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Subject: Extension Education × Author: Barman, Sundar × End date: 2019 × Start date: 2015 × Type: Thesis ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    FARMERS’ ADOPTION BEHAVIOUR AND FACTORS AFFECTING THEIR ‘WILLINGNESS TO PAY’ (WTP) FOR CLIMATE SMART AGRICULTURE (CSA) IN ASSAM
    (2019-07) Barman, Sundar
    Agriculture has become a high-risk profession towards climate change and weather variability, which have direct impact on farmers’ socio-economic condition, and at the same time has to face challenge to provide food security for ever increasing population. So, there is a need to study the different aspects of climate smart agriculture. Keeping this in view primarily, the present study entitled ‘Farmers’ Adoption Behaviour and factors affecting their ‘Willingness to Pay’ (WTP) for Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) in Assam’ was carried out in four districts of Assam namely Dibrugarh, Sonitpur, Dhubri and Cachar in which NICRA programme has been implemented since 2011. The objectives of the study are as follows: 1. To study the degree of farmers’ knowledge and adoption of CSA practices 2. To assess the farmers’ preferences and their ‘Willingness to Pay (WTP) for CSA practices and factors likely to influence thereon 3. To determine farmers’ attitude towards ‘Fee Based Extension Services’ (FBES) 4. To document farmers coping strategies for mitigating effect of climate change and variability. A purposive and proportionate random sampling method was used for selecting 400 farmers as respondents from four NICRA villages of respective districts. Appropriate statistical methods were used for analysis and interpretation of data. The profile analysis of respondents showed that majority of respondents (60%) belonged to age group of 35-50 years with formal educational experiences 6 to 10 years having family size more than 7 members with agriculture as main occupation. The dependency ratio of family was found 64.90 to 304.18 % with average size of land holding as 3.79 ha out of which more than 66 per cent was lowland with average cropping intensity of 135.20 %. The average annual income was Rs.1, 05,000 of which 54 % income came from farm activities. Major proportion of respondents (68 %) had training exposure of 1-3 days with medium level of farm information source relevancy (60 %), market accessibility (55.50%), degree of commercialization (70 %) and degree of innovative proneness (68.75%) with 12-24 years of farm experiences. The findings reveal that overall knowledge on selected CSA practices was of medium level for majority of respondents (69%).The adopters of overall selected practices were 79.85 per cent. The adoption consistency for overall selected CSA practices was of medium level for majority of respondents (58.25%). STVs, INM and IPM were found to be the most preferred and high degree of WTP while low degree of WTP was found for VC and MT. The LMR model showed that adoption consistency, degree of preference and WTP were expressed variation by selected explanatory variables with 23% (R2=0.23), 51% (R2=0.51) and 74%(R2=0.74) respectively. ‘Age’ (X1), ‘dependency ratio of family’ (X3), ‘proportion of low land’ (X4), ‘market accessibility’ (X7) and ‘cropping intensity’ (X9) were found to have positive and significant influence on adoption consistency while dependency ratio of family (X3)’ ‘proportion of low land’ (X4), institutional contact (X6)’, ‘market accessibility’ (X7) degree of commercialization’ (X10) and ‘adoption consistency’ (X13) recorded to have positive but age (X1)’, annual farm income (X5) and ‘farm experience’ (X8) have negative and significant influence on farmers’ degree of preferences. In case of WTP, educational experience’ (X2), ‘market accessibility’ (X7) ‘cropping intensity’ (X9), ‘adoption consistency’ (X13) and ‘degree of preferences to CSA practices’ (X14) were found to have positive while variable ‘age’ (X1) and ‘institutional contact’ (X6) have negative and significant influence on WTP. Perception of farmers about climate change was found complementary with realities as most of the farmers disagree with change of temperature, rainfall over last 20 years. Majority of respondents (54.75 per cent) had unfavorable attitude towards FBES while middle age group with occupation agriculture, agriculture +service and agriculture + wage earner had favourable attitude but medium and large farmers had unfavourable attitude towards FBES. Farmers with low and high institutional contact had favourable attitude but high income group farmers had unfavourable attitude. Farmers’ copping strategies such as ‘transplanting of Bao paddy during May-June instead of normal practice i.e. direct sowing during March-April’, ‘erecting solar electrical wire with low voltage in the boundary of crop cultivation area’ ‘selling of livestock before onset of summer season’ change of cropping sequence rice - rabi vegetables to rice-maize, staggered sowing of seed with high rate, Community seed bank for paddy crop were followed for mitigating adverse effect of climate change. Extension agencies, both public and private should put forward strategic effort to make farmers aware of climate change and its impact on food production, popularizing these technologies need to be taken care of in other similar areas, systematic assessment of other CSA practices available in the research front, different stakeholders (both public and private) in input and output chains should work in convergence mode as a common entity so that farmers get necessary environment for adoption of technologies.