PADDY FARMERS’ PERSPECTIVE TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES IN AGRICULTURE: A STUDY IN TINSUKIA DISTRICT OF ASSAM
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Date
2019-07
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AAU, Jorhat
Abstract
The study entitled “Paddy Farmers‟ Perspective towards Sustainable Practices in Agriculture: A Study in Tinsukia District of Assam” was carried out with a total of 120 respondents by means of structured interview schedule followed by personal interview. A purposive cum random sampling technique was followed. The present research was conducted in the two sub-divisions of Tinsukia district. For analysing the data, various statistical tools like frequency distribution, percentage, mean, standard deviation, co-efficient of variation, rank and weighted mean score were used. The findings revealed that98.34 per cent of the respondents were male and 60.84 per cent of the respondents belonged to the age group of 39-59 years. 34.17 per cent of the respondents had education up to middle school level. It was found that nearly three fourth (75.83%) of the respondents had 4-6 family members. 53.33 per cent of the respondents were found to be engaged as family labour comprising 1-3 family members.The farm size was found to be highest in the year 2017-18 with 55.83 per cent of the respondents being small farmers having 1-2 ha of land.Annual income (non-farming + farming) of respondents (74.17%) ranged between Rs.37,947.00 to Rs.79,700.00. It was found that more than half (67.50%) of the respondents had 14-33 years of farming experience. The productivity of rice was highest 34.93-47.44 q/ha in the year 2018-19. Income from rice of respondents (81.66%) was Rs.10639.9 to Rs.41655.7 in the year 2017-18. It was found that all the respondents used traditional harvesting method and their cropping pattern was found to be monocropping. The net sown area was found to be highest in the year 2017-18 with 55.00 per cent being small farmer having 1-2 ha of land. Three-fourth (89.16%) of the respondents was found to grow „ranjit‟rice variety and 92.50 per cent of the respondents had reared cattle. The study further revealed that 79.17 per cent had no irrigation facility and 80.00 per cent of the respondents had no training exposure. More than half (65.00%) of the respondents had medium level of extension contact. 60.83 per cent of the respondents had medium exposure to sources of information. Majority (78.33%) of the respondents had no membership in social organization and 76.67 per cent of the respondents had medium level of self-confidence.65.00 per cent of the respondents had not received any government assistance and 13.34 per cent of the respondents had availed loan from nationalized banks. More than half (63.33%) had used MOP and 26.66 per cent had used insecticides.
It was affirmed from the findings that „lack of sufficient irrigation‟ (100.00%),
„heavy floods during crop period‟ (98.33%), „scarcity of labour during peak hours‟
(97.50%), „non-availability of quality seed in time‟ (91.66%) etc. were the major
constraints faced by the farmers during paddy cultivation.
It was found that the paddy farmers followed few number of ITKs in paddy
cultivation for control of insect/pests, diseases and storage purpose. Majority (100.00%)
of the respondents followed ITKs like „leaf clipping of rice seedling before
transplanting‟, „application of bamboo (Bambusa vulgaris) perches in rice field‟
(77.50%) and „application of Germany bon (Eupatorium audoratum) in rice field‟
(75.83%) etc. With respect to sustainable paddy cultivation, the farmers followed the
practices like „use of animal manure‟ (78.34%), „manual weeding‟ (62.50%), „use of
organic fertilizer‟ (50.83%) and „use of minimum tillage‟ (9.16%) more than once in a
calendar year.
As regards to farmers‟ knowledge towards sustainable agricultural practices, it
was found that all the respondents had knowledge on „biological control and weeding of
rice farm‟, followed by „animal manure and its application‟ (98.33%) and „green
manure and its application‟ (98.33%). Moreover, it was revealed from the findings that
more than three-fourth (75.83%) of the respondents had medium level of knowledge
towards sustainable agricultural practices.
With respect to farmers‟ attitude towards sustainable agricultural practices, it
was observed that the attitude „soil and water are the sources of all life and should
therefore be strictly conserved‟ with WMS 4.70 ranked first, followed by the negative
attitude „sustainable agriculture is not economically profitable‟ with WMS 4.62 ranked
second and „application of cow dung and compost increases soil fertility‟ with WMS
4.55 ranked third. Moreover, it was revealed from the findings that majority (74.17%)
of the respondents had moderately favourable attitude towards sustainable agricultural
practices.