

The data presented in Table: 1 reveal that out of eight items of problems experienced by the paddy growers in adoption of paddy cultivation technology, respondents had assigned first rank to high rate of inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, insecticides/pesticides etc.( 80.00 per cent ), low price of paddy at the time of harvesting (76.67 per cent), limited and irregular supply of electricity (74.17 per cent), high rate and shortage of labours (71.67 per cent), diseases and insect-pests (63.33 per cent), lack of timely technical advice (57.50 per cent), shortage of fertilizers at the time of transplanting (52.50 per cent) and irregular supply of canal water ( 49.17 per cent) respectively.


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Table 1: Problems faced by the paddy grower in adoption of scientific technology of paddy crop n=120

Sr. No.

Problems No. Per cent

Rank

1 High rate and shortage of labours

86 71.67 IV

2 Low price of paddy at the time of harvesting

92 76.67 II

3 Diseases and insect-pests 76 63.33 V4 Limited and irregular supply

of electricity89 74.17 III

5 Irregular supply of canal water 59 49.17 VIII6 Shortage of fertilizers at the

time of transplanting63 52.50 VII

7 Lack of timely technical advice

69 57.50 VI

8 High rate of inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, insecticides/pesticides etc.

96 80.00 I

Suggestions made by the paddy growers to overcome the problems faced by them

An attempt was made to ascertain suggestions from paddy growers to overcome various problems face by them in adoption of recommended paddy technology. The respondents were requested to offer their valuable suggestions against difficulties faced by the in adoption of recommended paddy technology. The suggestions offered by paddy growers are presented in Table: 2.

Table 2 shows that 68.33 per cent of the paddy growers suggested that efforts should be made to minimize the cost of inputs followed by reasonable support price of the paddy should be determined (66.67 per cent), timely and sufficient electric power & fertilizers should be provided(63.33 per cent), training on new technology and plant protection measures should be imparted ( 61.67 per cent), sufficient electric power and canal water should provide at the time of paddy cultivation ( 57.50 per cent) and mechanization technology should be developed for reducing labour problems (49.17 per cent).

Table 2 : Suggestions given by the paddy growers to overcome problems faced by them. n=120

Sr.No.

Suggestions No. Per cent Rank

1 Efforts should be made to minimize the cost of inputs 82 68.33 I2 Timely and sufficient electric power & fertilizers should be provided 76 63.33 III3 Training on new technology and plant protection measures should be

imparted 74 61.67 IV

4 Reasonable support price of the paddy should be determined 80 66.67 II5 Mechanization technology should be developed for reducing labour

problems59 49.17 VI

6 Sufficient electric power and canal water should provide at the time of paddy cultivation

69 57.50 V

CONCLUSION

It can be concluded that high rate of inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, insecticides/pesticides etc., low price of paddy at the time of harvesting, limited and irregular supply of electricity, high rate and shortage of labours, diseases and insect-pests, lack of timely technical advice, shortage of fertilizers at the time of transplanting and irregular supply of canal water were the major problems as perceived by paddy growers in adoption of paddy cultivation technology, while the major suggestions offered by them were: efforts should be made to minimize the cost of inputs, reasonable support price of the paddy should be determined, timely and

sufficient electric power & fertilizers should be provided, training on new technology and plant protection measures should be imparted, sufficient electric power and canal water should provide at the time of paddy cultivation and mechanization technology should be developed for reducing labour problems.

REFERENCE

Patel, B. D., Patel, Sunil R. and Bhatt, M. R.(2009-10). Constraints faced by Chilli Growers in Adoption of Recommended Technology. Guj. J. Ext. Edu. XX-XXI: 107-109.



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AGROPEDIA: An ICT Initiative in Agricultural Extension

K C Kamani1, D R Kathiriya2 and P S Parsania3

1Assistant Professor (Computer Science) Sheth M. C. College of Dairy Science, AAU, Anand – 388 1102Principal & Dean, College of Agricultural Information Technology and Director (IT)

AAU, Anand – 388 1103Assistant Professor (Computer Science)College of FPT & BE, AAU, Anand – 388 110


ABSTRACT

There was a time when farmers got together at the local panchayat and talked about the weather, crops or what was happening in the world of agriculture. Communicating with others was called socializing. It was done face to face and was generally local. Now people, farmers, ranchers included, spread the word—whether personal or farming related people using social media tools such as Facebook, Google+, Twitter, YouTube, Wikis, Whatsapp, Linkedin and blogs. This paper presents an AGROPEDIA; a new agricultural based advisory system or portal by combining these social media tools and going to proveadigitalknowledgerepositorysystemforthepeopleassociatewithagricultureoralliedfields.

Keywords: Social media, ICT, Agricultural extension, Knowledge repository

INTRODUCTION

Usually, agricultural information discussion was dominated by media such as newspapers, radio, television and magazines. In recent years, though, technology awareness and computer literacy have increased across all demographics. Various forms of social media are being used more and more by people looking for entertainments, news, education and other information related to agriculture and allied fields.

If you have a one-on-one conversation about an issue, only the person you’re talking to benefitsfrom the information you deliver. But if you share that information using social media, there is the potential to reach millions of other growers asking the same questions or facing similar problems.

Social media also provides farmers a quick and easy way to build relationships and interact with people in agriculture and allied field. Social media creates a much broader agriculture community, so obstacles like physical distance and isolation are issues of the past.

Agriculture and social media suitable together. Social media is the platform of meeting and agriculture is the content. Social media is giving farmers and rural trades a voice and providing significant networking opportunities for continuous collaborative communication.

Why should agriculture producers care about social media tools? It’s really quite simple: mass guidance. Social media captures extensive users.Currently, numerous services are already available in order to help farmers and agricultural-related stakeholders search or publish information on their activities andproducts. Interesting stories trending on Twitter, Linkedin, Wikis or Facebook are more likely to be read than buried deep in a newspapers and magazines.

Among all other web based resources or social media portals, AGROPEDIA is an open-ended knowledge sharing platform specially designed for farming community. It is an online agricultural knowledge repository that makes agriculture information available to scientists, researchers, extension personnel and the agricultural community and allows them to search and make contributions to the massive knowledge base.The AGROPEDIA was started planned to provide an entry point for agricultural related information and bebetter with “smart” services with the use of ICT technologies. AGROPEDIA is acomplete, seamlessly integrated model of digital content organization in theagricultural field. It intentions to bring together a community of practice through an ICTmediated knowledge creating and organising platform with an effort to influence theexisting agricultural extension system.

Originally titled “AGROPEDIA Indica”, it is a


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collaborative project of seven consortium partners’ viz. ICRISAT- Hyderabad, NAARM- Hyderabad, IIT Kanpur, IIT Bombay, GBPUAT- Pantnagar, UAS- Raichur and IIITM-Kerala. Project is backed by Government of India and sponsored by the World Bank through the National Agricultural Innovation Project of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). The project was launched on 12thJanuary 2009.Eventually it aims to use weekly alerts from scientists on different crops, to send text messages to farmers across India.

AGROPEDIA –outline

The Wikipedia is the most popular wiki on the public web in terms of page views, but there are many sites running many different kinds of wiki software. Wikis can serve many different purposes both public and private, including knowledge management, note taking, community websites and intranets. Based on same theme and style the collaborative project was started in order to create digital encyclopedia for agriculture.Many social enterprises are currently addressing the agriculture space, attempting to bring new technologies to rural areas to improve the efficiency and profitability of farmers. AGROPEDIA works as a one-stop hub for information on the agriculture ecosystem. The Wiki-style platform provides, among other things, a space for stakeholder interaction, best practice sharing, news updates, and an online library certified by the Indian Council of

Agricultural Research (ICAR).

It is an agriculture knowledge repository of universal meta-models and localized content for a variety of users with suitable interfaces built in collaborative mode in multiple languages. AGROPEDIAobjectives to develop a complete digital content framework, platform and tools in support of agricultural extension and outreach. In other words, it aspires to be a one stop shop for any information, pedagogic or practical knowledge related to extension services in Indian agriculture – an audiovisual encyclopedia, to enchant, educate and transform the process of digital content creation and organization completely.AGROPEDIA is sponsored by National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and has following objectives:

• To develop an agricultural repository and to build a Digital Ecosystem in agricultural domain for proper knowledge circulation.

• To deploy extension services for agricultural development.

• To prepare a bridge between explicit knowledge holders (like agricultural researchers, scientists, extortionists, experts and implicit knowledge holders like farmers, ranchers and other field workers).

Figure 1 : Assembly of AGROPEDIA


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In brief, through the whole work procedure AGROPEDIA wishes to achieve and establish theextensive knowledge of the Indian agricultural domain through building up anagricultural e-community and reinforcement the networks among the different membersof that community. This is the platform where everyone starting from research scientists,teachers, students, extension workers, farmers, ranchers, traders, and entrepreneur caninteract with each other through participating in the site. The structure of AGROPEDIA canbe best described in figure 1.

Challenges

AGROPEDIA is a unique internet based Web 3.0 platform in the agricultural field, as it is semantically planned and enabled so as to support one in getting exactly what information or service she or he is seeking. It is the first of its kind in the world with the capability of searching semantically enabled information. AGROPEDIA seeks to address gaps in Indian agriculture knowledge and applications, specifically the lack of content, organized information, and the extension of services with internet facility in rural area, which are serious challenges. In brief, the biggest challenge is connectivity and infrastructure problem.

In India we found versatility in language and different region. Language barrier is one major challenge in order to communicate with extension people and farmers.

Furthermore, in India in different region people are using showing different crops and using different cropping practices; so it is challenging task to provide guidance to farmers along with the certified content.

Solutions using AGROPEDIA

To overcome with the challenges AGROPEDIA is a unique and innovative single point service providing platform. Which helps to face the above mentioned challenges.

AGROPEDIA is internet based tool. Now a day’s internet is going cheaper and cheaper day by day. Government has taken initiative to provide internet in each and every village. They have already established internet kiosk in many places. Particularly, in Gujarat, India Government has decided to provide internet in each and every rural panchayat in order to provide e-governance facility in rural areas. They have also appoint one computer literate person to assist rural people, farmers to use such web based service and get benefited from it.

To overcome with language barrier, AGROPEDIA uses the library section (gyan dhara), it also allows space for interaction, knowledge co-creation (jana gyan) and social networking (chat, blog, forum, wiki) making the site dynamic and the learning participatory, integrating traditional wisdom with modern knowledge and social interactions.

For any kind of agricultural content one will find a special dedicated spot on AGROPEDIA, be it our Package of Practices (text/voice), Dos and Don’ts, Crop Calendar, Library, Newsroom, Events, Agrowiki, Agroblog, Agroforum, Agrochat or Images. Any user who registers to the site is encouraged to either add, rate or comment on any content in all major Indian languages. All this is what makes AGROPEDIA different from other sites.

Figure 2 : AGROPEDIA Portal


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Extension scope in AGROPEDIA : The Digital Agricultural Encyclopedia

AGROPEDIA comprises a repository of knowledge models. With the aid of agriculturalExperts we developed the following models:

• A standard map, acting as top level foundation crop ontology.

• Specific maps on different crops.

• This space of AGROPEDIA portal deals with the certified contents added to the portalmainly by the agricultural scientists of the consortium partners of the project in the formof ‘Library’ content, ‘Voice Messages’, ‘ Text Messages‘, ‘Package of Practices’,

‘Crop Calendar’ or ‘Dos and Don’ts’ on the different crops.

• Library: It is the document like contents. The library contents a variety of document-like-information-objects. This includes documents (in word, pdf, or any other), images, video and audio content on different aspects of agriculture. One can easily add new content, including photographs and video clips, or add comments on the existing content. Our content will be published after due examining. Alternately, one could go to the interaction space and share your views on the agrowiki, agroblog or forum, which will be published on the web instantly. Figure 3 shows the crop wise Library contents in AGROPEDIA.

Figure 3 : AGROPEDIA Library

• Crop Calendar:It provides month-wise package of practices of agricultural crops. Here is this section also one can add his or her content and published after examination. Figure 4 shows the crop calendar for the month of February.

Figure 4 : Crop Calendar in AGROPEDIA


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• Package of Practices: Here one can see the text based and voice based package of practices on different crops

and multiple languages. Figure 5 shows the voice based package of practices in AGROPEDIA.

Figure 5 : Package of Practices using Voice

Social media based extension activity using AGROPEDIA

This is the social communications space for the AGROPEDIA users, which is constructed on web 3.0technology. In contrast with the extension material it deals with contributed knowledgecoming up through the active involvement of the users in agrowiki, agroblog, agroforumand agrochat.

• Agroforum:It is a platform where a registered user can post a question under any one of the forums and an expert on the related topic would reply and hence a conversation is opened.

• Agrochat:It is an entirely new concept for an agricultural website where registered users can get involved in one to one as well as one to many chat. It is

very simple and efficient to use too.

• Agrowiki :It is developed by using the idea of ‘Wiki’, popularised by Wikipedia i.e. everyone is able to search and create content about agriculture, and share it with others. Here one can also visualize and upload images in addition to text. Agrowiki is related to agricultural domain whereas Wikipedia is dealing with all types of information. It provides users a word document with a toolbar having all possible functionalities which are commonly used by them in creating a document. AGROPEDIA provides different features like blog, forum, chat, wiki to share and learn agicultural information and experiences but it is not in case of wikipedia. Figure 6 shows the agrowiki in AGROPEDIA portal.

Figure 6 : Agrowiki


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Agroblog:It is like a personal diary where all the registered users can share theirexperiences and other registered users can comment on them

CONCLUSION

AGROPEDIA is an effort to shape a national source for agricultural information using information and communication technologies. In this paper we mentioned the various tools in AGROPEDIAfor Agricultural Extension and Interaction with farmers to scientific community and knowledge models that have beendeveloped in AGROPEDIA. The role of AGROPEDIA is to establish connections, create awareness. Hence, farming community, agricultural researchers, scientists and extension people should increase their participation to connect, network and communicate agricultural issues promptly on social networking sites like AGROPEDIA. This will start of a movement that will forever change the agriculture industry

REFERENCES

CSI Communications, (2013) Vol. No. 37, Issue No. 3, June 2013.

http: //www.e-agriculture.org/agricultural-value-chains-and-ict

http://AGROPEDIA.iitk.ac.in/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGROPEDIA

http://social.yourstory.com/2012/12/AGROPEDIA-the-one-stop-hub-for-the-indian-agriculture-sector/

ICRISAT- (2012) AGROPEDIA: The Knowledge and Interaction Hub for Indian Agriculture. Documentation. International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Patancheru(Andhra Pradesh). http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/5759

Kamani, K.C. & Kathiriya, D.R. (2013). Cultivate ICT & Networking: The Role of Social Media in Agriculture. CSI Communications 37 (7): 15-17.

Tripathi A., Yadav V.K. and Prabhakar T.V., AGROPEDIA-An ICT Tool for Extension Services in Indian Agriculture, Documentation. IIT, Kanpur. http://www.acr.edu.in/info/infofile/140.pdf‎

Varner J. (2012), Agriculture and Social Media. Documentation. Mississippi State University. URL htttp:// www.msucares.com/pubs/infosheets/is1946.pdf

Received : June 2014 : Accepted : November 2014


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INTRODUCTION

The Kisan Call Centers can be accessed by farmers all over the country on common Toll Free Number 1551 from land line telephone and 1800-180-1551 from any mobile phone. Since 10th June, 2004 the Call Centers service has been made available right from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. except on Sundays and gazette holidays, beyond these hours the calls are attended in the Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) mode. A call centre based extension service delivering knowledge and information exactly as per the requirements of the farming community has been started under the name of Kisan Call Centre. This system also helps to keep a record of what is being delivered to the farmers in terms of knowledge and information. The country today has an impressive telecom network both in the private and Government sector. Over 5 lakh villages have a public telephone in the country. It has been felt for long that this impressive telecom network

could be put to effective use for delivering knowledge and information to the farming community. With the decrease in the number of extension workers, there is a need to use the latest technologies for delivering extension services. This kisan call centre has an in-built system of monitoring and continuous evaluation for modifications and improvements. The services are also of a foundational nature. Many more exciting tiers will be built on this infrastructure. Kisan Call Centre is a new dimension in agriculture extension management, which takes account of, and makes full use of on-going information and communication revolution, by optimally utilizing the communication bandwidth to serve the farming community in remotest areas of the country by connecting them to best of the agricultural scientific community. This is an important value multiplier for the existing extension mechanisms, which finds it otherwise difficult (in terms of infrastructure and finances) to reach their desired clientele. Understanding

Dynamic Personality of Farmers and Their Attitude Towards Use of Kisan Call Centre

Kesha Ram1, Gordhan Singh Bhati2and J.K.Patel3

1 & 2 PG Student, Department of Extension Education, B. A. College of Agriculture, AAU, Anand – 388 110

3 Associate Professor, Dairy Vigyan KendraSheth M. C. College of Dairy Science, AAU, Anand 388110


ABSTRACT

The Kisan Call Centre scheme is functioning since 21st January 2004with specific purpose to effective use fordelivering knowledge and information to the farming community. The call centre for the State of Gujarat and U.T. of Dadra and Nagar Haveli has been started functioning effectively since 1stNovember 2004 at Ahmadabad.The study was carried out onthefarmersofAnandDistrictofGujaratstatehavingatleastfiveyearsofexperienceoffarmingontheirownlandandmadethecontactstoKisancallCentreofAhmedabadwithspecificobjectivestostudythedynamicpersonalityandtheattitudeof farmer towards use of Kisan Call Centre. The study revealed that majority (63.00 per cent) of the caller farmers belonged to middle age group,Less than half (40.00 per cent) of the respondent had primary level of education ,34.00 percent of the caller farmers had higher secondary level of education, Less than one third (32.00 per cent) of the caller farmers had medium level of land holding and 37.00 per cent of them had low annual income.Majority (76.00 per cent) of the caller farmers had medium level of extension contact with different extension agencies, while 70.00 per cent had medium exposure to mass media. It was foundthatlessthantwothirdpercentofthemhadmediumlevelofeconomicmotivationandscientificorientation.74.00percent of the caller farmers had moderately favorable attitude towards the use of Kisan Call Centre. The study also shows that independentsvariables like,Extensioncontact,massmediaexposure,economicmotivationandscientificorientationhadpositiveandhighlysignificantcorrelation,whereaslandholdinghadnegativeandhighlysignificantcorrelationwithattitudeof farmers towards use of kisan call Centre.

Keywords: Dynamic personality, Attitude, Kisan call centre


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that the study regarding “Dynamic personality of farmers and their attitude towards Kisan Call Centre” was under taken with following specific objectives.

OBJECTIVES.

(i) To study the Profile of the farmers of Anand district

(ii) To measure the attitude of farmers towards use of Kisan Call Centre.

(iii) To ascertain relationship between Profile of the farmersand their attitude towards use of Kisan Call Centre.

METHODOLOGY

A list of 190 farmers of Anand district, who had

contacted Kisan Call Centre, Ahmedabad through landline or mobile phone during May month was obtained from the Kisan Call Centre, Ahmedabad. Out of these 190 farmers, 100 caller farmers who had more than five year farming experience on their own land were selected by simple random method for the study.To know the various characteristics of caller farmer a structured schedule wasdeveloped. For measurement of attitude of farmers toward use of Kisan Call Centre scale was developed by Yadav P. C. (2012) were used with due modifications. The data were collected with the help of well-structured, pre-tested, Gujarati

Relationship between the Dynamic Personality of farmers and their attitude towards use of Kisan Call Centre


Profile of the farmers

Table 1: Profile of farmers and their Attitudewise distribution of respondents n= 100

Sr. No. Independent Variables Categories Frequency Per cent

1 Agelow (up to 31 years)Medium (32 to 52 years)High (> 52 years)

186319

18.0063.0019.00

2 EducationIlliteratePrimary Education(up to 8th )Secondary Edu. (8th to 10 th )Higher sec. & above

18403408

18.0040.0034.0008.00

3 Social participationNo membershipMembership in one organizationMembership in more than one organizationHolding position in organization

05413519

05.0041.0035.0019.00

4 Land holdingMarginal (Up to 1.0 ha.)Small(1.0 to 2.0 ha.)Medium (2.01 to 4.0 ha.)Large (>4.0 ha.)

08313229

08.0031.0032.0029.00

5 Annual incomeLow (up to ` 1.0 lac)Medium ` 1.01 to ` 2.0 lacHigh (> ` 2.o lac)

373528

37.0035.0028.00

6 Extension contactLow (< 10.33 score)Medium (10.33 to 13.35 score)High (> 13.35 score)

187606

18.0076.0006.00

7 Mass media exposureLow (<10.02 score)Medium (10.02 to 13.32 score)High (> 13.32 score)

227008

22.0070.0008.00


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Sr. No. Independent Variables Categories Frequency Per cent

8 Economic motivationLow (< 22.66 score)Medium (22.66 to 29.54 score)High (> 29.54 score)

186220

18.0062.0020.00

9 Scientific orientationLow (< 23.75 score)Medium (23.75 to 36.85 score)High (> 36.85 score)

186121

18.0061.0021.00

10Attitude of farmer towards kissan call centre

Less favorable (< 30.98 score)Moderately favorable (30.98 to 43.46 score)Highly favorable (> 43.46 score)

167410

16.0074.0010.00

Age : The distributional analysis pertaining to age of the respondents mentioned in Table 1 indicate that majority (63 per cent) of the respondents belonged to middle age group, followed by 19.00 per cent old age group and rest 18.00 per cent in young age group, respectively.

Education:The data in the Table 1 shows that slightly less than half (40.00 per cent) of the respondent had primary level of education, followed by 34.00 per cent, 18.00 per cent and 08.00 per cent of them had secondary education, illiterate and higher secondary and above education, respectively.

Social participation: It is evident from the data presented in Table 1 shows that less than half (41.00) per cent caller farmers had membership in one organization, Whereas 35.00 per cent of the respondent had membership in more than one organization while only 19.00 per cent and 05.00 per cent of the respondent had holding position in organization and no membership, respectively.

Land holding : The data presented in Table 1 shows that less than one third (32.00) per cent of the caller farmers had medium land holding, Whereas 31.00 per cent of the farmer had small, 29.00 per cent of the farmer had large and 08.00 per cent of the farmer had marginal size of land holding.

Annual income: Table 1 shows that more than one third (37.00) per cent of the caller farmers had low annual income, followed by 35.00 and 28.00 per cent with medium and high annual income, respectively.

Extension contact: It is observed from the Table 1 that majority (76.00 per cent) of the caller farmers had medium level of extension contact with different extension agencies, followed by 18.00 per cent and 06.00 per cent had low and high extension contact, respectively.

Mass media exposure : The data given in Table 1 indicated that majority (70.00) per cent of the farmers had

medium exposure to mass media followed by 22.00 per cent and 08.00 per cent had low and high exposure to mass media, respectively.

Economic motivation:The data given in Table 1 indicated that majority (62.00) per cent of the farmers had medium level of economic motivation, followed by 20.00 per cent and 18.00 per cent had high and low economic motivation, respectively.

Scientific orientation: The result in Table 1 indicated that majority (61.00 per cent) of the farmers had medium level of scientific orientation. About 21.00 per cent of respondents had high scientific orientation and rest 18.00 per cent had low scientific orientation.

Overall attitude of farmer: The data given in Table 1 indicates that majority (74.00) per cent of the farmers had moderately favorable attitude towards the use of Kisan Call Centre followed by 16.00 per cent and 10.00 per cent had less favorable and highly favorable attitude towards the use of Kisan Call Centre,respectively.

Relationship between the Dynamic Personality of farmers and their attitude towards use of Kisan Call Centre

The action of individual farmer is governed by socio-personal, economic, communicational and psychological factors involved in situation. Farmers shows different attitude towards new agricultural technology because of the difference in their personal characteristics. It could be seen from Fig.1 that amongst Out of nine independents variables selected for the study, The independent variables like, Extension contact and mass media exposure, economic motivation and scientific orientation had positive and highly significant correlation, whereas land holding had negative and highly significant correlation with attitude of farmers towards use of kisan Call Centre and the rest variables are failed to show any significant influence on attitude of farmers towards use of Kisan Call Centre.


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Fig. 1 Relationship between the dynamic personality of farmers and their attitude

CONCLUSION

To epitomize the results it can be said that majority of the respondents belonged to middle age group and higher secondary education. They had less membership in organization, medium land holding and low annual income. Majority of the respondents had medium level of extension contact with different extension agencies and exposure to mass media. Farmers had medium level of scientific orientation and economic motivation. Majority of the farmers had moderately favorable attitude towards the use of Kisan Call Centre. Out of nine independent variables extension contact, mass media exposure, economic motivation and scientific motivation had positive and highly significant correlation, whereas land holding had negative and highly significant correlation with attitude of caller farmer toward use of Kisan Call Centre.

REFERENCES

Darandale, A.D. (2010). A study on attitude of tribal farmers towards organic farming practices in maize crop.

Unpublished M. Sc. (Agri.) Thesis, AAU, Anand.

Jat, B.L. (2010). Development of scale to measure the attitude of teachers towards the application of multimedia in agricultural higher education. Unpublished M. Sc. (Agri.) Thesis, AAU, Anand.

Makwan, A.R. (2010). Attitude of the agricultural scientist towards publication. Unpublished Ph. D. (Agri.) Thesis, AAU, Anand.

Patel, M. C. and Chauhan, N. B. (2004). Corollary of the profile of farmers on their attitude towards IPM statergy, Gujarat J. Extn. Edu.,15 : 5- 8.

Satyaprakash, Kumari, N., Kumar, A. and De, D. (2010). To study the attitude of beneficiaries towards the technology dissemination programme of ATMA. J. C. S., 18: 206-209.

Yadav P.C. (2012) ‘Attitude of farmers towards use of Kisan Call Centre’ Unpublished M. Sc. (Agri.) Thesis, AAU, Anand.

Received : June 2014 : Accepted : November 2014


108

INTRODUCTION

Wheat is staple food for millions. About 35 percent of the world’s population depends upon wheat for food. In India, wheat occupies an area of 24 million hectare with a total production of 55 million tones. In terms of both area and production India ranks fourth among all wheat growing country. Wheat is India’s first most important food grain crop. The country has increase its production form a mere 6.46 mt in 1950-51 to 92.46 mt in 2012-13. The production had increased by fourteen times with three fold acrease increase and productivity increase by five times (Indu Sharma et.al.)Rajasthan is prominent wheat growing state. Wheat occupies one important place in Tonk district agriculture. The mustard, wheat, chickpea are the major Rabi crops in the district. The farmers of the district on growing traditional variety LOK-1, or RAJ-1482 or local varieties, which are poor yielder and low quality grain. To increase productivity of wheat is a need to replace existing low yielder varieties. Improved varieties of wheat such as RAJ-3765, RAJ-4037 and RAJ-4120 which are available for cultivation. Keeping this in view, the present study was under taken with specific objectives: to assess the productivity levels of improved high yielding varieties as

compare to local varieties.

METHODOLOGY

Present study was conducted in 6 locations under On Farm Testing trials in Tonk district villages during Rabi 2013-14 for problem diagnosis low productivity in wheat crop. There were 4 treatments i.e. T1- farmers practice (LOK-1/RAJ-1482/Local Variety), T2 – Improved varieties i.e. RAJ-3765, T3 – Improved variety RAJ-4037 & T4 – Improved variety RAJ-4120. One farmer in each village was selected and trial was conducted with 0.25 hectare area for each variety i.e. 0.75 hectare/trial. Parameter of assessment was grain and straw yield.

Steps Involved in Conducting OFT

Survey was conducted in operational area at farmer’s field to know: the socio-economic status of farmer, farming situation, cropping pattern and location. The existing level of adoption of technologies On Farm Testing site and farmers were selected to suit the activity. Accessibility was also taken at priority. Critical input for OFT were also identified and made available to farmers.

Varietal Evaluation of Wheat through On Farm Testing

Banshidhar1, A.S.Bhati2 and S.K.Sharma3

SMS Agronomy, KVK, Banasthali Vidyapith, Tonk (Rajasthan)-304022Farm Manager, KVK, Banasthali Vidyapith, Tonk (Rajasthan)-304022

Programme Coordinator, KVK, Banasthali Vidyapith, Tonk (Rajasthan)-304022Email : [email protected]

ABSTRACT

AfieldtrialcumOFTwasconductedat6farmersfieldtoproblemdiagnoselikelowproductivityinwheat:toaccessthe productivity levels of improved high yielding variety as compared to local varieties. Three wheat variety RAJ – 4120, RAJ – 4037 and RAJ – 3765 compare with farmer practice local variety LOK – 1/RAJ – 1482. Result showed that RAJ – 4120 variety recorded highest yield (42.0 q/ha) and percent increase in yield was 16.67 over local variety (LOK – 1/RAJ – 1482).Keywords: Jaljivan, subscribers, suggestion

Keywords : Varietal evaluation, On farm testing


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Problem Cause Diagram(Low productivity in Wheat)


Table 1: Performance of wheat varieties on seed yield, net return and B:C ratio

Sr. No.

Treatment Grain yieldq/ha

Net Return

(Profit) in ` / unit/ha

B:C Ratio

T1Farmers practice (Lok-1/RAJ-1482)

36.00 34200 1.27

T2 Wheat variety-RAJ 3765

40.50 41850 1.55


41.50 43550 1.61


42.00 44400 1.65

Result showed that RAJ – 4120 variety recorded highest yield (Table 1). The data revealed that variety RAJ – 4120, RAJ – 4037 and RAJ – 3765 gave higher yield 16.67,

15.27 and 12.50 percent respectively over farmer practices (variety LOK – 1/RAJ – 1482). Benefited cost ratio (B: C ra-tio 1.65) and net return (44400 Rs. /ha) was highest recorded with variety grown RAJ – 4120.

Process of Farmers Participation and their reaction

The evaluation of wheat varieties conducted on the farmers fields with their active participation and under own management. KVK organized field day on OFT trial. Large number of farmer’s line department officers and research sci-entist participated. Liking of farmers for this variety is due to higher yield and better quality of bread and heat tolerant.

Variety/Breed Selected for OFT (Highest yield recorded)

RAJ – 4120 a prominent wheat variety has height 79 – 94 cm, high tillering and resistant to rust disease, suit-able for sowing in normal and irrigated conditions, resistant to lodging, takes 107-124 days to become mature, test weight of seed ranges from 38-41 gm and 48-58 q/ha yield potential, most suitable under Rajasthan climate condition.

CONCLUSION

Final recommendation for micro level situation in RAJ – 4120 variety may be grown in place of RAJ – 4037 and RAJ – 3765 in district Tonk. Liking of farmers for this variety is due to higher yield (42.0 q/ha) and better quality of bread, it also gives 5 – 7 percent more straw than RAJ – 4037 and RAJ – 3765 verities in district.

REFERENCE

Sharma;Indu,Chatrath,Ravish and Sendhil,R(2013). Chal-lenges, target and strategies for sustainable wheat production for food security and nutrition. Indian farming 63(8):3-6, 17



110

INTRODUCTION

OBJECTIVES

METHODOLOGY

Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Navsari Agricultural University, Surat has organized four days vocational training on preservation of Fruits and Vegetables to 32 women in Dumas village of Surat district during 2013-14. During the training, the study was conducted to test the level of knowledge of participants regarding nutritional aspects of fruits and vegetables as well as their preservation before training. After the completion of training, post evaluation was made to assess the amount of knowledge gain by the trainees to know the effectiveness of the training. To test the knowledge

of women, a set of 25 questions related to nutritional facts of fruits and vegetables, method of preservation, different products prepared from fruits and vegetables and type of preservatives, etc. were used.

Questionnaire method was used for data collection. To study the knowledge gain in particular question by the participant, frequency of correct answer (out of 32 participants before and after training) was calculated and converted into percentage. The data was analyzed with percentage, mean, SD and ‘t’test.


The present study was conducted on 32 women participants of Dumas village of Surat district to evaluate

Impact of Fruits and Vegetable Preservation Training on Women

Dipal N. Soni1, J. J. Pastagia2, Arti N. Soni3

1 Subject Matter Specialist (Home Science), Krishi Vigyan Kendra, NAU, Surat - 395 0072 Programme Coordinator, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, NAU, Surat - 395 007

3 Subject Matter Specialist (Home Science), Krishi Vigyan Kendra, NAU, Vyara - 394 650Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

All living creatures, including humans, depend on nature for their sustainment. Humans are no longer depending uponhuntingandgatheringonly,buttheyevolvedanddevelopedcommercialfarming.Nowhunting,fishing,agricultureandanimal husbandry are major commercial activities. Most of our food consists of agricultural products, which are usually seasonal as well as quickly perishable. To make food available throughout the year, humans have developed methods to prolong the storage life of products: to preserve them. Adding preservatives, optimizing storage conditions, or applying modern techniques, can postpone the rotting process. Fruits and vegetables are rich source of energy, bodybuilding nutrients, vitamins and minerals. Their easy availability and inexpensive way of producing made them reliable food option. Their nutritional value is highest when they are fresh, but it is not always possible to consume them immediately. During the harvest season, fresh produce is available in abundance, but at other times, it is scarce. Moreover, most fruits and vegetables are only edible for a very short time, unless they are promptly and properly preserved. Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Navsari Agricultural University, Surat conducted various different types of training programmes through which we try to empower women from home science discipline. In that, four days vocational training programme was conducted in Dumas village to 32 women on preservation of seasonal fruits and vegetables. During the training, pre evaluation was made to know the level of knowledge of the participants regarding nutrition and preservation of fruits and vegetables. After completion of training post evaluation was made to assess the amount of knowledge gain by the participants to know the effectiveness of training. The pre and post evaluation was made using questionnaire method. The result of pre and post evaluation indicated that the level of knowledge regardingnutritionalvalueandpreservationoffruitsandvegetableswasincreasedsignificantlyfrom47.87percentto95.12per cent in post evaluation as indicated by ‘t’ test.

Keywords: Nutrition, Preservation, Knowledge, Evaluation


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the knowledge gain by them as a result of four days training regarding fruits and vegetable preservation.

Socio-demographic characteristics

The range of age of participants was 20 to 45 years with an average of 30.72±6.80 years. About half (53.13 per cent) women were in the age group of 20 to 30 where as 34.38 per cent were in age group of 31 to 40 years. Only 12.50 per cent participants were above 40 years of age.

Table 1 : Socio-demographic characteristics of trainees n=32

Sr. No.

Particulars Per cent (frequency)

1 Age group Up to 30 years 53.13 (17)31-40 years 34.37 (11)> 40 years 12.50 (4)

2 Educational status8-10 standard 59.38(19)11-12 standard 15.62(5)Graduate 25.00(8)

Note: Figure in parenthesis indicates frequencies in number of participants

Assessment of the women with respect to education indicated that all the 32 participants were literate having education more than standard eight. Majority of the participants were having education between standard 8 to 10 (59.38 per cent) while 15.63 per cent participants were having education of 11 and 12th standard. About one-fourth participants were having graduate degree. The reason for high level of education of participants is mainly due to their residence is in rurban area i.e. near to Surat city.

Knowledge about nutritional facts and preservation of fruits and vegetables

To assess the knowledge about nutritional facts of fruits and vegetables and their preservation, the pre and post training evaluation test was conducted to assess the knowledge gained and effectiveness of training. In that, 25 questions were asked which includes nutritional facts of fruits and vegetables, method of preservation, different products prepared from fruits and vegetables and type of preservatives, etc.

Table 2 :Evaluation of trainees with respect to their knowledge regarding fruits and vegetables preservation n=32

Evalu-ation

Minimum marks (%)

Maximum marks

(%)

Mean±SD

Pre 12 80 47.875±20.256Post 80 100 95.125±6.150

‘t’ value 12.63**Note: ** indicates highly significant

In pre evaluation test, the knowledge range of different participants was 12 per cent to 72 per cent with an average of 47.875 ± 20.256 per cent. In post evaluation the knowledge level reported from 80 per cent to 100 per cent with an average of 95.125 ±6.158 per cent in different participants. The statistical analysis of data using student t test indicated that there were significant increase in knowledge regarding nutritional facts, method of preservations, different products prepared from fruits and vegetables and types of preservatives.

Table 3 : Level of knowledge increased after training with respect to different questions under study n=32

Sr. No.

Statement Pre evaluation (%)

Post Evaluation(%)

Gain in knowledge

1 Amount of post harvest losses 12.5 (4) 93.75(30) 81.252 Reasons for spoilage of fruits and vegetables 28.12 (9) 87.50(28) 59.3753 Methods of preservations 6.25 (2) 87.50(28) 81.254 Vitamin present in Lemon 84.37(27) 100(32) 15.6255 Vitamin present in Papaya 34.37(11) 100(32) 65.6256 Vitamin present in Tomato 18.75(6) 93.75(30) 75.007 Vitamin present in Amla 25.00(8) 93.75(30) 68.758 Vitamin present in Carrot 28.12(9) 100(32) 71.8759 Products prepared from Lemon 84.37(27) 100(32) 15.62510 Products prepared from Raw Papaya 62.5(20) 100(32) 37.50


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Sr. No.

Statement Pre evaluation (%)

Post Evaluation(%)

Gain in knowledge

11 Products prepared from Ripe Papaya 59.37(19) 100(32) 40.62512 Products prepared from Tomato 81.25(26) 100(32) 18.7513 Products prepared from Amla 65.62(21) 100(32) 34.37514 Products prepared from Carrot 78.12(25) 100(32) 21.87515 Fruits used for preparing Jam 93.75(30) 100(32) 6.2516 Fruits used for preparing Squash 78.12(25) 100(32) 21.87517 Taste of Jam 84.37(27) 100(32) 15.62518 Storage period of Jam 43.75(14) 100(32) 56.2519 Use of Truity fruity 78.12(25) 100(32) 21.87520 Disease prevented by vitamin present in Amla 9.375(3) 75.00(24) 65.62521 Disease prevented by vitamin present in Carrot 9.375(3) 81.25(26) 71.87522 Dehydration of Fruits 62.5(20) 100(32) 37.5023 Dehydration of Vegetables 37.50(12) 100(32) 62.5024 Name household preservatives 9.375(3) 96.875(31) 87.5025 Name commercial preservatives available in

market12.50(4) 78.125(25) 65.625

Mean ± S.D. 47.50±30.257 95.5±7.60 48±25.545Note: Figure in parenthesis indicates frequency of participants that had given correct answer.

With respect to individual questions, in pre evaluation test, the knowledge level was in the range of 6.25 per cent to 93.75 per cent in different questions with an average of 47.50 ± 30.257. There were minimum knowledge in participants with respect to method of preservation (6.25 %), name of house hold preservatives, disease prevented by vitamins present in amla and disease prevented by vitamins in carrot (9.375% ); amount of post harvest losses and name of commercial preservatives (12.5%); and vitamins available in tomato (18.75%). The participants had maximum knowledge regarding fruits used for preparing jam (93.75%), kind of vitamin present in lemon, products prepared from lemon and taste of Jam (84.375%); and products prepared from tomato (81.25%).The higher level of knowledge in some aspect is mainly due to their level of education and their residence near to city.

In post evaluation, the knowledge level was 75.00 per cent to 100 per cent with an average of 95.5 ± 7.60 per cent in different questions. All the participants were able to answer 16 questions (with 32 frequencies) out of 25 questions indicating cent per cent gain in knowledge in these questions. In rest of the question the range was 75.00 per cent to 96.875 per cent.

Gain in knowledge after training

As far as gain in knowledge after training was

concerned, it was in the range of 6.25 to 87.50 with an average of 48 ±25.545. The maximum gain in knowledge was regarding kind of house hold preservatives (87.50%) and minimum gain in fruits used in preparation of jam (6.25%). The reason for minimum gain is due to high level of knowledge regarding types of fruits used in preparing jam in pre evaluation test.

CONCLUSION

It can be concluded that nearly half (53.13 %) of the women participants were belonged age group of 20 to 30. Assessment of participants with respect to their education revealed that all the participants were literate with education level higher than standard eight. More than half (59.38 %) participants were having education between standard eight and ten. To assess the impact of training with respect to gain in knowledge in participants the analysis of data revealed that in pre evaluation test, the knowledge range of different participants was 12 per cent to 72 per cent with an average of 47.875 ± 20.256 per cent. In post evaluation the knowledge level reported from 80 per cent to 100 per cent with an average of 95.125 ±6.158 per cent in different participants. With respect to individual questions, in pre evaluation test, the knowledge level was in the range of 6.25 per cent to 93.75 per cent in different questions with an average of 47.50 ± 30.257 which increased to 75.00 per cent to 100 per cent with


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an average of 95.5 ± 7.60 per cent in different questions in post evaluation test.

The result clearly indicate the significant impact of training programme in gain in knowledge regarding nutritional facts, method of preservations, different products prepared from fruits and vegetables and types of preservatives. Therefore, it could be employed that more and more such training programme in food and vegetable preservation may be organized which would be benefited to farm women to empower themselves.

REFERENCESFulzele, R.M., Ramchand, Malik, B.S. and Chauhan, J.P.S.

(1995). A study of differential impact of KVK training programme on dairy farmers of different states. Staff Research Council Project Report, National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal

Nataraju, M.S. and Lovely, P.G. (1993). Extent of participa-tion of rural women in crop and animal produc-

tion activities: An analysis. Indian J. Extn. Edn., 54 (3) : 5

Quebedeaux, B and Bliss, F.A. (1988). Horticulture and hu-man health. Contribution of fruits and vegetables Proc. Ist Intl. Symp. Hort. and Human Health. Prentice Hall, Eaglewood, N.J.

Quebedeaux, B and Eias, H.N. (1990). Horticulture and hu-man health. Contribution of fruits and vegetables Proc. 2nd Intl. Symp. Hort. and Human Health. Hortscience, 25: 1473-1532.

Sharma, K.K. (1994). Training farmwomen in home science. Indian Farming, 43 (12) : 124-130.

Sharma, P; Singh G.P. and Jha S.K.(2013). Impact of train-ing programme on knowledge and adoption of preservation technologies among farm women: a comparative study. Indian Res. J. Ext. Edu.,13(1) : 96-100.

Wargovich, M.J. (2000). Anticancer properties of fruits and vegetables. Hortscience, 35: 573-575.

Received : March 2014 : Accepted : September 2014


114

INTRODUCTION

Sugarcane is one of the important commercial cash crop cultivated in almost all country of the world including India. Sugarcane juice is used for making sugar, molasses, jaggery and ‘khandsari’. Moreover, the leaves of sugarcane are also used as an excellent greenmanure and useful as mulch. In Gujarat, sugarcane covers about 1901 hundred ha. Area with 13763 hundred MT productions (Directorate of Agriculture Gujarat State). Sugarcane is cultivated in almost all the districts of south Gujarat state. However, there is still a wide gap between the production potential and the actual production realized by the sugarcane growers. This may be due to partial adoption of recommended packages of packages of practices by the sugarcane growers. This partial adoption is due to constraints faced by sugarcane growers, hence, the present study was therefore undertaken to find out the constraints in adoption of recommended sugarcane production technology.

OBJECTIVES

(i) To find out constraints faced by the farmers in adoption of improved technology for sugarcane crop

(ii) To seek the suggestions made by sugarcane growers

to overcome the constraints in adopting the improved cultivation practices.

METHODOLOGY

The present investigation was undertaken in navsari district which comes under jurisdiction of Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari. This district is comprised of five talukas, all taluka were selected for study. From each taluka two villages were selected, so, total 10 villages were randomly selected. From each selected village, 10 farmers were randomly selected. Hence, total sample size was 100 farmers. The dates were collected in the light of objectives of the study with help of well structured pretested Gujarati version interview schedule.


Constraints faced by sugarcane growers

Constraints in adoption of new technology never end. However they can be minimized. The respondents were requested to express the constraints faced by sugarcane growers in adoption of improved sugarcane cultivation practices. Frequency and percentage for each constraint were calculated and on that basis of that, the constraints were ranked and presented in Table 1.

Constraints Faced by Sugarcane Growers in Adoption of Improved Technology

A.G.Patel1 and H.U.Vyas2

1 P.G. Student, NMCA, NAU, Navsari – 396 4502 Associate Professor, DEE, NAU, Navsari - 396 450


ABSTRACT

Thepurposeofthisstudywasfindingouttheconstraintsandtodeterminethesuggestionsforsolvingtheproblemfaced by the sugarcane growers regarding adoption of improved technology in the villages of Navsari district of Gujarat. Majority of sugarcane growers faced constraints of high cost of farm inputs followed by shortage of labours , unavailability of plantprotectionappliances,lackofknowledgeaboutdiseasecontrol,fluctuationintheprice,unavailabilityofinputsintime,respectively. Valuable suggestions given by sugarcane growers are supply of production inputs at subsidized rate, establish village information centre or kiosk in each village, the produce should be purchased by the government at reasonable rate, easy availability of plant protection appliances, respectively.

Keywords: Constraints, Suggestions, Adoption of improved technology


115

Table 1: Constraints faced by sugarcane growers in adoption of improved sugarcane cultivation practices

n = 100

Sr. No. Constraints No. Per

cent Rank

1 High cost of farm inputs 90 90.00 I2 Shortage of labours 86 86.00 II

3 Unavailability of plant protection appliance 76 76.00 III

4 Lack of knowledge about disease control 68 68.00 IV

5 Fluctuation in the price 60 60.00 V

6 Unavailability of inputs in time 54 54.00 VI

7 Financial constraints 50 50.00 VII

8 Heavy risk due to failure of monsoon rains 48 48.00 VIII

9 Information not available in time 37 37.00 IX

10 Unavailability of drought tolerant varieties 22 22.00 XI

11 Market facility is not avail-able in nearby village 20 20.00 XII

As seen from the Table 1 majority of sugarcane growers faced constraints of high cost of farm inputs (90.00 per cent) followed by shortage of labours (86.00 per cent), unavailability of plant protection appliances (76.00 per cent). More than half of the respondents faced constraints like lack of knowledge about disease control (68.00 per cent), fluctuation in the price (60.00 per cent), unavailability of inputs in time (54.00 per cent). Financial constraints (50.00 per cent), heavy risk due to failure of monsoon rains (48.00 per cent), information not available in time (37.00 per cent), unavailability of drought tolerant varieties (22.00 per cent) and market facility is not available nearby village (20.00 per cent) were also the constraints faced by sugarcane growers.

Suggestions offered by sugarcane growers

Table 2: Suggestions offered by sugarcane growers to overcome constraints faced by them n = 100

Sr. No. Suggestions No. Per

cent Rank

1 Supply of production inputs at subsidize rate 90 90.00 I

2 Establish village information centre or kiosk in each village 65 65.00 III

3 The produce should be pur-chased by the government at reasonable rate

54 54.00 IV

4 Easy availability of plant protection appliances 48 48.00 V

5 Agricultural inputs should be available in time 43 43.00 VI

6 Training should be given for improved sugarcane cultiva-tion practices

41 41.00 VII

7 Technical knowledge of insecticides and fungicides should be provided

21 21.00 IX

8 Market facility should be available at village level 16 16.00 X

It can be concluded from the Table 2 that the sugarcane growers suggested supply of production inputs at subsidize rate (90.00 per cent), establish village information centre or kiosk in each village (65.00 per cent), the produce should be purchased by the government at reasonable rate (54.00 per cent), easy availability of plant protection appliances (48.00 per cent), agricultural inputs should be available in time (43.00 per cent), training should be given for improved sugarcane cultivation practices (41.00 per cent), Technical knowledge of insecticides and fungicides should be provided (21.00 per cent) and market facility should be available at village level (16.00 per cent).

CONCLUSION

Constraints of sugarcane growers regarding adoption of improved technology were high cost of farm inputs followed by shortage of labours, unavailability of plant protection appliances, lack of knowledge about disease control, fluctuation in the price, unavailability of inputs in time, respectively. Suggestions of sugarcane growers to overcome the constraints were supply of production inputs at subsidized rate, establish village information centre or kiosk in each village, the produce should be purchased by the government at reasonable rate, easy availability of plant protection appliances, respectively.

REFERENCE

Darandle A. D., (2010) Attitude of tribal farmer towards organic farming practices in maize crop. (M.Sc.) unpublished AAU Anand.

Patel, R.M., (2012). Discriminate functional analysis of technological gap of tribal maize growers of vadodara district of Gujarat state. Ph.D. Thesis (Unpublished), AAU, Anand.


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