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ThesisItem Open Access Role of non-govermental organisations in transfer of technology for rural development- a study in Thrissur district(Department of Agricultural extension, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1997) Indu, Bhaskar; KAU; Geethakutty, P SA study was undertaken to analyse the effectiveness of NGOs in transfer of technology for rural development. It also aimed to identify the major programmes conducted by the selected NGOs and its consequences. The study was carried out in two selected NGOs, Kuriakose Elias Service Society (KESS) and Apex Voluntary Association for Rural Development (AVARD) of Thrissur district of Kerala during 1995-96. The sample selected for the study consisted of 100 beneficiaries, 60 non- beneficiaries, 30 NGO workers and 30 workers of other development agencies in Thrissur District. The study revealed that the major programmes of the NGOs were agri- cultural, health, HRD, community development and industrial and trade promotion programmes. The programmes consisted of components which aim at the desired changes like behavioural, health and hygiene, education, employment generation, ecological preservation, community development, leadership development, economic improvement, saftey and security, welfare, technology, self-reliance etc. which in general aimed at the overall development of rural community. Ninety per cent of the beneficiaries considered the consequences of programmes of NGOs as most beneficial to them. On analysing the respondents evaluative perception about the effectiveness of the NGOs, seventy three per cent of beneficiaries, twenty seven per cent of non-beneficiaries and ninety per cent of NGO workers and seventy per cent of development workers rated the NGOS as most effec- tive in rural development work. Significant characteristics of beneficiaries to predict their evaluative perception about the NGOs were farm size, annual income, level of aspiration and attitude towards NGOs. The beneficiaries of NGOs was significantly different from non-beneficiaries with regard to their farm size, extension contact, organisational participation, level of aspiration and attitude towards NGOs. The major constraints the NGOs face in their work for rural development were complexes of caste and religion among the rural people and lack of involve- ment from beneficiaries. The study draw attention to the emergent need of effective utilisation of the experiences and services of NGOs for rural development.ThesisItem Open Access Analysis of the Characteristics of Womens Groups and Their Role in Rural Development(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 1997) Sherin Muller; KAU; Mohammed Hussain, MThe present study under the title "An analysis of the characteristics of women's group and their role in rural development" was undertaken to assess the group characteristics of wornens group which were conducive for rural development and also to find out means to improve these group characteristics. 20 women's group were selected based on their proportion from 12 NES blocks of Thiruvananthapuram district Among these 20 groups 10 groups selected were effective groups comprising 98 members and 10 were non effective groups comprising 102 members selected based on a performance appraisal by the DRDA officials. Thus the total sample comprised of 200 women selected from the women's groups started under the DWCRA (Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas) programme of DRDA. Data was collected using an interview schedule and suitable stasticial technique was employed in the analysis of data. The group characteristics found conducive for rural development are ; interdependence of members, group interaction, group decision making, group leadership, group co-operation, group cohesiveness, participation in group activities, interpersonal liking, group goal achievement, need satisfaction, interpersonal communication, group competition, interpersonal trust and group motivation. 2 The results of the correlation anulysis indicate thut interdependence of members is positively and significantly correlated with social participation, information source utilisation, DRDAl Block visit andtraining and negatively and significantly correlated with age, educational status of family and period of group work in the effective groups. In the noneffccuvc groups the variables land holding, social participation, extension participation, infoi n.ation source utilisation and period of group work showed a negative signi ficunt correlation with interdependence of members while training showed a positive correlation. There is a negative significant correlation shown between the vuriablcs age, educational status of family, trade union participation, extension participation, annual income, period of group work and cosmopoliteness with group interaction, while social 'participation and training showed a positive correlation to group interaction in effective groups. In the noneffective groups annual income showed a negative significant correlation with group interaction. The group characteristic group decision making in the effective group showed a positive and significant correlation with extension participation, information source utilisation, cosmopoliteness, DRDA visit, land holding and training while a negative significant correlation was shown with the variable educational status of family. In the noneffective groups the variables educational status of family, annual income, trade union participation. DRDA visit and training showed a positive and significant correlation with group decision making while a negative and significant correlation was shown with period of group work and cosmopoliteness. -s, 3 In the effective groups the variables information source utilisation, DRDA visit and training showed a positive and significant correlation with group leadership while the variable educational status of family showed a negative significant correlation, In the nonctfecuvc groups the variables educational status of respondent, information source utilisation, and DRDA visit showed a positive significant correlation while the' variable annual income and period of group work showed a negative significant correlation with the group characteristic, group leadership, In effective groups the variables educational status of respondent, land holding, social participation, extension participation, information source utilisation, cosmopoliteness, DRDA visit and training showed a positive correlation with group co-operation while the variable, period of group work showed a negative significant correlation, In the noneffective groups the , ., variable social participation, period of group work and trui ni IIg showed u • I negative significant correlation with group co-operation. The variables educational status of family, annual income and period of group work showed a negative significant correlation while the variables extension participation, information source utilisation, cosmopo/iteness, and training showed a positive significant correlation with group cohesiveness in the effective groups. In the noneffective groups the variables age and cducuuonul status of fumily, showed u positive sil,l.lIificnnt corrchuiuu while the variables period of group work and cosrnopoliteness showed a negative significant correlation with the group characteristic, group cohesiveness. 4 In the effective groups the variables age and period of group work showed a negative significant correlation with participation in group activities while the variables educational status of respondent, extension participation, information source utilisation, DRDA visit and training showed a positive significant correlation. In the noneffective groups the variable educational status of respondent showed a positive significant correlation while the variables social participation, and extension participation showed a negative significant correlation with participation in group activities. In effective groups the group characteristic namely interpersonal liking is seen to be positively and significantly correlated with social participation, while it is negatively and significantly correlated with the personal and socio-psychological variables namely educational status of family, land holding," annual income, trade union participation, extension participation, information source utilisation, period of group work, cosmopoliteness and DRDA visit In noneffective groups the variable age is positively and significantly correlated " "' with interpersonal liking- while the variables period of group work and training are negatively and significantly correlated. The group characteristic namely group goal achievement is shown to have a positive and significant correlation with extension participation, information source utilisation, period of group work, cosmopoIiteness and training and a negative and significant correlation with educational status of family, annual income and social participation in the effective groups. In the non effective groups the variables, social participation, trade union 5 participation and land holding showed a positive and significant correlation with group goals achievement while the variables period of group work and cosmopoliteness 'showed a negative and significant correlation with group goals achievement. In effective groups the variables land holding, extension participation, information source utilisation, period of group work, cosmopoliteness, DRDA visit and training showed a positive and significant correlation with need satisfaction while the variables educational status of family and annual income showed a negative significant correlation. It is seen that in the noneffective group the variable educational status of family, trade union participation, information source utilisation and DRDA visit showed a positive and significant relationship with need satisfaction while the variables period of group work and cosmopoliteness showed a negative and significant relationship with need satisfaction. The group characteristic, interpersonal communication showed a positive and significant correlation with educational status of respondent, land holding and training in the effective groups. In the noneffective groups, the variable educational status of respondent showed a positive significant correlation and the varia~le period of ,group work showed a negative and significant correlation with the gr~)Up characteristic interpersonal communication. The variables age and land holding showed a negative and significant correlation while extension participation, cosmopoliteness and DRDA visit 6 showed a positive and significant correlation with group competition III the effective groups. In the noneffective groups the variables educational status of respondent and' information source utilisation showed a positve and significant correlation while the variable period of group work showed a negative and significant correlation with group competition. The group characteristic interpersonal trust showed a positive and significant correlation with so.cial participation and a negative and significant correlation with educational status of family, annual income, trade union participation, extension participation, information source utilisation and period of group work in the effective groups. In the noneffective groups land holding, social participation, extension participation, information source utilisation and period of group work showed a negative and significant correlation with interpersonal trust while the variable annual income showed a positive and significant correlation with interpersonal trust. The group characteristic, group motivation showed a positive and significant correlation with information source utilisation and DRDA visit in the effective groups. In the noneffective groups, group motivation is positively and significantly correlated with educational status. of respondent and negatively and significantly correlated with: period of group work. With regards to the constraints experienced by the women's group comparative high cost of raw materials, low economic status of members, improper repayment of loans, non availability of adequate raw materials, lack 7 of local demand for the products produced, lack of interest of officials at block / district level, lack of follow up activities by department, inadequacy of revolving fund, wrong selection of members, lack of team spirit, drop out of members due to marriage and other reasons, lack of homogeniety among, members, lack of effective leadership, lack of initiative and interest at desired level among members, fear to avail loans, lack of co-operation among members, lack of quality consciousness among members about products, lack of co- operation and lack of group cohesiveness were identified as the major constraints for effecti ve group action.ThesisItem Open Access Interaction of psychological economic, sociological and technological determinants of the entrepreneurial behaviour of agricultural students(Department Of Agricultural Extension, College Of Agriculture, Vellayani, 1997) Seema, B; KAU; Babu, BThe study aimed to identify the factors which are conducive for the entrepreneurial behaviour of agricultural .students. The study was conducted among the students of the two Agricultural colleges of Kerala Agricultural University and the unemployed graduates who have passed out from these colleges. Two hundred and fifty respondents were selected for the main study which comprised of 100 undergraduate students, 100 postgraduate students and 50 unemployed graduates. The entrepreneurial behavior of agricultural students was measured with the help of a scale developed for the study. Based on relevancy rating twenty four independent variables were selected Data were collected through mailed, and distributed questionnaire. The maximum likelihood solution for entrepreneurial behavior extracted 12 factors About 43 per cent of the total variability in the extent of entrepreneurial behavior was accounted by twelve factors. Majority of the respondents in the undergraduate group and unemployed graduates were found to have high level of entrepreneurial behavior. Similarly majority of the male respondents were found to have high level of entrepreneurial behavior. Self esteem, sociability, innovation proneness, Self confidence, attitude towards competition, management Orientation, persuasiveness, and self reliance were found to * be significantly and positively related to entrepreneurial behaviour of undergraduate students. In the case of postgraduate students attitude towards competition, self esteem, innovation proneness, management orientation, self confidence, persuasiveness, sociability, self reliance and attitude towards self employment were found to be significantly and positively related. ■* • . As to the unemployed graduates significant positive relationship was observed between entrepreneurial behaviour and persuasiveness, management orientation, innovation proneness, self confidence and credit orientation. Sociability, self reliance, self confidence, attitude towards competition, self esteem, persuasiveness, management orientation, innovation proneness, attitude towards self employment and technical competency were found to be significantly and positively related with entrepreneurial behaviour of male students. In the case of female students, self confidence, self esteem, self reliance, attitude towards self employment, sociability, management orientation, persuasiveness, annual income, innovation proneness and attitude towards competition showed significant positive relationship with enfrepreneurial behaviour. Attitude towards self employment, innovation proneness, self confidence, credit orientation, self reliance, sociability, marks obtained in Pree-Degree, marks obtained in B Sc. and management orientation explained 36.74 per cent of the variation in entrepreneurial behaviour of undergraduate students. In the case of postgraduate students 49.19 per cent of variation in entrepreneurial behaviour was explained by attitude towards competition, self esteem, sociability, innovation proneness and O.G.P A. (work experience). Persuasiveness and innovation proneness explained 25.12 per cent of variation in entrepreneurial behaviour of unemployed graduates. » As much as 43.28 per cent of variability in entrepreneurial behaviour of male students was explained by sociability, self reliance, persuasiveness, attitude towards •self employment, O.G.P A ( work experience) management orientation, innovation proneness and attitude towards competition For variables viz., self esteem, sociability, innovation proneness and credit orientation were responsible fof 36.65 per cent of-variation in entrepreneurial behaviour of female students. Capital investment, availability of labour, availability of resource and infrastructural facilities were ranked high as factors influencing entrepreneurial behaviour of agricultural students as perceived by different category of respondents.ThesisItem Open Access Prospects and constraints of commercial cutflower production in Thiruvananthapuram district(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 1997) Sindhu, S; KAU; Mothilal Nehru, SThe present study under the title "Prospects and constraints of cutflower production in Thiruvananthapuram district" was undertaken with the following objectives. 1. To delineate the components of conceptual skill and to measure the conceptual skill of growers. 2. To study the relationship of personal, socio-situational and economic factors with the conceptual skill of growers. 3. To study the production practices of cutflowers followed by the growers. 4. To identify the different marketing channels existing in cutflower marketing in consultation with the growers. 5. To identify the constraints related to cutflower production and marketing as perceived by growers. The study was conducted among the respondents of five cutflower societies functioning in Thiruvananthapuram district. A sample of 100 growers were selected from the societies by adopting stratified random sampling technique with proportionate sampling procedure. Data was collected with the help of well structured, pre tested interview schedule and suitable statistical tests were employed in the analysis of data. In the study conceptual skill has been considered as dependent variable. The factors such as planning, risk-orientation, decision-taking ability, supervision and market perception were the major dimensions of conceptual skill. The selected personal, socio-situational and economic factors of cutflower growers were taken as independent variables which included education, cutflower growing experience, attitude towards cutflower growing, knowledge on cut flowers, self confidence, orientation towards competition, orientation towards skill development in farm workers, information seeking behaviour (personal), operational area, infra structural facilities, extension participation, social participation, mass media exposure (socio-situational), annual income and credit orientation (economic). Relationship of the personal, socio-situational and economic factors with the conceptual skill showed that in the case of Group I, none of the variables correlated with conceptual skill. In the case of Group 11 attitude towards cutflower growing, knowledge on cutflowers were positively and significantly correlated while mass media exposure was negatively and significantly correlated with conceptual skill. In the case of Group Ill, variables like cutflower growing experience, attitude towards cutflower growing, knowledge on cut flowers, orientation towards skill development and information seeking behaviour were correlated positively and significantly with conceptual skill. In the case of Group V a positive and significant relationship exists between conceptual skill and cutflower growing experience and orientation towards skill development in farm workers. In the case of Gr. V, a positive and significant relationship exists between conceptual skill and variables like cutflower growing experience, attitude towards cutflower growing, knowledge on cutflowers, self confidence, orientation towards skill development ill farm workers, information seeking behaviour and operational area. None of the socio-situational factors related significantly with conceptual skill of the respondents of Group I, Group 11, Group III and Group IV except for mass media exposure which was negatively and significantly correlated with conceptual skill of respondents of Group 11. None of the economic factors correlated with conceptual skill of the respondents of Group I, Group 11, Group Ill, Group IV and Group V. Regarding the production practices followed by anthurium growers, majority of growers have ordinary varieties. Majority of the growers follow pot planting using potting media containing sawdust, charcoal, brick and tile pieces, coconut husk and leaf-mould. Orchid growers have the collection of both monopodial and sympodial orchids and majority of the growers plant monopodial orchids in coconut husk alone and sympodial orchids in charcoal pieces alone. Regarding organic manure application, majority of the growers use diluted solution of fermented groundnut and neemcake in both the case of anthuriums and orchids. Majority of the growers apply 17: 17: 1 7 complex fertilizer solutions to both anthuriums and orchids. Majority of the growers apply organic manure and fertilisers once in a fortnight. Majority of the growers apply fungicides and pesticides once in a week regularly. Thus an indiscriminate use of fertilisers and plant protection chemicals was noticed in the study. Majority of the growers harvest flowers whenever there is demand. Flowers are cut during early mornings and late evenings. In the study various marketing channel ha been identified. in which the most important marketing channel of cutflowers identified was 'producer - collection centre - florishop- consumer'. Various production, technological and marketing constraints has been identified in the study. The important constraints perceived by the growers were 'high price of planting materials' (production), 'no standardised practices to follow' (technological) and 'inability of small growers to find market (marketing).ThesisItem Open Access Indigenous Practices in Rice Farming in Thrissur District(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Horticulture,Vellanikara, 1997) Preetha, L; KAU; Bhaskaran, CA research study was conducted to identify and codify the indigenous practices in rice farming in Thrissur district. The study also aimed at analysing the relationship of knowledge and adoption of indegenous practices of rice farmers with their personal, socio-psychological and socio-economic characteristics. The evaluative perception of the identified indigenous practices by the rice farmers, extension personnel and rice scientists was also done. The study was conducted in two phases - phase I and phase II. The sample selected for the study consisted of 135 rice farmers and all available extension personnel and rice scientists of Thrissur district. The phase I of the study was conducted in 12 selected panchayaths and the phase II was conducted in 3 selected panchayaths of Thrissur district. The research endeavour identified 80 indigenous practices and 20 indigenous beliefs related to rice cultivation of Thrissur district. The identified practices and beliefs were documented and described along with its scientific rationale. The phase II revealed significant variation in knowledge score of rice farmers in indigenous practices. It varied from 4.6 to 90.9 per cent. Adoption index too showed significant variation with a range of 1 to 92.5 per cent. Statistical analysis reveal that 27.05 per cent of the variation In knowledge of rice farmers about indigenous practices was influenced by six variables namely fatalism-scientism, annual income, area under rice cultivation, main occupation, personal-localite exposure and risk preference, while 43.46 per cent of variation in adoption of indigenous practices of rice farmers was explained by their age, main occupation, farming experience, personal-localite exposure, economic motivation, social participation and risk preference. The indigenous practices were perceived as sustainable by 100 per cent of the respondent categories whereas only 38.58 per cent of the respondent categories perceived them as efficient. The knowledge in indigenous practices and their extent of adoption are found to be medium in 50 per cent of the rice farmers. This implies that most of the old farming traditions are being gradually lost by farmers. Hence a systematic and organised effort to document these indigenous practices is an urgent need to improve the efficiency and productivity of crop cultivation. This calls for a multi-disciplinary approach to comprehend and analyse the identified folk wisdom to enhance its potentiality and accelerate the pace of technological change.ThesisItem Open Access Indigenous practices of vegetable cultivation in Thrissur district(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1997) Manju, V; KAU; Ranjan Karippai, SA study on the indigenous practices of vegetables was carried out using 120 vegetable farmers selected from the three vegetable growing blocks of Thrissur district of Kerala state namely Chalakkudy, Wadakkancherry and Puzhakkal. The data were collected with the help of a pre-test structured interview schedule by personally interviewing the respondents selected from three vegetable growing panchayats of the above blocks. The analysis of the data revealed that, out of seventeen selected personal, socio-economic and psychological characteristics of the farmers ten variables were negatively and significantly related with their knowledge on indigenous practices. Of these, maximum variation on knowledge on indigenous practices was caused by two characteristics namely market orientation and information source utilisation of the farmers. Similarly out of these seventeen personal, socio-economic and psychological characteristics of the respondents, twelve characteristics were negatively and significantly related with their extent of adoption of indigenous practices. Of these, maximum variation was contributed by three variables such as farm size, labour input and scientific orientation. The evaluative perception of indigenous practices by farmers and subject matter specialists were separately measured in terms of six selected attributes. The attributes selected were simplicity, profitability, sustainability, efficiency, input availability and flexibility. The results in general indicated that the attributes simplicity, sustainability and profitability of majority of the indigenous practices were perceived as more or less high by the respondents. Emergence of new pests and diseases, increased pests and diseases, low productivity were some of the important constraints perceived by the farmers in the case of indigenous technology adoption.ThesisItem Open Access Managerial behaviour of commercial banana growers in Thiruvanathapuram district(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 1997) Sangeetha, K G; KAU; Mothilal Nehru, SThe present study under the title 'Managerial behaviour of commercial banana growers in Thriuvananthapuram District’ was undertaken to study managerial behaviour and its relationship with socio-psychological and situational factors of commercial banana growers. The study also revealed their socio-economic profile and extent of adoption of recommended cultivation practices of banana. Further, the indigenous farming practices adopted by the banana growers and the major marketing channels of banana were identified. Then the constraints in banana cultivation as perceived by the respondents were also analysed, based on which an extension strategy for the enhancement of commercial scientific banana cultivation had been formed. The study was conducted in Thiruvananthapuram district, covering the three sub-divisions by concentrating in three Panchayats using stratified two stage sampling method. A sample of 150 commercial banana growers consisting 75 Nendran growers, 45 Palayankodan growers, and 30 Red banana growers formed the respondents of this study. Personal interview with the help of a well-structured and pre-tested interview schedule was adopted to collect the data from the respondents, and suitable statistical techniques were employed for the analysis of data. The study revealed that majority of the respondents possessed high level of managerial behaviour and there was significant difference among Nendran, Palayankodan and Red Banana growers with respect to their level of managerial behaviour.Majority of the respondents adopted more than 75 percent of the recommended cultivation practices of banana. There was significant difference among Nendran, Palayankodan and Red Banana growers with respect to their extent of adoption of Recommended cultivation practices of banana. Majority of the respondents belonged to the category of high level adapters with regard to sucker selection, treatment of suckers, pit size, manuring, I irrigation, weeding and propping. In the case of adoption of recommended spacing and fertilizer application, majority of the respondents belonged to medium level. The most frequently used marketing channel by the respondents was ‘producer-wholesaler-retailer-consumer’. The benefit cost ratio of Nendran, Palayankodan and Red banana were worked out as 1.80,1.30 and 1.75 respectively ‘incidence of pests and diseases’ was the most important production constrained and ‘high cost of material input’ was the most important economic constraint banana cultivation as perceived by the banana growers.ThesisItem Open Access Multidimensional study on special component plan schemes for the scheduled caste farm families(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 1997) Rajendralal, T V; KAU; Mohammed Hussain, MThe present study under the title "Multidimensional study on Special Component Plan schemes for the scheduled caste farm families" was undertaken to assess the perception and attitude of scheduled caste farm families towards the S.C.P. schemes of the Department of Agriculture, Kerala and also to assess the acceptance of S.C.P. scheme by the scheduled caste families. The factors influencing the perception and attitude of scheduled castes towards the S.C.P. scheme and acceptance of S.C.P. schemes by the scheduled castes and constraints perceived by the scheduled castes in the acceptance of S.C.P. scheme were also assessed in the study. Two hundred numbers of scheduled caste of different I.H.D.P. habitats from 7 Krishi Bhavans in Palakkad District who were the beneficiaries of the S. C. P. scheme of Agriculture Department in the year 1994-95 were selected as the respondents for the study. Data were collected using interview schedule and suitable statistical techniques were employed in the analysis of data. Four major schemes under Special Component Plan namely the scheme for distribution of coconut seedlings, scheme for distribution of pepper cuttings, scheme for distribution of agricultural implements and scheme for distribution of vegetable seeds were selected for detailed study. The result of the perception of scheduled castes about the total S.C.P. scheme revealed that 58 per cent beneficiaries were distributed below the average perception score. Regarding the attitude, majority of the beneficiaries were having favourable attitude towards the S.C.P. schemes. With regards to the total acceptance of the scheme, 49 per cent beneficiaries were distributed above the average acceptance score and 51 per cent were below the average acceptance score. Comparison of the four S.C.P. schemes revealed that the highest perception score was recorded for coconut seedlings and lowest for pepper cuttings. Regarding the acceptance of the scheme, the scheme for distribution of agricultural implements was highly accepted by the beneficiaries followed by vegetable seeds, coconut seedlings and pepper cuttigns in the descending order. With regard to the personal, economic and socio-psychological factors of the respondents influencing perception, attitude and acceptance, majority of the respondents were above the average age of 48 years. Among the sampled respondents, 13 per cent were illiterate and the remaining 87 per cent had achieved education up to different levels. Most of the literate farmers had schooling from 1-5 years. A good majority of them had the farm size below 15 cents and annual income below the average range of Rs. 4313. More than half of the scheduled caste farm families had farming experience of below 20 years and a good majority of them were employed as agricultural labourers. Majority of the scheduled castes had low socil participation, very low economic motivation, below average achievement motivation, low level of aspiration and also less information seeking behaviour. With regard to cosmopoliteness, 50 per cent of them had social participation and 50 per cent of them had no social participation and most of them were having extension orientation above the average. Relationship of the personal, economic and socio-psychological factors with the perception, attitude and acceptance showed that a positive and significant relationship exists between perception and factors such as education, social participation, economic motivation, achievement motivation, information seeking behaviour and level of aspiration. Regarding the attitude all other factors except cosmopoliteness and education were negatively and significantly correlated. In the case of acceptance, a positive and significant relationship exists with education, social participation, economic motivation, achievement motivation, cosmopoliteness, extension orientation, information seeking behaviour and level of aspiration. Study on different characteristics of perception shows that a good majority of scheduled caste beneficiaries had very well developed awareness about the scheme for distribution of coconut seedlings and vegetable seeds were perceived to be very easy for them to cultivate. Regarding the profitability, vegetable seed was perceived to be highly profitable than coconut seedlings and agricultural implements and rooted pepper cuttings was perceived to be least profitable. In the case of suitability, agricultural implements supplied were perceived to be more suitable in their situations than coconut seedlings and vegetable seeds. The least suitability recorded for pepper cuttings. With regards to usefulness of the scheme, the agricultural implements supplied were perceived to be more useful and the supply of pepper cuttings were perceived to be least useful for them. Study on acceptance and non-acceptance of individual practices by the scheduled caste families showed that about 15 per cent of them had not utilized the planting materials like coconut seedlings, pepper cuttings and vegetable seeds for planting or sowing purpose, even though 100 per cent of them had received the components. Majority of the beneficiaries were satisfied with the quality of components received and a good majority of them had not accepted the practices like application of manures and fertilizers, P.P. chemicals and irrigation. It was also observed that 60 per cent of the beneficiaries had utilized the agricultural implements supplied under the scheme. The results of the constraint analysis revealed the need for location specific and problem-oriented S.C.P. schemes, timely supply of planting materials and other inputs, necessary technical intervention and supervision by the extension agencies, financial assistance and need for remunerative nature of S.C.P. schemes. The results also pointed out the need for proper monitoring and evaluation of S. C. P. schemes and participatory planning and implementation of S. C. P. schemes for accomplishing the cherished goals.ThesisItem Open Access Analysis of transfer of technology with respect to biofertiliser(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1997) Mercykutty, M J; KAU; Ranjan S, KarippaiThe study was undertaken in selected three panchayaths of Thrissur district to analyse the transfer of technology with respect to biofertilisers. The sample selected for the study included 150 farmers, 30 scientists and 30 extension personnel. The study revealed that the majority of the farmer respondents belonged to low category in their distribution based on the 17 selected independent variables. It was found that the evaluative perception on the feasibility of biofertiliser technology was medium in case of all the respondent categories viz., farmers, scientists and extension personnel. Regarding the extent of adoption of biofertiliser technology, poor adoption was observed. Among the selected independent variables, age, education, farming experience, extension participation, risk orientation and accessibility to sales point were found significant in predicting the maximum variation in the extent of adoption of biofertiliser technology. The highest direct and indirect effect on extent of adoption of biofertiliser was due to extension participation. Different constraints experienced at different levels of transfer of technology were identified. Inadequate awareness and lack of technical knowledge on biofertiliser were found to be the most important client system constraints. Effect of unfavourable soil and climatic condition and inadequate awareness and lack of technical knowledge on biofertiliser were found to be the most important research system and extension system constraints respectively. The most important constraint experienced in support and service system was lack of interest on the part of dealer. Perceived incompatibility of the technology and lack of technical knowledge about the technology were found to be the most important reason for non – adoption of the technology. The study drew attention to the emergent need of effective measures to overcome the prevailing constraints in the transfer of biofertiliser technology so as to enhance this eco – friendly farming strategy.
