Adoption of Integrated Pest Management Practices by Coconut Farmers
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Date
2017-07
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University of Agricultural Science, Dharwad
Abstract
The present study was conducted during 2015-16 in Uttara Kannada district which is one among the major coconut growing districts of Karnataka. Proportionate random sampling method was applied to select a sample of 110 coconut farmers.The respondents were interviewed personally to elicit the primary information. The major coconut pests in the study area were rhinoceros beetle, mite, red palm weevil and root grub. All the farmers were aware of selection of seed nut, selection of seedling and time of planting. High majority (80.00 and 83.64 %) of farmers were aware of application of recommended quantity of nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers. Three fourth (69.09%) of farmers were aware of azadirachtin but none of the farmers were aware of bio-agents.
Cent per cent of farmers adopted the practice of selection of seed nut, selection of seedling and time of planting. Majority (60.90 %) of farmers adopted application of recommended dose of nitrogen fertilizer and 55.45 per cent of farmers adopted recommended quantity of phosphate fertilizer. Only 20.91 per cent of the farmers adopted use of plant origin pesticide i.e. azadirachtin for the control of white grub. Fifty two per cent of farmers availed informational support and 54.54 per cent of farmers availed input support from Department of Horticulture for pest and diseases management in coconut.
Education, organizational participation, extension contact and institutional support exhibited positive and significant relationship with both awareness and adoption of IPM practices by the coconut farmers. Cent per cent of the farmers expressed that non-availability of inputs at the local level and lack of awareness regarding advantages of bio-agents are the major reasons for the low or no awareness regarding bio-agents followed by inadequate technical support and inadequate financial support were the other major constraints for adoption of IPM.