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ThesisItem Restricted Perspective of extension personnel and farmers regarding paddy and wheat residue burning in Punjab(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2018) Lyngdoh, Lawanrisha; Dhaliwal, R.K.The research entitled “Perspective of extension personnel and farmers regarding paddy and wheat residue burning in Punjab” was undertaken with the objectives to study the perception and knowledge of extension personnel and farmers towards the effect of open burning in paddy and wheat cropping system, to identify the extension methods used by the extension personnel for the dissemination of various alternatives of paddy and wheat straw management and the constraints faced by the farmers in the adoption of paddy and wheat straw management alternatives and by the extension personnel in its dissemination along with suggestions. One hundred and fifty extension personnel (Agricultural Development Officers) were selected randomly from the state. From each zone, one district and further two villages were selected. From each village ten farmers were selected randomly. Thus, sixty farmers were selected randomly from three agro-climatic zones. The data was collected with the help of a questionnaire for the extension personnel and an interview schedule for the farmers. Findings of the study revealed that perception of the extension personnel and farmer respondents differ for the statements such as pest and pathogens can be controlled by straw burning, weeds can be controlled by open straw burning and burning of crop stubble decreases the yield of milk in milch animals as well as destroys forest trees while both respondents agreed that open burning of straw has a negative effect on plant health, air, human health, animal health, biodiversity, vehicular traffic and soil health. The study revealed that majority of the extension personnel and farmer respondents had medium level of knowledge regarding the economic effect of paddy straw, a high level of knowledge regarding environmental effect and medium level of knowledge regarding pictorial identification for paddy wheat straw management respectively. An overall analysis showed that majority of the respondents from both categories had medium level of knowledge. Personal visit and meetings/discussions were the most commonly employed methods by the extension personnel for the dissemination of various alternatives of paddy and wheat straw management. The findings revealed that the major constraints faced by the extension personnel in disseminating straw management alternatives were inadequate and irregular supply of funds, perceived ineffectiveness of technologies and lack of training facilities. While all the farmer respondents agreed that high transportation of the straw, high labour charges and crop residue interference with tillage and seeding operations were the major constraints in adoption of straw management techniques. The variables like education, service experience, extension contact, mass media and economic motivation showed a positive and highly significant correlation with knowledge while age of the farmer respondents was negatively and significantly correlated with knowledge. Also, a positive and significant relationship was found between the perception of the farmer respondents with education and ecological consciousness.
