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Subject: Agricultural Extension Education × Author: Barakoti, Jagjeevan × End date: 2022 × Type: Thesis × Thesis Type: M.Sc ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Climate change information needs of apple growers: A study in Kumaon region of Uttarakhand
    (G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263145 (Uttarakhand), 2019-07) Barakoti, Jagjeevan; Ansari, M.A.
    Climate change has emerged as a serious threat to agriculture productivity and global food security. Mountain ecosystems are very fragile and prone to the adverse impact of climate changes. Information about climate change therefore becomes crucial for farmers as it can help in undertaking adaptation strategies and mitigation measures. Besides, farmers’ need to comprehend the scale of climate variability and adapt in order to survive and safeguard the farming as well as farm based livelihood vocations. Hence, in order to be successful in overcoming the adverse impact of climate change on agricultural productivity, farmers also need to be sensitized and made aware of various climate change parameters and their adverse impact on farming. Keeping this in mind, a research study entitled “Climate Change Information Needs of Apple Growers: A Study in Kumaon Region of Uttarakhand” was undertaken with the objectives: (i): to study the socio-personal, economic, psychological and communication characteristics of apple growers (ii) to find out climate change information needs of farmers, (iii) to determine the relationship between the selected characteristics of apple growers’ with climate change information needs of farmers and (iv) to identify the constraints faced by the Apple growers in obtaining information about climate change. The present study was conducted in Nainital district of Uttarakhand. Four villages namely Hartola, Satbunga, Umagrah, and Nathuakhan were selected purposively from Ramgarh block as it had maximum number of apple growers.. A total sample of 120 respondents was selected through PPS method. Analytical and descriptive research design was used. The data collection was done using a pre-tested structured interview schedule. Besides, four focus group discussions were also done to support the quantitative research. The data was analysed using appropriate descriptive and analytical statistical techniques. The findings revealed that More than half (59.16%) of the respondents belonged to the middle age group, educated up to senior secondary (24.17%), were medium farmers (85%), with more than fifteen years of farming experience (64.17%), all the respondents(100%) had farming as their primary occupation, with medium annual income (86.66%), social participation (69.17%). More than half (56.67%) of the respondents had medium extension contact. Majority of the respondents (95.00 %) owned television had medium level of mass media exposure (66.67%), had medium information seeking behaviour (60.83%), had medium scientific orientation (86.67%), had medium access to weather forecast (71.67%) and had medium level of risk orientation (74.17%). Regarding climate change information needs of farmers, the findings revealed that Majority of the respondents (70.83%) had medium level of information needs on climate parameters, Majority of the respondent express their information needs about how temperature affects apple cultivation, how snow fall affects apple cultivation, how rainfall affects apple cultivation. Majority of the respondents (82.50%) had medium level of information needs regarding cropping practices and expressed their information needs about alternative crops grown in lower hills, impact of climate change on apple productivity. About one third of the respondents (35.83%) having low level of information need about impact of climate change on apple productivity and expressed information needs about how early frost damage apple fruiting, late spring frost affects on flowering in apple crop, hailstorms affects apple productivity. Over all climate change information needs of apple growers showed that Majority of the respondents (75%) had medium level of climate change information needs, 15.83 percent had low level and only 9.17 percent had high level of climate change information needs. Majority of the farmers had given opinion that government should help farmers and KVKs or SAUs should come forward to give solution on climate change adaptation and mitigation practices. The result revealed that independent variables Age, landholding, extension contact, information seeking behaviour and scientific information were significant positively correlated with climate change information needs of apple growers. Farming experience and information seeking behaviour were highly significant and positively correlated with climate change information need of apple growers. Coefficient of determination (R2) value was 0.4020, which means that only 40.20 percent of the variation in the dependent variable could be attributed to all the independent variables. The respondents had faced constraints on getting information about climate change and found that 25 percent of the respondents expressed that they were not aware from whom they can get information about climate change, 20.83 percent expressed governmental officials were not available there to give information on climate change and 18.33 percent were not aware of operating internet for accessing information. The findings have implications for undertaking specific interventions for providing needed information about climate change.