Analysis of Adoption and Constraints Perceived by Small Paddy Growers in Rice Production Technologies in Muktsar District of Punjab State, India
Indian agriculture is the home of small and marginal farmers. Majority of the holdings are small and number of such holdings are increasing with fragmentation of land. So, the present study was conducted with the objective of studying the extent of adoption and perceived constraints in adoption of recommended paddy growing practices. Data were collected from all the four blocks of the Muktsar district of Punjab. Total 120 small farmers were surveyed for this study. It was found that extent of adoption was least in case of recommended insecticides and pesticides ranked at Xth followed by adoption irrigation management practices. Maximum adoption was in case of recommended varieties of paddy. Least extent of adoption was observed in case of plant population with mean percent score (MPS) 10.00, nursery growing practices (MPS =22.08) irrigation management (MPS =27.50) and recommended chemical and fungicide dose with MPS 34.17 and were ranked eleventh, tenth, ninth and eighth, respectively. The major socio economic constraint faced by the respondent farmers was lack of the finance with mean score of 1.73 and ranked as Ist, followed by high cost of inputs with mean score of 1.64 and ranked as IInd. Lack of finance was perceived as very serious constraint by more than 75 per cent of the respondents. Similarly, high cost of inputs was perceived as very serious constraint by more than 2/3rd of the respondents. Major technological constraint was high incidence of insect pest with MPS 76.67 followed by diseases (MPS= 67.50) High incidence of the insect pest was perceived as very serious constraint by about 60 per cent of the farmers.