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Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University, Guntur

The Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University (APAU) was established on 12th June 1964 at Hyderabad. The University was formally inaugurated on 20th March 1965 by Late Shri. Lal Bahadur Shastri, the then Hon`ble Prime Minister of India. Another significant milestone was the inauguration of the building programme of the university by Late Smt. Indira Gandhi,the then Hon`ble Prime Minister of India on 23rd June 1966. The University was renamed as Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University on 7th November 1996 in honour and memory of an outstanding parliamentarian Acharya Nayukulu Gogineni Ranga, who rendered remarkable selfless service for the cause of farmers and is regarded as an outstanding educationist, kisan leader and freedom fighter. HISTORICAL MILESTONE Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU) was established under the name of Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University (APAU) on the 12th of June 1964 through the APAU Act 1963. Later, it was renamed as Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University on the 7th of November, 1996 in honour and memory of the noted Parliamentarian and Kisan Leader, Acharya N. G. Ranga. At the verge of completion of Golden Jubilee Year of the ANGRAU, it has given birth to a new State Agricultural University namely Prof. Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University with the bifurcation of the state of Andhra Pradesh as per the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act 2014. The ANGRAU at LAM, Guntur is serving the students and the farmers of 13 districts of new State of Andhra Pradesh with renewed interest and dedication. Genesis of ANGRAU in service of the farmers 1926: The Royal Commission emphasized the need for a strong research base for agricultural development in the country... 1949: The Radhakrishnan Commission (1949) on University Education led to the establishment of Rural Universities for the overall development of agriculture and rural life in the country... 1955: First Joint Indo-American Team studied the status and future needs of agricultural education in the country... 1960: Second Joint Indo-American Team (1960) headed by Dr. M. S. Randhawa, the then Vice-President of Indian Council of Agricultural Research recommended specifically the establishment of Farm Universities and spelt out the basic objectives of these Universities as Institutional Autonomy, inclusion of Agriculture, Veterinary / Animal Husbandry and Home Science, Integration of Teaching, Research and Extension... 1963: The Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University (APAU) Act enacted... June 12th 1964: Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University (APAU) was established at Hyderabad with Shri. O. Pulla Reddi, I.C.S. (Retired) was the first founder Vice-Chancellor of the University... June 1964: Re-affilitation of Colleges of Agriculture and Veterinary Science, Hyderabad (estt. in 1961, affiliated to Osmania University), Agricultural College, Bapatla (estt. in 1945, affiliated to Andhra University), Sri Venkateswara Agricultural College, Tirupati and Andhra Veterinary College, Tirupati (estt. in 1961, affiliated to Sri Venkateswara University)... 20th March 1965: Formal inauguration of APAU by Late Shri. Lal Bahadur Shastri, the then Hon`ble Prime Minister of India... 1964-66: The report of the Second National Education Commission headed by Dr. D.S. Kothari, Chairman of the University Grants Commission stressed the need for establishing at least one Agricultural University in each Indian State... 23, June 1966: Inauguration of the Administrative building of the university by Late Smt. Indira Gandhi, the then Hon`ble Prime Minister of India... July, 1966: Transfer of 41 Agricultural Research Stations, functioning under the Department of Agriculture... May, 1967: Transfer of Four Research Stations of the Animal Husbandry Department... 7th November 1996: Renaming of University as Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University in honour and memory of an outstanding parliamentarian Acharya Nayukulu Gogineni Ranga... 15th July 2005: Establishment of Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University (SVVU) bifurcating ANGRAU by Act 18 of 2005... 26th June 2007: Establishment of Andhra Pradesh Horticultural University (APHU) bifurcating ANGRAU by the Act 30 of 2007... 2nd June 2014 As per the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act 2014, ANGRAU is now... serving the students and the farmers of 13 districts of new State of Andhra Pradesh with renewed interest and dedication...

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2015 - 2019522020 - 202322
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Subject: Agricultural Extension × Start date: 2015 × Type: Thesis ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    SUSTENANCE OF WOMEN LABOURERS IN AGRICULTURE- A CASE STUDY APPROACH
    (Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University, 2023-12-02) C. DEEPA; M. RAMA DEVY
    In India, women have a multi-dimensional role. It is widely known to everybody that the agricultural workers are the most neglected class in the Indian masses. A unique feature of female participation throughout India is that they are workers, labourers, cultivators, producers, traders besides performing all house hold duties which are considered as ‘unproductive’. Women contribute about three-fourth of the labour required in the field. The contribution of female labour is towards agricultural production beside their usual domestic work, always more than the male labour. In cultivation except ploughing, levelling, irrigation all other works are generally shared by both men and women. Women usually get low wages for the work done under the worst conditions put in excessively burdens on hard work. The wages paid to the female agricultural labourers are much below the prescribed rates and wide spread of disparities in wages much disadvantages of them. Even though, most of the contributions made by women in the farm sector are unaccounted and they are not directly paid. Since agriculture also the prime engine of economic growth in developing countries particularly in India the role performed by both men and women must not be neglected. All obstacles to the full participation of women must be removed to ensure that they find themselves on equal terms with men in all facts of life culture social, economic and political. Growth in agriculture needs to be matched with feminization of agriculture for an overall development of rural economy. Appropriate strategy has to be made xiv to extend the benefits to transfer of technology process to the women, which will help in modernization of agriculture. Agricultural labourers were deciding factor of cost of production and adopting, practicing of technologies andplaying crucial role in yield improvement. Agriculture labourer’s livelihood plays crucial role in socio economic development of agriculture. The type of livelihood-practice influences the ecosystem. So analysis of the agricultural labourers livelihood is critical and important phenomena. Many such studies related to the agriculture labourers were conducted but there are limited studies related to livelihood analysis of women agriculture labourers. Hence, the present study on sustenance of women labourers in agriculture-a case study approach was undertaken. Case Study research design was adopted for the study. The study was carried out in three districts of Andhra Pradesh. Three districts were purposively selected based on the highest number of women agricultural labourers viz., Srikakulam, Guntur and Kurnool. Three mandals from each district were selected. From each of the selected mandal two villages were selected by using simple random sampling procedure thus comes to a total of 18 villages. From each of the selected village, ten respondents were selected by using simple random sampling procedure thus coming to a total of 180 respondents. The data was processed using descriptive statistics, chi-square test and Garrett ranking technique. Twenty one independent variables were identified for the study. Majority of the respondents were middle aged, nuclear family type, medium family size, wage earning as major occupation status, medium experience, medium number of trainings underwent, medium level of social status, medium annual income, wage earning major employment status of family members, medium credit orientation, medium savings behavior, medium urban contact, medium perception of skill, medium level of perception of drudgery bearing ability, medium level of decision making ability, medium level of self confidence, medium level of aspiration, medium availability of work, good health status and medium work environment. Nearly two third (52.22%) of the women agricultural labourers were having moderate livelihood security followed by below moderate (27.23%) and above moderate (20.55%) livelihood security.Wheat and rice items of food and nutritional security ranked as first (285) in food and nutritional security followed by pulses (247) which might be due to judicious supply by the public distribution system playing an important role and ranked as first and second. Consumption of vegetables, milk, sugar& jaggery, oil & fat ranked third, fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.Television (311) and storage bin (229) items of asset security of women agricultural labourers were ranked as first and second by the women agricultural labourers. Electric xv cooker, mixer, motor cycle, sofa and refrigerator were ranked third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh respectively. The source of energy for cooking (352) and availability of electricity (338) items of habitat security were ranked first and second respectively by the women agricultural labourers as these are the basic needs to survive perceived by the women agricultural labours. Type of house, availability of kitchen, accessibility of water supply, latrines facility, number of rooms in a dwelling and water purification were ranked third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth respectively. Existence of health centres (354) and vaccination (346) items of health security ranked as first and second by the women agricultural labourers. Affordability of health services, appearance of diseases, pregnancy care, utilisation of PHC and appearance of infant diseases were ranked as third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh respectively. Indebtness (332) and savings (285) items of financial security were ranked first and second by the women agricultural labourers. Sending children to the school (358) and availing hostel facilities to children (286) items of educational security were ranked first and second by the women agricultural labourers. Auto (209) and public transport (197) items of transportation security were ranked first and second by the women agricultural labourers. Own vehicle, bullock cart and going by walk were ranked as third, fourth and fifth respectively. Climatic hazards (444) and capacity building (435) were ranked first and second by the women agricultural labourers as they might get such information from television and local leaders. Skill up gradation, agriculture, employment and empowerment were ranked third, fourth, fifth and sixth respectively as this information might be available from neighbours. Transplanting/ sowing the nursery seedlings/seeds at correct depth in the main field were found to be the major skill possessed by the women agricultural labourers and ranked first followed by identifying the weeds from the main field, identifying the type of weeds i.e., shallow/ deep rooted, removing weeds in main crop along with roots and removing the stubbles from the main field, ranked second, third, fourth and fifth respectively. Stalking / erecting pendal system pertaining to crops found to be the major skill possessed by the women agricultural labourers and ranked first followed by technique of mixing and application of fertilizers i.e., broadcast/ band placement/ pocket placement in relation to crop, skill on irrigation i.e., amount, type and time of irrigation based on crop, preparation and application of biofertilizers and skill in operating sprayers ranked second, third, fourth and fifth respectively. Technique of grading the produce according to weight/ quality found to be the major skill possessed by the women agricultural labourers and ranked first followed by knowledge on planned harvesting considering xvi ripeness of crops, stacking of produce and efficient in post harvest techniques i.e., winnowing/ threshing were ranked as second, third and fourth fifth respectively. Majority of women agricultural labourers felt that wage majority of women agricultural labourers felt that Wage discrimination as one of the major constraints and it was ranked first among all the constraints. Dual responsibility ranked second followed by involves more drudgery ranked as third and Poor social relationship with other sections of society was ranked as fourth by the women labourers in agriculture. The other constraints include lack of basic facilities at work place, lack of training on skilled work performance, over exploitation of money lenders by charging higher rates of interest, non co-operation among different groups, delayed payment of wages from owners, lack of small scale labour intensive enterprises to save from unemployment during lean crop period and advances in mechanization leading to decreased demand for labour were ranked as fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth respectively by the women agricultural labourers. Wage rates must be increased was the major suggestion given by the women agricultural labourers and ranked first. Followed by establishment of small scale labour intensive enterprises, assured supply of basic living amenities like water, implementation of more government schemes to increase the employment opportunities, coverage of insurance and health programmes for women agricultural labourers, provision of nutritive food through PDS, simple procedure for loans and timely cash payment by owners ranked as second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth respectively by the women agricultural labourers.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    IMPACT OF SOIL HEALTH CARDS ON RICE CULTIVATION IN ANDHRA PRADESH
    (guntur, 2022-09-07) NAVEEN, B.; PRASAD, S.V.
    ABSTRACT The present study entitled ‘Impact of Soil Health Cards on rice cultivation in Andhra Pradesh’ had been initiated focusing on attitude of farmers towards Soil Health Card and Impact of Soil Health Card on farmers with the following objectives; the profile of Soil Health Card farmers, develop attitude scale and measure the attitude of the farmers towards Soil Health Cards, the impact of Soil Health Card on farmers, the relationship between the attitude, impact and profile of the farmers and the problems faced by the farmers in the adoption of recommendations of Soil Health Cards and elicit suggestions to overcome them. Ex post facto research design was used for conducting the study. Andhra Pradesh state was selected purposively for the study as the researcher hails from the same state and is familiar with local language and culture. Three districts of Andhra Pradesh namely East Godavari, West Godavari and Krishna were selected purposively based on the highest area under rice cultivation. Two mandals from each of the selected districts were selected purposively based on the highest area under rice cultivation, for present study. Two villages were selected from each of the 6 mandals by following simple random sampling thus making a total of 12 villages. From each village, 20 farmers possessing Soil Health Cards were selected by following simple random sampling procedure, thus making a total of 240 respondents for the study. Thirteen independent variables and two dependent variables viz., attitude of the farmers towards Soil Health Card and impact of Soil Health Card on farmers were selected for the study. A pre tested interview schedule with measurement devices of all the variables was used for the collection of raw data. The data were collected by personal interview method through a structured interview schedule and analyzed by employing suitable statistical methods. The analysis of profile characteristics of the farmers indicated that majority of the respondents belonged to middle age, middle school education, semi medium land holding with medium farming experience, extension contact, mass media xvii exposure, social participation, achievement motivation, scientific orientation, management orientation, innovativeness, economic orientation and differed gratification. The detailed analysis of the dependent variables indicated that majority (74.58%) of SHC rice farmers had medium favourable attitude followed by high (15.84%) and less (9.58%) favourable attitude. The Soil Health Card has shown 24.50 per cent of impact on the rice farmers. The study also revealed that different indicators of dependent variable i.e., change in dosage of fertilizers, micro nutrients, manures and soil amendments, change in sources of fertilizers, change in time of application, change in problematic soil management, change in pest and disease management, change in cost of inputs, change in yield level, change in income has shown significant change. SHC had shown medium (53.33%) level of impact followed by low (30.42%) and high (16.25%) levels of impact on the farmers. The computed correlation coefficient (r) values of education, farm size, extension contact, mass media exposure, social participation, achievement motivation, scientific orientation, innovativeness, economic orientation and differed gratification were positively significant at 0.01per cent level of probability and management orientation was also positively significant at 0.05 per cent level of probability in their relationship with attitude of the farmers. However, age and farming experience exhibited negative and non-significant relationship with attitude of the farmers. The computed correlation coefficient (r) values of education, farm size, extension contact, mass media exposure, social participation, achievement motivation, scientific orientation, management orientation, innovativeness, economic orientation, and differed gratification were positively significant at 0.01per cent level of probability. However, farming experience exhibited negative and significant relationship and finally age exhibited negative and non-significant relationship with impact of SHC on farmers. The major problems perceived by the farmers about SHC were; calculation of fertilizer doses was difficult on the basis of nutrient status of the soil, difficult to understand SHC information without expert, the quantity of FYM recommended as per SHC was not available for farming and lack of trust on SHC information with regards to reliability and validity. The major suggestions elicited by farmers to surmount problems regarding Soil Health Card were: Calculation of fertilizer dose of application through SHC should be made easy, availability of micronutrient status of soil in SHC should be displayed, subsidies for fertilizers should be given as per soil heath card and innovative farmers should follow the SHC recommendation which should make other farmers to follow SHC.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    A STUDY ON IMPACT OF RASTRIYA KRISHI VIKAS YOJANA (RKVY) PROGRAMME OF ANGRAU
    (guntur, 2022-08-04) USHA, MADUGULA; RAMBABU, P.
    Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) was initiated in 2007 as an umbrella scheme for ensuring holistic development of agriculture and allied services. The programme incentivises states in order to increase public investment in agriculture and allied sectors. The main objective of the programme is to reduce the yield gaps in important crops of the state, maximize returns of the farmers in agriculture and allied sectors and to make quantifiable changes in the production of agriculture and allied sectors. The scheme has come a long way since its inception and has been implemented across two five year plan periods (11th and 12th). Although many of these continuing programmes like RKVY, National Horticulture Mission (NHM), and National Food Security Mission (NFSM) were initiated during 2000, an in-depth assessment of the public delivery of services is not readily available. The implementation of targeted interventions need to be analysed and lessons to be learnt to enhance public investment efficiency and up scaling. Further, perception of the farmers and officials of the concerned department constitutes a vital input to policy makers for designing government programmes in a better way. Hence, in this study an attempt was made to study the impact of RKVY of ANGRAU as it made significant contributions in agriculture with respect to rice crop. The study was conducted by following an ex-post-facto Research Design. Three districts viz., Srikakulam (from North Coastal Zone), West Godavari (from Godavari Zone) and Nellore (from Southern Zone), were purposively selected based on the existence of maximum number of rice farmers. From each of the selected district, one Agricultural Research Station (ARS) / RARS, one Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), one District Agricultural Advisory and Transfer of Technology Centre (DAATTC) of ANGRAU were selected purposively which were successfully implementing RKVY programme in rice crop. A total of 80 beneficiaries from each district associated with ARS/RARS, KVK and DAATTC were selected by using proportionate random sampling method and thus, making a total sample of 240 respondents. Appropriate statistical tools such as Mean, Standard Deviation, Frequency, Percentage, Garret Ranking, Chi-square and Multiple Liner Regression (MLR) were used. The detailed analysis of profile characteristics of rice farmer beneficiaries of RKVY indicated that majority of the members were middle aged (65.00%), with primary school education (29.58%) and medium annual income (70.00%), marginal land holding (28.33%), farm experience of 11-15 years (36.67%), under gone 3-4 trainings (35.00%), medium socio politico participation (57.09%), medium decision making (66.67%), medium extension contact (67.50%), medium mass media exposure (65.00%), medium achievement motivation (63.33%), medium risk orientation (68.75%), medium market orientation (60.42%), medium scientific orientation (60.42%) and medium innovativeness (62.50%). In Chi Square analysis, education and farm experience were significant at 0.01 level of probability, whereas training received socio-politico participation, extension contact, decision making, achievement motivation, risk orientation, market orientation and scientific orientation were significant at 0.05 level of probability. The remaining profile characteristics like age, annual income, land holding, mass media exposure and innovativeness were not significant. The detailed analysis of dependent variables indicated that more than two-fifths (42.58%) of the rice farmer beneficiaries of RKVY had high knowledge on recommended production practices and when found relationship between profile characteristics of rice farmer beneficiaries of RKVY with knowledge, age, education, farming experience, training received, socio-politico participation, extension contact, mass media exposure, achievement motivation, risk orientation, market orientation, scientific orientation and innovativeness showed a positive and significant relationship with knowledge of the rice farmer beneficiaries of RKVY and the multiple linear regression analysis (MLR) indicated that all the fifteen profile characteristics put together contributed for 77.43 per cent of variance in the knowledge of the beneficiaries about rice cultivation leaving the rest (22.57%) to the effect of extraneous unknown characteristics. With regard to extent of adoption, two-fifths (42.08%) of the rice farmer beneficiaries of RKVY had high extent of adoption of recommended production technologies. The relationship between profile characteristics and extent of adoption revealed that age, education, farming experience, training received, socio-politico participation, extension contact, mass media exposure, decision making, achievement motivation, market orientation, scientific orientation and innovativeness showed a positive and significant relationship with extent of adoption and the multiple regression equation with profile characteristics put together contributed for 86.50 per cent of variance in the extent of adoption of recommended production technologies in rice leaving the rest (13.50%) for extraneous effect of unknown characteristics. Similarly in case of direct changes, nearly half (47.08%) of the rice farmer beneficiaries of RKVY had high level of direct changes undergone. The relationship between profile characteristics and direct changes reveled that age, annual income, training received, socio-politico participation, decision making, extension contact, mass media exposure, achievement motivation, risk orientation, market orientation, scientific orientation and innovativeness showed a positive and significant relationship with direct changes of the beneficiaries and the multiple regression equation with fifteen profile characteristics put together contributed for 84.00 per cent of variance in the direct changes leaving the rest (16.00%) for extraneous effect of unknown characteristics. In case of indirect changes almost half (49.58%) of the rice farmer beneficiaries of RKVY had medium level of indirect changes undergone. The relationship between profile characteristics and indirect changes revealed that age, annual income, farming experience, training received, socio-politico participation, decision making, extension contact, mass media exposure, achievement motivation, market orientation, scientific orientation and innovativeness showed a positive and significant relationship with indirect changes and the multiple regression equation with fifteen profile characteristics put together contributed for 82.40 per cent of variance in the indirect changes of the beneficiaries leaving the rest (17.60%) to extraneous effect of unknown characteristics. The major constraints faced by rice farmer beneficiaries of RKVY were ‘high cost of hire charges of MSRI machinery’, soil test based fertilizer application resulting in low yields’, ‘No knowledge on market information to sell the farm produce’ and less practicability of soil health card recommendations’. Similarly major constraints faced by scientists in implementation of RKVY were ‘Insufficient funds allocated for critical inputs’, ‘increased workload in implementing the RKVY programme’, ‘No technical competence in updating information of Kiosk’. A suitable strategy was designed with five core areas for effective implementation of RKVY. The areas are 1) Strengthening Bhoochetana programme 2) Popularizing cost reduction technologies 3) Strengthening infrastructural facilities 4) Popularizing IFS models 5) Promoting extension services.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    ROLE ANALYSIS OF WOMEN AGRICULTURE OFFICERS IN ANDHRA PRADESH
    (guntur, 2022-08-04) SHAMA, SHAIK; RAMA DEVY, M.
    The study was conducted to study the profile of Women Agriculture Officers, their gravity of perceived role and to analyse the relationship between dependent and independent variables. The problems faced by Women Agriculture Officers while performing their duties and suggestions given by them to overcome their constraints were elicited. Ex Post-Facto research design was followed for the study. The study was conducted in all the thirteen districts of Andhra Pradesh during the year 2020-21. From each of the selected district ten Women Agriculture Officers were selected as respondents by following simple random sampling procedure. The sample constituted to a total of 130 respondents. The data was collected with the help of a Questionnaire through google forms, personal interview method and data obtained was analyzed. The detailed analysis of profile of Women Agriculture Officers revealed that majority of WAOs were middle age, completed B.Sc. (Ag.), medium experience, rural background , medium distance travelled from the residence, medium number of trainings undergone, medium number of subordinates working, business person as spouse and using own vehicle for office duties. More than half (55.38%) of WAOs were having higher gravity of perceived role with the scores ranging between 99-123 followed by medium with score values between 74-98 (30.00%), low gravity of perceived role with a score range between 49-73 (9.23%) and very high gravity of perceived role with score range between 124-148 (6.15%). Measurement of different indicators of gravity of perceived role in their rank orders respectively from first rank to eleventh ranks mentioned here role risk, role replacement, role restriction, role power, role adherence, role challenge, role management, role manifestation, role support, role engineering, and role conflict with a mean index score of 79.93. The indicator role risk (88.92 MS) was ranked first by the WAOs. The factors contributing towards this were confidence while taking decisions with a total score of 384, discharging duties in pandemic/epidemic situations (353), facing difficulties (342), compromising the disputes (339), difficulty xiv in managing the team (316). The indicator role replacement was assigned second ranked with mean score of 88.11. The items analysis of the components of the indicator denoted that they had assigned the first rank to discharge of official works with a total score of 373 followed by individual role (326) and subordinate role (332). The indicator role restriction was assigned third rank with mean score of 85.43. The items analysis of the components of the indicator denoted that reporting (366/I), Extension (356/II), coordination (350/III), Administration (335/IV), Rewarding (276/V) were the factors contributing towards the gravity of perceived role. The indicator role power was assigned fourth rank with mean score of 85.12. The items analysis of the components of the indicator denoted that the WAOs gravity of perceived role is dependent on exercising of informational power (351) expert power (325) and legitimate power (320) in their routine works. The indicator role adherence was assigned the fifth rank with a mean score of 83.26. The item analysis of the components of the indicator denoted that exercising administrative power with a total score of 347 followed by implementing projects (343), legal power (305) and financial power (304). The indicator role receptivity was assigned sixth rank with mean score of 82.46. The item analysis of the components of the indicator denoted that work receptivity while discharging official duties with total score of 340 followed by acceptance of rectification for identified errors if any (323), quick apprehension of duties (320) willingness of receiving new ideas/suggestions (319) and admitting responsibility mistakes (306). The indicator role manifestation was assigned the seventh rank with a mean score of 79.84. The item analysis of the components of the indicator denoted that photo documentation ranked first with a total score of 367 followed by publicizing through mass media (332), publication of success stories (291), documentation of feedback (275) and video documentation (272). The indicator role challenge was assigned the eighth rank with a mean score of 77.62. The item analysis of the components of the indicator denoted that job tasks ranked first with a total score of 362 followed by administrative tasks (319), personal tasks (274) and financial tasks (256). The indicator role management was also assigned the eighth rank with a mean score of 77.62.The item analysis of the components of the indicator denoted that the role of disseminator of information with a total score of (336), resource allocator (313), monitoring officer (308) and liaison officer (254) were given due weightage for the gravity of perceived role. The indicator role engineering was assigned the ninth rank with a mean score of 73.07. The item analysis of the components of the indicator denoted that new ways of identification for providing Information ranked first with a total score of 333 followed by publicizing the success (279). The indicator role conflict was assigned tenth rank with a mean score of 69.42. The item analysis of the components of the indicator denoted that role overload was ranked first with a total score of 310 followed by inter role conflict (279), inter sender conflict (270) and role under load (224). The indicator role support was assigned eleventh rank with mean score of 66.02. The item analysis of the components of the indicator denoted that staff strength was given first rank with a total score of (273) followed by motivational behaviour (267), monitoring (248) and equipment (242). Correlation analysis revealed that age, educational qualification, number of trainings undergone, number of subordinates working , status of spouse, educational status of children , number of dependents and mode of transport had positive and significant relationship with the gravity of perceived role by the Women Agriculture Officers at 1% level of significance. Experience had positive and significant relationship with the gravity of perceived role by the Women Agriculture Officers at 5% level of significance. The variables number of children and type of family had xv positive and non-significant correlation with the gravity of perceived role by the Women Agriculture Officers. The variables rural / urban background, marital status, Workplace distance from the residence had exhibited negative and non significant with gravity of perceived role by the WAOs. The MLR analysis revealed that the selected profile characteristics put together explained about (71.3 %) variation in gravity of perceived role by the WAOs. The independent variables namely, Age, educational qualification, Trainings undergone, number of subordinates working and number of dependents had shown positively significant at 1% level of probability. Whereas educational status of children was found to be positively significant at 5% level of probability. While experience had shown negatively significant at 5% level of probability. Remaining variables viz., workplace distance from the residence, status of spouse, mode of transport, rural / urban background, marital status, number of children, type of family, had exhibited non significant with gravity of perceived role by the WAOs. Among various personal constraints faced by Women Agriculture Officers, the major constraints expressed by majority of them was lack of Govt. transportation facilities (61.46, Rank I) followed by lack of adequate and equitable sanitation facilities at work place (53.31, Rank II), family related issues such as child care, household work (48.58, Rank III), lack of time for revitalization of mind and body (47.46, Rank IV) and lack of support from society (39.19, Rank V). Among various administrative constraints the major constraints expressed by the majority of them were heavy workload and hectic schedule of working untimely instructions with a mean score of 61.46 (Rank I) followed by cumbersome reporting and documentation 54.08 (Rank II), a mean score of 49.23 was observed for inadequate manpower (Rank III), untimely release of funds of more clerical work 47.42 (Rank IV) and high political interference 37.81 (Rank V). Among various technological constraints faced by Women Agriculture Officers, the major constraint expressed by majority of them were release of inputs in late season 60.88 (Rank I) followed by lack of location specific technologies 54.73 (Rank II), no time for refreshing knowledge 50.15 (Rank III), less number of refreshing trainings on ICTs 47.15 (Rank IV) and no time for visiting demonstration acts frequently 37.08 (Rank V). The major suggestions expressed by Women Agriculture Officers were Provision of Govt. vehicle during the crop season (90.00%, (Rank I) followed by Assignment of official work within the office hours (86.92%, rank II), Optimum working hours so as to have comfortable personal life (83.08%, rank III), Capacity building through trainings (75.38%, rank IV), Filling of the vacancies of the supporting staff (71.54%, rank V), Permission to purchase inputs well in advance of the season (68.46%, rank VI), Provision of proper infrastructure (65.38%, rank VII), Simplified reporting practice (63.08%, rank VIII), Organisation of study tours (58.46%, rank IX) and Timely release of funds (53.08%, rank X).
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    IMPACT OF TECHNICAL SERVICE CENTRES (TSCs) ON SERICULTURE FARMERS IN KARNATAKA STATE OF INDIA
    (guntur, 2022-08-04) HARISHA, N; MUKUNDA RAO, B.
    Sericulture is considered as main employment and income generating activity in Karnataka. The Technical Service Centres (TSCs) are playing an incredible role of extension for wellbeing of sericulture farmers through their extension activities. Technical Service Centers are the front line units and they motivate the farmers to take up mulberry cultivation and silkworm rearing. The TSC is the distinctive extension system established at grass root level, which are easy accessible to farmers and helps to disseminate knowledge and make for them adopt the scientific technologies of mulberry cultivation and silkworm rearing. All the findings of the study help to refinement and reformation of extension methodologies of TSCs. There is a scope for extension system for diffusion of sericulture technologies to the non-sericulture growing areas and to become agriculture as a profitable sector and none of the research studies was conducted on sericulture extension system (Technical Service Centres). The present study on Impact of Technical Service Centres on Sericulture Farmers in Karnataka State of India was carried out during 2017. The Karnataka state was contributing 35.00 per cent of silk production in India. The Ramanagara and Mandya districts were selected because these district having highest number of TSCs in Bangalore and Mysore division respectively. Ex-post-facto research design used for the study. Mandya, Malavalli and K.R Pet taluks from Mandya district on the other hand Ramanagara, Channapatna and Kanakapura taluks were purposively selected for the study. Above the taluks were selected based on top 3 taluks in TSCs in district. The four TSCs from each taluk leads to twelve from each district, Totally 24 TSCs were selected for the study. Ten sericulture farmers under each TSC, collectively 240, were selected by using random sampling method. The age, education, farming experience, annual income, size of land holding, family status, cropping pattern, mass media utilization, social participation, , information consultancy, credit acquisition and utilization, scientific orientation, management orientation , risk orientation and achievement motivation were xvii considered as independent variables and attitude, direct and indirect changes, knowledge and adoption were considered as dependent variables for the study. For the variables attitude and knowledge were studied by constructing scale and test respectively. A well structured interview schedule was used for data collection. The statistical tools like frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, correlation, multiple regression and Garret ranking were used for data analysis. The detailed analysis of the profile of sericulture beneficiary farmers of TSCs indicated that majority of them were middle aged with having education high school and middle school and 23-30 years of experience in sericulture. It also found that majority of them had medium annual income and most of the farmers belonged to small farmers and marginal farmers. Most of the sericulture farmers had medium family status (4-6 members), Mulberry+Coconut+Ragi cropping pattern, medium mass media utilization, high social participation, medium information consultancy, medium scientific orientation, medium management orientation, high risk orientation and high achievement motivation. The dependent variable attitude of sericulture beneficiary farmers towards activities of TSCs was measured by constructing Likert Scale with 21 statements comprises both positive and negative statements. The study found that more than half of the sericulture farmers had medium favourable attitude towards activities of TSCs followed by high favourable attitude and low favourable attitude. In case of knowledge, most of sericulture farmers had medium knowledge on recommended technologies of sericulture. Only just more than one fifth (11.25 %) of the sericulture farmers had low knowledge on recommended technologies of sericulture. With respect to adoption of recommended technologies, majority of the sericulture farmers belonged to medium adoption category followed by high adoption and low adoption category. Before interventions of TSC, majority of the sericulture farmers had low mulberry yield succeeded by medium mulberry yield, after interventions of TSC, of the sericulture farmers had high mulberry yield followed by medium mulberry yield and low mulberry yield. Correlation coefficient (r) values of independent variables such as education, Mass media utilization, information consultancy and Scientific orientation were positively significant at 0.01 level of significance. Whereas, experience in sericulture social participation and Achievement motivation were positively significant at 0.05 level of significance. Independent variables such as education, Experience in Sericulture, Mass media utilization, Information consultancy and Achievement motivation were positively significant at 0.01 level of significance. Whereas, cropping pattern, Social participation and scientific orientation were positively significant at 0.05 level of significance. The major constraints of TSCs as perceived by the sericulture farmers were Discrimination in identification of farmers for benefits followed by misuse of funds as second rank, Poor information dissemination about scientific technologies as third rank, Delay in subsidy transfer to the beneficiary account as fourth rank, xviii Selling of subsidised inputs to grainage centres as fifth rank, Lack of consultancy services about mulberry cultivation and silkworm rearing, less demand driven technologies and finally lack of need based trainings for mulberry cultivation silkworm rearing. The major suggestions given by sericulture farmers for improvement of functioning of TSCs were Transparency in selection of farmers to benefit extension services followed by Online transfer of monetary benefits to beneficiary farmers, Providing insurance to sericulture as like Crop insurance, Appointment of technically sound and skilful extension officials, Effective consultancy services in sericulture by TSC officials, Generation demand driven technologies and Unbiasness in the selection of farmers for training .
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    PROSPECTS OF SUGARCANE CULTIVATION FOR JAGGERY -A CRITICAL ANALYSIS
    (guntur, 2022-08-04) ARCHANA, K; SATHYA GOPAL, P.V.
    Sugarcane is one of the most important commercial crops grown in the world. In India, there are three kinds of principal products obtained from sugarcane viz., sugar, jaggery and khandasari. Sugarcane crop provides employment to lakhs of people in the country from the cultivation of cane to production of sugar, jaggery and khandasari. The jaggery industry is an unorganized sector in the country run by small and marginal farmers. In Andhra Pradesh, it is providing employment to three lakh people who live in rural areas and relying on quick returns from jaggery. However, over the years the jaggery consumption has drastically reduced through the substitution of sugar as most of the cane utilized for sugar production. The other reasons for this are increased number of sugar mills, statutory price of cane, increased consumption of sugar, jaggery being in unorganized sector, low remunerative prices for jaggery and low preference of jaggery by the consumes etc. Even though the consumers are not preferring jaggery due to several reasons, some of the farmers are preparing different forms of jaggery to grab their attention. On the other side, in this era of health consciousness, jaggery is definitely a better substitute for sugar in terms of its medicinal and nutritional values. There is an urgent need to popularise jaggery among the consumers and to produce quality jaggery in order to meet the growing demand. Hence, this study has been undertaken to assess the extent of knowledge on sugarcane cultivation and jaggery making as well as the attitude of the farmers towards sugarcane cultivation for jaggery. Backward and forward linkages in sugarcane cultivation for jaggery and the problems associated with production and marketing of jaggery along with designing a suitable strategy helps to amplify the prospects of sugarcane cultivation for jaggery. Ex-post facto research and descriptive research designs were followed in the present investigation. Three districts were purposively selected from three regions of Andhra Pradesh viz., Vishakapatnam (North Coastal Region), West Godavari (Coastal Region) and Chittoor (Rayalaseema Region) based on the highest area under sugarcane cultivation. Four mandals from each district, two villages from each mandal and ten sugarcane growers for jaggery from each village were selected by using simple random sampling method. Thus, making a total of 12 mandals, 24 villages and 240 respondents xix for the study respectively. The data was collected by personal interview method through a structured interview schedule and analyzed by employing suitable statistical methods. Knowledge and attitude were taken as the dependent variables along with eighteen independent variables for the study. The results of the study shown that majority of the respondents were old aged with primary school education having small to marginal land holdings. They had medium level of farming experience, annual income, material possession, extension contact, social contact, mass media utilization, innovativeness, economic orientation, scientific orientation, management orientation, risk orientation and achievement motivation. They had high decision-making ability and drudgery perception. Nearly 41.66 per cent of the respondents had medium level of knowledge on sugarcane cultivation and jaggery making. Regarding the sugarcane cultivation, about 96.67 per cent of the respondents had high knowledge on “recommended varieties” followed by “depth of planting” (93.75%). Similarly, in jaggery making 87.50 per cent of the respondents had good knowledge on “consistency of jaggery” followed by “complexing agents” used in jaggery (85.00%). About 33.33 per cent of the sugarcane growers had neutral attitude followed by moderately favourable (25.00%) and moderately unfavourable (19.17%) attitude towards sugarcane for jaggery. Whereas, 12.92 and 9.58 per cent of the respondents had highly favourable and highly unfavourable attitude towards sugarcane for jaggery respectively. Farmers had highly favourable attitude towards “challenging nature of their enterprise” and highly unfavourable attitude towards “labour management”. Correlation analysis revealed that education, farming experience, land holding, trainings undergone, extension contact, social contact, mass media utilization, decision making ability, innovativeness, scientific orientation and achievement motivation had a positively significant relationship with the knowledge of the respondents. The variables like age, annual income, material possession, drudgery perception, management orientation and risk orientation were found to be non-significant with the knowledge of the sugarcane growers for jaggery. MLR revealed that mass media utilization, social contact, innovativeness and scientific orientation were having positive and significant contribution to the variation in the knowledge. Correlation analysis revealed that education, farming experience, trainings undergone, extension contact, social contact, economic orientation, scientific orientation, management orientation, risk orientation, annual income, mass media utilization and achievement motivation were found to be positively significant with the attitude of the respondents. Drudgery perception was found to have negatively significant relationship with the attitude. MLR revealed that education, scientific orientation and management orientation were found to have positive and significant contribution to the most of the variation in the attitude. The backward and forward linkages in sugarcane cultivation for jaggery were grouped into different components i.e., sugarcane cultivation, jaggery making and marketing under backward linkages and packing, storage, transportation and jaggery marketing under forward linkages. Regarding the input procurement, farmers were going for their own planting material. For the fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides and jaggery making chemicals they were primarily contacting village merchants. Irrigation machinery and equipment were mainly procuring from electric motor suppliers. The xx farm machinery for sugarcane cultivation and jaggery making were mainly getting from Department of Agriculture and local manufacturing companies respectively. Money lenders were major source of finance/credit. Regarding the sugarcane cultivation, majority of the sugarcane growers were having own electric motors/bore wells/oil engines. Farmers were getting labour from nearby village. Farmers had hired machinery from friends/neighbours and who had owned machinery were majorly approaching mechanics nearby town for repairs and replacements. For jaggery making the major source for labour were own family members. Majority of the farmers were hiring machinery and equipment from friends/neighbours. For technical support, farmers were mainly using his own experience and expertise. Pertaining to the forward linkages, majority of the farmers had approached local retailers for packing and the farmers do not have any storage facilities. The sources of transportation for jaggery marketing were rental vehicles. Registered jaggery merchants in market yards were found to be major linkages for jaggery marketing. The average per hectare cost of cultivation of sugarcane in Andhra Pradesh was Rs. 1,95,252 with a yield of 82.24 t/ha in sugarcane plant crop. Whereas, a yield of 73.89 t/ha was recorded in ratoon crop with a cost of cultivation of Rs. 1,41,887 per hectare. The overall BCR for jaggery making in Andhra Pradesh was 1.26. Highest BCR was noticed (1.38) in Rayalaseema Region followed by Coastal Region (1.37) and North Coastal Region (1.03). Regarding the sugarcane cultivation, “non-availability of labour” and “day by day increase in labour wages” were the major constraints. Similarly, “lack of support from government” and “lack of technical knowledge” were the problems pertaining to jaggery making. The major marketing constraints were “lack of remunerative price for jaggery” and “more middlemen involvement”. A suitable strategy was designed with four broad perspectives viz., Consumer’s perspective, Farmer’s perspective, Research and Development perspective and Administrative perspective. Consumer’s perspective was projected with strategies like “creating awareness on jaggery among the consumers”, “Public Distribution System” and “product range and branding”. Under Farmer’s perspective, the components like “capacity building”, “attracting youth” and “Farmers organizations/groups” were depicted. Similarly, Research and Development perspective was viewed with “mechanization”, “production of quality sugarcane” and “product range and quality of jaggery”. Administrative perspective includes “linkages”, “recognition under MSME” and “subsidies & incentives”.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    LIVELIHOOD ANALYSIS OF AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS IN ANDHRA PRADESH
    (guntur, 2022-08-04) VENKATA REDDY, I.; GOPI KRISHNA, T.
    Agricultural labourers are the most unorganized and exploited class in the rural population of the country. Agriculture labourers are those who derive their main source of income by working on farms of others for a wage. The number of agricultural labourers rose almost three times over the period from 1951 to 1991from 27.3 million in 1951 to 74.6 million in 1991. As per the census of 2 011, 263 million people are engaged in the agriculture sector and over half of them are now agricultural labourers, a trend observed for the first time in the past 40 years. Livelihood is the means of people use to survive themselves, to endure, and to prosper. A study on livelihood analysis of agricultural labourers in Andhra Pradesh was carried out in three districts Srikakulam, Guntur and Kurnool from three regions of Andhra Pradesh during 2018-20. From each selected district two mandals have been selected for the study by using simple random sampling. From the selected mandals, four villages have been selected by simple random sampling method. From each selected village, ten agricultural labourers were selected at random, thus making a total of 240 agricultural labourers. Considering the importance, livelihood security and attitude of agricultural labourers towards their livelihood were selected as dependent variables, index and scale were developed respectively. Scale was developed for attitude by using summated rating technique. The attitude scale comprised of 22 statements. The study was conducted by following an Ex-Post-Facto research design. Data was collected by pre-testing followed by personal interview method. For the purpose of statistical analysis of the coded data various statistical tools were used viz., frequency, percentage, class interval, ranking, correlation analysis, multiple liner regression analysis and Chi-square test inclusive. xix The detailed analysis of profile characteristics of agricultural labourers indicated that majority of the members were middle aged (52.91%), illiterate (27.08%) with medium size family (70.00%), medium agricultural labourers experience (40.84%), low farm experience (35.83%), marginal land holding (54.58%), majority marginal tenant land holding (50.00%), wage work as occupation (32.50%), majority had annual income of Rs. 46,753-89,000/-., medium savings (65.00%), medium expenditure pattern (63.75%), medium urban contact (64.58%), medium deferred gratification (65.84%), medium credit orientation (57.50%), medium achievement motivation (60.84%), medium economic orientation (55.84%), medium self confidence (65.83%) and medium level of aspiration (64.16%). In Chi Square analysis urban contact significant at 0.01 level of significance and credit orientation, expenditure pattern, savings, annual income, tenant land holding, farm experience significance at 0.05 level of significant. Majority had wage earning+ crop production (31.66%) as livelihood pattern as option. The detailed analysis of dependent variables indicated that majority of the agricultural labourers had moderately favorable attitude towards their livelihood (49.58%) and medium livelihood security index (62.92%), the components wise livelihood securities were medium asset security (52.50%), medium food and nutritional security (41.25%), medium educational security (62.50%), medium habitat security (48.34%), medium social security (63.75%), medium clothing security (71.67%), medium health security (71.66%), medium transport security (60.00%) and medium information security (64.16%). The relationship between profile characteristics of agricultural labourers with attitude towards their livelihood, variables like age, family size, land holding, occupation status, annual income, savings, expenditure pattern, urban contact and achievement motivation, economic orientation found to have positive and significant relationship and the multiple linear regression analysis (MLR) indicated that all the eighteen independent variables put together explained about 63.00 per cent variation in the attitude of agricultural labourers, remaining 37.00 per cent was due to the effect of extraneous characteristics. Similarly, the relationship between profile and livelihood security revealed that land holding, annual income, occupation status, savings, expenditure pattern, urban contact, deferred gratification, achievement motivation, economic orientation and level of aspiration were found to have positive and significant relationship with livelihood security and that the multiple regression equation with eighteen selected profile characteristics put together contributed 58.60 per cent to the total variance in the livelihood security; remaining 41.40 per cent was due to the extraneous effects of the variables. In case of association between profile characteristics with attitude towards their livelihood, the profile characteristics like agricultural labourer experience, economic orientation, landholding positive and significant association at one per cent level. Similarly, the association between profile characteristics with livelihood security the variables such as age, education, farm experience, expenditure pattern and achievement motivation exhibited positive and significant association at one per cent level. The most important constraints faced by the agricultural labourers were: lack of fixed wages for fixed work (88.75%), agricultural labour work involves much drudgery (82.50%), no fixed for fixed work (80.83%), mechanization led to decreased demand for labourer (80.41%), lack of hygienic living conditions at home and worksite (80.00%), poor social relationship existing with other sections of society (77.08%), inadequate opportunities for health care (77.08%). Suggestions perceived by agricultural labourers to improve their livelihood security were wage rates must be increased (89.58%), establishment of small scale labour intensive enterprises (87.91), implementing more government schemes to increase the employment opportunities xx (87.08), establishment of village markets for purchase of agricultural produce (61.66%), providing timely and quality inputs to the farmers (59.16%). The strategy was designed with a five step progressive approach with five core areas to improve the livelihood security; the core areas were 1) Education and Training, 2) Group dynamics and Cultural heritage 3) Health and Habitat, 4) Support and Services, 5) Communication and Networking.
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    ANALYSIS OF ONLINE TEACHING AND LEARNING BY THE TEACHERS AND STUDENTS OF ACHARYA N G RANGA AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY – AN EXPLORATORY STUDY
    (guntur, 2022-08-04) RAMYA, CHUNCHU; JYOTHI DEPARTMENT, V.
    The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in closure of schools and colleges for months together across the world, situations are unpredictable to reopen the educational institutes and this paved the way for online teaching and learning. An exploratory study was planned and conducted to analyze the online education in Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University. This research was taken up to study the profile of teachers and students, their attitude and competencies in online teaching and learning, constraints faced by them. The best practices in online teaching and learning were documented. The study was conducted during 2020-21 using exploratory research design. Two Agricultural Colleges viz., Agricultural College, Bapatla and S V Agricultural College, Tirupati were selected for the study. From each of the selected Agricultural College 30 teachers, 30 Post Graduate students and 90 Under Graduate students (30 each from 2nd, 3rd, 4th year of B. Sc. (Hons.) Agriculture) involved in online teaching and learning were selected using simple random sampling procedure, thus making a total sample of 60 teachers, 60 Post Graduate students and180 Under Graduate students. Less than two-third of the teachers were observed in middle (60.00%) age group, 58.33 per cent were male, 91.67 per cent possessed Ph. D qualification, 48.33 per cent were professors, 73.34 per cent had teaching experience of >12 years, 18.33 per cent of the teachers had previous experience in online teaching, only 16.67 had undergone training in online teaching for more than one week, 66.67 per cent used Zoom as video conferencing application in online teaching, cent per cent of the teachers possess smart phones, 53.33 per cent teachers often used personal laptops for online teaching. Three-fourth of the teachers had access to good internet connectivity (75.00%) and 63.33 per cent had sufficient internet data & speed. Less than half of the teachers spent 8-12 hours per week in preparation for online teaching (43.33%) while 46.67 per cent spent 13-16 hours per week in online teaching. More than one-third of the teachers reported that xv attendance of students was 80-89% (38.33%), about 55.00 per cent shared learning material as PPT and word, half of the teachers shared reading material immediately after the class, 70.00 per cent used official meeting ID, 98.33 per cent used PPT regularly for online classes. Less than two-third of the teachers had medium favourable attitude (65.00%). By applying factor analysis, six major factors were extracted having Eigen value greater than one which were explaining a total variance of 69.17 per cent towards the attitude of teachers towards online teaching. Less than two-third of the teachers were perceived as medium competent (61.67%) in online teaching. Among the different constraints faced by the teachers in online teaching, problem with application was ranked I by garret ranking method, followed by lack of expertise and skills, internet connectivity issues, lack of infrastructure facilities in department (webcam, laptop, headphones, etc.,), lack of students’ response, increased workload, heath issues (eyes strain, body pains, etc.,) and students’ login all through the class. Less than two-third of the teachers were satisfied (60.00%) with online teaching. More than half of the UG students (54.44%) and PG students (63.33%) belonged to 20-25 years age group. More than two-third of the UG students (68.89%) and PG students (58.33%) were female. More than half of the UG students (59.00%) and PG students (46.67%) belonged to rural background. More than three-fourth of the UG students (77.22%) and PG students (83.33%) completed their secondary school education in private school. Majority of the UG students (84.44%) and PG students (83.33%) were from nuclear families. Less than half of the UG students (43.89%) and PG students (43.33%) parental occupation was farming. More than half of the UG students (58.89%) and PG students (43.34%) per cent secured 8.1-9.0 GPA. Greater proportion of the UG (96.11%) students and PG students (98.33%) possess smart phone. More than half of the PG students had access to good internet connectivity (56.67%) while 42.78 per cent of the UG students had access to good internet connectivity. Less than half of the PG students had sufficient internet data (46.67%) while 40.00 per cent of the UG students had sufficient internet data. Greater proportion of the UG students often (92.78%) used smart phone for online learning, followed by laptop (5.00%), tablet (3.33%) and personal computer (2.22%). Greater proportion of the PG students often (90.00%) used smart phone for online learning, followed by laptop (48.33%) and equal proportion of 5.00 per cent each used tablet and personal computer. Less than half of the PG students spent 9-18 hours per week (48.34%) in online classes. While 41.67 per cent of the UG students spent 19-28 hours per week in online classes. More than three-fourth of the UG students had medium favourable attitude (79.44%) while 73.33 per cent of the PG students had medium favourable attitude. It was evident from the Z test that there exists a significant difference between the attitude of UG and PG students. By applying factor analysis, six major factors were extracted having eigen value greater than one which were explaining a total variance of 58.84 per cent towards the attitude of students towards online learning. More than two-third of the UG students were perceived as medium competent (68.89%) while 55.00 per cent of the PG students were perceived as medium competent in online learning. It was evident from the Z test that there exists no significant difference between the competency of UG and PG students in online learning. xvi Among the different constraints faced by the students in online learning, UG students ranked lack of knowledge on effective use of online apps as the major problem by garret ranking method, followed by internet connectivity issues, problem with application, lack of expertise and skills in using the apps, unfavourable learning environment, time consuming, lack of uninterrupted power supply, health issues like eye strain, body pains etc., and expensive. While PG students reported that unfavourable learning environment as the major problem, followed by lack of knowledge on effective use of online apps, lack of expertise and skills in using the apps, problem with application, time consuming, internet connectivity issues, lack of uninterrupted power supply, expensive and health issues like eye strain, body pains etc. More than one-third of the UG students were satisfied (34.44%) with online learning whereas 48.33 per cent of the PG students were satisfied with online learning. The best practices documented in online learning were creating an organized study space, active participation, eliminating distractions, recording online lectures, maintaining notes, taking breaks in between the classes, managing the time for all works, intrinsic motivation and accountable in online classes. The best practices documented in online teaching were training on digital tools, improving student engagement by interacting and using different techniques, designing of course, easy access to students, developing online etiquettes, innovative teaching methods, active online presence, respond fast to queries with lively examples, assess student performance timely and providing feedback. Providing institutional infrastructure and internet facilities, training on ICTs, establishing smart class rooms, developing Learning Management System (LMS) with all the required features, incorporating ICT in curriculum are the institutional interventions in online teaching and learning.
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    TECHNOLOGICAL GAPS IN ADOPTION OF PRODUCTION RECOMMENDATIONS IN ACID LIME CULTIVATION IN KARNATAKA
    (Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, Guntur, 2022-12-22) MEGHA NAGAYYANAVAR, M; BALA HUSSAIN REDDY, P.
    Fruits are of great importance in the field of human nutrition. Citrus is one of the most important fruit crops in India. In India common citrus fruits are mandarin, sweet orange, grape fruit and lime/lemon. Citrus fruits have a prominent place among popular and extensively grown tropical and subtropical fruits. Citrus fruits possess greater adoptability to different climatic conditions. In our country, Acid lime (Citrus aurantifolia) is one of the important citrus fruit crop and is more popular than lemon. Acid lime occupies a prime position among fruits due to its high remunerative prices, regular income and regular demand in the market. They are cultivated more extensively throughout the India. These crops can also be grown in the marginal lands, hence are favorite of the poor farmers. The fruits withstand with rough handlings and store longer after harvest, and thus are better than mandarin and sweet orange from processing point of view. Lime provides vitamins (Vit-C), minerals and much other essential substance which are required for human health. The acid lime is used not only as a fruit but also for preparing different food products and its demand will be high in the time to come. India today is world’s second largest producer of fruits with an annual production of about 1,72,18,173 tonnes. Gujarat ranks 1st in the area and production with 46.28 thousand ha, 605.62 thousand MT respectively, and in productivity Karnataka ranks 1st with 23.37 MT/ha. Karnataka is on fourth position with 306.21 thousand MT of lime\lemon production and has 13.10 thousand ha of area under cultivation. The state shares 9.73% of India’s total share of lemon production. In modern horticultural cropping systems, technology has become a pervasive factor. However, technological advances have opened up a new phase for the Indian xiii agricultural community. The dominance of new technologies over old ones was established. Therefore, it is believed that the introduction of such innovations would contribute to improving the nation's socio-economic stability. Many new technologies are available that are friendly to small farmers and farmers have been implementing technologies for decades, but significant gaps prevent farmers from being self-sustainable, growing their yields or productivity. These gaps are nothing but technological gaps. Hence this study to analyze the technological gaps in adoption of production recommendations in acid lime cultivation in Karnataka was undertaken, which was not undertaken previously by any researcher in the zone. Ex post facto research design was used for the study. The study was carried out in two taluks of Vijayapur district of Karnataka which were purposively selected, where acid lime area was more. A sample of 120 acid lime growers was randomly selected from the eight villages. The data was collected by personnel interview method and analyzed by employing suitable statistical tools. Fifteen independent variables were subjected to statistical analysis for the purpose of categorization of the respondents and for studying their relationship with dependent variable i.e. technological gaps in adoption of production recommendations by acid lime growers. Majority of the acid lime growers were middle aged, illiterate with medium size of family, small land holding category involved in cultivation+ labour with medium farming experience, medium level of extension contact, medium level of social participation, mass media exposure, medium level of risk preference, economic motivation, achievement motivation, management orientation, scientific orientation, deferred gratification. Correlation analysis revealed that age of the farmers was positive and significant relationship with technological gap in acid lime production. The variables such as education, farming experience, extension contact, social participation, achievement motivation, management orientation and scientific orientation were found to be negative and highly significant correlated with technological gap at 0.01 level of probability. Whereas, the variables like land holding, occupation, mass media exposure, risk orientation and economic motivation were found to be negative significant correlation with technological gap at 0.05 level of probability. Study revealed that out of 15 independent variables, risk preference, achievement motivation, education and economic motivation contributed significantly towards the variation in the technological gap. The major problems perceived by acid lime growers were non remunerative price of acid lime, high intervention of middlemen in marketing, lack of irrigation facilities, heavy incidence of pest and diseases, high labour charges, shortage of agricultural labours, lack of knowledge about plant xiv protection, non-availability of credit in time, non-availability of planting material/ seedlings timely, lack of information in right time. The suggestions given by growers were, providing remunerative price of acid lime, reduce the middlemen’s interference in marketing of acid lime, provide the facility of irrigation, establish rural markets at hobli/rural area, provide electricity supply, provide technical guidance at right time, provide credit with low interest and increase subsidies on fertilizer and seed.