R. Arunachalam ABSTRACT

Transcription

1 Legume Res., 34 (1) : 8-13, 2011 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATION CENTRE ccjournals.com / indianjournals.com nals.com SPREAD AND ACCEPTANCE ANCE OF RECOMMENDED PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGIES OGIES IN GREEN GRAM AND BLACK GRAM : A COMPARA ARATIVE ANALYSIS R. Arunachalam Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Sociology Agricultural College and Research Institute, Madurai , India. Received : Accepted : ABSTRACT A study was conducted in green gram and black gram in the selected blocks of Madurai district with the main objectives to study the extent of adoption of recommended pulse production technologies (Rice fallow and Pure crop) and also to study the constraints in the adoption of the recommended technologies. The pure crop respondents (Black gram) have fairly adopted the technologies viz.,, right time of sowing, optimum seed rate, recommended fertilizer tilizer,, regular weeding, control of pod borer er and powdery y mildew and harvesting at the right time. In the practices viz.,, seed treatment, DAP spray at flowering, trimming and plastering of field bunds, control of sucking pests and storing the harvested produce in the polythene lined gunny bag they are not up to the expectation. At the same time, rice fallow respondents have poorly adopted almost all the recommended technologies. Almost similar trend prevailed in the green gram also The most felt were biological constraints and socio economic constraints, followed by technological and infrastructural constraints. Key words : Pulse crop, Adoption, Constraints. INTRODUCTION Agricultural production in our country has witnessed an increasing trend with the use of new farm technologies. The progress in agriculture primarily depends on timely and proper application of technology by farmers. The research system in Tamil Nadu has made excellent work in evolving many high yielding varieties and improved production technologies in different agricultural and horticultural crops suitable to various agro-climatic zone. Special efforts are made to develop varieties resistant to pests, diseases, drought and other soil related constraints. These technologies if totally adopted by farmers will bring enhanced income by increasing the total productivity. Among different food crops, pulses occupy a prominent place in Indian economy, since it is an item of household consumption. Pulses are the main source of protein specially for vegetarians. Considering its importance, in recent years, all efforts are being made to increase the pulse production through launching special programmes. Many useful and profitable technologies for pulse crops have been designed, developed and disseminated for widespread adoption. But the acceptance of the recommended practices is not uniform. Many farmers are yet to aware, accept and adopt the practices. In a similar type of study on Field lab, Arunachalam (2002) reported that majority of the farmers (68.00 per cent) were aware about the practice of seed treatment with bacterial culture, recommended spacing and recommended dose of fertilizer.

2 The variation in the awareness and adoption level was due to various reasons and constraints. Kavitha (2008) observed that the lack of economic support price, high cost labour, non availability of labour during peak season, high cost inputs and other managerial problems owing to the small and fragmented holdings as different types of socio economic constraints in pulse production In view of the above situation, a study has been conducted in Madurai district of Tamil Nadu with the following objectives 1. To study the extent of adoption of TNAU recommended pulse production technologies under rice fallow and sole crop situations 2. To identify the constraints in the adoption of the recommended technologies. MATERIALS AND METHODS Ex-post facto research design was adopted for this study. The study was conducted in Madurai district of Tamil Nadu. In Madurai district, green gram and black gram are widely cultivated among the other pulses and hence these two crops were selected for the study purpose. In the Thirmangalam taluk of Madurai district these two crops are being cultivated in maximum area as sole crop and in the Vadipatti taluk, the above crops are being cultivated as rice-fallow crops. The above two taluks were purposively selected for the study purpose. From the above two taluks, considering the maximum area under these two crops the following blocks and villages were selected. Taluks Blocks Villages Thirumangalam Thirumangalam 1. T.pudupatti (Pure sole crops) 2. Santhangudi Vadipatti (Rice Fallow) Vadipatti 1. Thanicheyam 2. Kattakulam The respondents who have cultivated both blackgram and green gram both as sole crop and rice fallow situation were considered for the study. The total sample size was kept as 100, which included 50 respondents cultivating the above crops Vol. 34, No. 1, 2011 as sole crops and the remaining 50 respondents under as rice-fallow situation. Data were collected using standardized and well structured interview schedule. Frequency and percentage analysis were done to draw meaningful interpretation of the results. RESULTS TS AND DISCUSSION The results are discussed in the following paragraphs 1. Adoption of recommended production technologies in blackgram as sale crop and rice fallow For this study, eight production technologies were identified, on which their pattern of adoption was studied. The findings are presented in Table.1 It is revealed from Table.1 that an overwhelming majority (94.00 per cent) of the respondents cultivating blackgram as sale crop (sale Crop Respondents) have timely sown the crops, whereas majority ( per cent) of the respondents cultivating blackgram as rice-fallow have timely sown the crop. The crop varieties Co.5 and KM. 2 were widely adopted as pure crop and in the rice fallow ADT.2 also included. Most of the pure crop respondents (80.00 percent) have adopted the recommended seed rate, whereas, it was found 40 percent among the rice fallow respondents.with regard to the recommended seed treatment practices, only a meager percentage (10.00 per cent) of the pure crop respondents had adopted it, but none of the rice fallow respondents had adopted this practice Exactly fifty per cent of the pure crop respondents had applied recommended dose of fertilizer for their crop, whereas only 16 per cent of the rice fallow respondents alone applied the recommended dose. Majority of the pure crop respondents (60.00 per cent) had gone for regular hand weeding, whereas, only 20 per cent of the rice fallow respondents did regular hand weeding. 9

3 10 LEGUME RESEARCH Regarding the DAP spray at flowering, only forty per cent of the pure crop respondents adopted this practice and at the same time, none of the rice fallow respondents were found to adopt this practice. As regard the plant protection practices, trimming and plastering of bunds was found to be a neglected practice in the study area. Only 20 per cent of the pure crop respondents and 10 per cent of the rice fallow respondents had adopted this practice. For the control of the sucking pests 40 per cent of the sole crop respondents and 16 per cent of the rice fallow respondents had followed the recommended practices. Recommended pod borer control measures were adopted by a majority of the pure crop respondents (66.00 per cent) and one fifth of the rice fallow respondents (20.00 per cent) had adopted. Majority of the pure crop respondents (66.00 per cent) have adopted the recommended practices for the control of powdery mildew, but this was followed by only 30 per cent of the rice fallow respondents. It was observed that only 20 per cent of the respondents in both the categories have packed the harvested produce in the polythene lined gunny bags to prevent the storage pests. Hundred percent of the respondents in both the categories harvested the dry pods on time. From the above findings, it could be inferred that, the pure crop respondents had adopted the technologies viz., right time of sowing, optimum seed rate, recommended fertilizer dose, regular weeding, control of pod borer and powdery mildew and harvesting at the right time fairly well. In the practices viz., seed treatment, DAP spray at flowering, trimming and plastering of filed bunds, control of sucking pests and storing the harvested produce in the polythene lined gunny bags they were not up to the expectation. At the same time, rice fallow respondents were found lagging behind in the adoption of almost all the recommended technologies. By following appropriate extension strategies they have to be elevated to the higher standards. 2. Adoption of recommended production technologies in green gram as pure/sole crop and rice-fallow For this study eight production technologies were identified, on which their pattern of adoption was studied. The findings are presented in Table.2 Table. 1 : Adoption of production technologies in blackgram. Sl.No Recommended practices Pattern of adoption Pure Sole crop(n = 50) Rice fallow(n = 50) No % No % 1. Time of sowing Seed rate Seed treatment with thiram/carbendazim Recommended fertilizer application Weeding DAP spray (2%) at flowering Plant protection a). Trimming and plastering of bunds b). Control of sucking pests (methyl Demeton EC 500 ml, Phosphamidon 85 WSC 250 ml/ha) c).control of pod borer (BHC 10% D/Endosulfan % D/Phasalone 4% D) d). Control of powdery mildew e). Packing in polythene lined gunny bags to prevent storage pests 8. Harvesting the dry pods in time

4 A thorough perusal of Table 2 revealed that most of the pure crop respondents (90.00 per cent) and little more than half of the rice fallow respondents (52.00 per cent) had sown the crop in the right time. The varieties CO 4 and KM 2 were widely adopted as pure crop and for the rice fallow ADT 2 and ADT 3 were also included. A vast majority of the pure crop respondents (70.00 per cent) and forty per cent of the rice fallow respondents adopted optimum seed rate. Regarding the seed treatment, none of the respondents in both the categories adopted this practice. Little more than half of the pure crop respondents (56.00 per cent) and about one fourth of the rice fallow respondents (24.00 per cent) had applied the recommended dose of fertilizer to their crop. Regular hand weeding was done by a majority of the pure crop respondents (66.00 per cent) and at the same time this was adopted by little less than one fifth of the rice fallow respondents (18.00 per cent). Vol. 34, No. 1, DAP spray at flowering was practiced sincerely by 44 per cent of the pure crop respondents, whereas, none of the rice fallow respondents were found adopting this practice. With regard to the adoption of the plant protection measures, only a minimum percentage of the pure crop respondents (24.00 per cent) and rice fallow respondents (14.00 per cent) practiced trimming and plastering operations in their field bunds. About 45 per cent of the pure crop respondents have adopted the recommended measures against sucking pests. But this practice was adopted only by ten per cent of the rice fallow respondents. For the control of the pod borer, majority of the pure crop respondents (68.00 per cent) and around one fourth of the rice fallow respondents (24.00 per cent) had adopted the recommended control measures. Almost the similar trend was found prevailing with regard to the control of powdery mildew also. Packing the harvested produce in polythene lined gunny bags (to prevent the storage pests) was Table. 2 : Adoption of production technologies in green gram. Sl.No Recommended practices Pattern of adoption Pure/sole crop (n = 50) Rice fallow(n = 50) No % No % 1. Time of sowing Seed rate Seed treatment with thiram/carbendazim Recommended fertilizer application Weeding DAP spray (2%) at flowering Plant protection a).trimming and plastering of bunds b). Control of sucking pests (methyl Demeton EC 500 ml, Phosphamidon 85 WSC 250 ml/ha) c).control of pod borer (BHC 10% D/Endosulfan % D/Phasalone 4% D) d). Control of powdery mildew e). Packing in polythene lined gunny bags to prevent storage pests 8. Harvesting the dry pods in time

5 12 LEGUME RESEARCH practiced by 20 per cent of the pure crop respondents and it was 12 per cent among the rice fallow respondents. Hundred per cent of the respondents in both the categories have harvested the dry pods in time. From the above findings it could be inferred that the pure sole crop respondents adopted the recommended technologies viz., right time of sowing, optimum seed rate, recommended dose of fertilizer, regular weeding, control of pod borer, control of powdery mildew and harvesting dry pods in the right time. But the respondents were lagging behind in the adoption of the other recommended technologies. At the same time, the rice fallow respondents have poorly adopted almost all the recommended technologies. By adopting appropriate teaching efforts they have to be trained on the above technologies. 3. Constraints in the adoption of the recommended practices By having elaborate discussions with the local farmers and extension workers, different constraints (categorized under five dimensions) limiting the adoption of recommended pulse production practices were listed out and on which the respondents responses were sought. While having discussion with the local extension workers and local farmers, it was observed that almost all the constraints were inter related and found affecting the adoption of almost all the recommended practices and hence the practice wise constraints were not studied, Further, as the constraints of both the categories of the respondents were found so similar, it was not studied separately for both the categories of the respondents. Accordingly the constraints generally faced by the total 100 respondents in the adoption of the recommended pulse production practices were studied and the results are presented in Table. 3. A thorough perusal of the Table : 3 revealed that, all the listed out biological constraints were faced by the respondents. An overwhelming majority (98.00 per cent) of the respondents suffered due to luxuriant weed growth and because of which they could not carry out regular schedule of weeding, DAP spray and other intercultural operations. Further it was observed that because of the intensive pest and disease problems, per cent of the respondents have deviated from the recommended practices in plant protection. It was also noted that ninety percentage of the respondents also suffered out of non availability of quality seeds. Among the physical constraints, most of the respondents (80.00 per cent) suffered due to low soil fertility and further per cent of the respondents expressed the shady trees on field bunds as one of their physical constraints. Only 15 per cent of the respondents suffered due to saline and alkali soils and because of which they have neglected adopting the recommended practices The listed out socio economic constraints were widely felt by the respondents in the study area. An equal percentage of the respondents (86.00 per cent) opined that high cost of labour and non availability of labour during peak season as their important socio economic constraints. The high cost of the inputs was felt as a constraints by per cent of the respondents. Three fourth (75.00 per cent) of the respondents expressed that they suffered due to lack of economic support price and little more than one fourth (28.00 per cent) suffered due to managerial problems in relation with the large scale and fragmented holdings. It was also evident from the Table-3, that majority of the respondents felt all the listed out technological constraints. Sixty per cent of the respondents suffered due to lack of sufficient technical guidance from the extension agency. Almost an equal percentage of the respondents expressed lack of skill in the proper use of pesticide, fertilizer and weedicide (57.00 per cent), lack of awareness about new technologies (55.00 per cent), and non availability of no cost technologies (52.00 per cent) as their important technological

6 Vol. 34, No. 1, 2011 Table. 3 : Constraints in the Adoption of the Recommended Practices. 13 (n = 100) Sl.No Constraints No % I. BIOLOGICAL CONSTRAINTS 1. Pest and disease Non availability of quality seeds Luxuriant weed growth II. PHYSICAL CONSTRAINTS 1. Low soil fertility Saline and alkali soils Shady trees on field bunds III. SOCIO ECONOMIC CONSTRAINTS 1. Lack of economic support price High cost labour Non availability of labour during peak seasons High cost inputs Managerial problems due to large scale / fragmented holdings IV. TECHNOLOGICAL CONSTRAINTS 1. Non availability of no cost technologies No availability of low cost technologies Lack of awareness about new technologies Lack of skill in the proper use of pesticide, fertilizer and weedicide Lack of technical guidance from local extension agency V. INFRASTRUCTURAL CONSTRAINTS 1. Lack of threshing and processing and processing facilities Poor roads Poor transport facilities Poor storage facilities Non availability of sprayers and dusters constraints. Little less than half (47.00 per cent) of the respondents suffered due to non availability of low cost technologies Regarding the infrastructural constraints, a vast majority of the respondents (70.00 per cent) expressed poor storage facilities as their important constraints followed by lack of proper threshing and processing facilities (65.00 per cent). Little less than half of the respondents suffered due to poor roads (48.00 per cent) and poor transport facilities (47.00 per cent). Further, about forty percentage of the respondents quoted the non availability of the sprayers and dusters as their main infrastructural constraints. From the above findings, it could be summarized that, all the listed biological constraints were felt by almost all the respondents. Most of the respondents expressed the listed socio economic constraints as hindering factors in the adoption of recommended pulse production technologies. The technological and infrastructural cconstraints were also widely felt among the respondents. Among the physical constraints, except the soil low fertility, other constraints were felt by the respondents. REFERENCES Arunachalam R. (2002). Study on awareness and adoption of recommended practices in filed lab, Topical Research Report, Dept of Agrl. Extn and Rural Sociology, CARDS, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore - 3 Kavitha, M. (2008). Constraints in the adoption of production technologies in pulses, Proceedings of the national Seminar, Kanyakumari Association for Arts and Science, Nagercoil.