Knowledge and adoption of improved post harvest technologies of wheat by farmers
Abstract
Wheat (Triticum aestivum) is a crucial cereal crop for the majority of the world's population. It is about two billion people's most important staple food (36 percent of the world population). Majority of the respondent (55.38%) had medium level of adoption of improved post-harvest technology of wheat. the respondents (54.61%) had medium knowledge level about improved post-harvest technology of wheat. knowledge of farmers about post-harvest of wheat crops the study reveals that the famers having maximum knowledge of marketing followed by Rat control, Cleaning, grading, packing, storage pest management, ground which method of drying, harvesting, threshing and storage. Future grain storage technology will also become more intelligent and environmentally friendly. Knowledge transfer and active farmer and community engagement to overcome the adoption barriers are critical, particularly in developing countries.
Full Text
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Introduction
Agriculture plays a vital role in the Indian economy as it contributes about 20.2 per cent to the total GDP and provide livelihood to 65 to 70 per cent of the total population. The sector provides employment to 58.4 per cent of country"s workforce and is the single largest private sector occupation. Indian agriculture has registered impressive growth over last few decades. The food grain production has increased from 51 million tons in 1950-51 to 275.68 million tons during 2017-18. However, Indian agriculture is faced with a great diversity of needs, opportunities and prospects. Food demand is expected to be doubled by 2050, while production environment and natural resources are continuously shrinking and deteriorating. Inadequate attention to agriculture has led to steep rise in food prices and increased food riots. Food crisis has aggravated further because of climate change and diversion of arable lands to urbanization, industrialization and also for producing biofuel. The challenge to agriculture in coming years is immense (ICAR Vision, 2030).
Post-Harvest Technologies for Wheat Used by Farmers
The post-harvest losses were found to be increased with an increase in area under crop and time of storage, while they decreased with improvement in type of storage and method of storage the post-harvest losses at farm level were estimated to be 3.28 kg/qt for wheat crop. The post-harvest losses were found to be maximum in wheat (17.81%) as compared to rice, millet, sorghum, maize, pigeon pea, gram, pea, lentil, black gram, green gram, mustard, toria (lahi), groundnut and sesame etc (Nath et al., 2024) [4] . Reducing wheat losses, maintaining quality, and increasing farmer profitability all depend on post-harvest technologies. Harvesting, drying, cleaning, storing, and processing are only a few of the phases covered by these technologies.
f. Value-Addition Technologies
Equipment for producing wheat-based products like noodles, biscuits, and bakery items, allowing farmers to capture higher market value.
Material and Methods
District Sikar is located in the east central part of the Rajasthan state at 27˚21' North latitude and 28˚12" East longitude, with the tropic of cancer passing through southernmost tip of the state. District comprises of 9 blocks viz. Danta Ramgarh, Dhod, Fatehpur, Khandela, Lachhmangarh, Neem ka thana, Sikar, Ramgarh Shekhawati and Sri Madhopur. Out of which one block i.e. Dhod was selected because it has highest production of wheat in the district. Dhod block comprises of 203 villages, out of which 4 villages viz. Chelasi, Shyampura, Tajsarkarnawatan and Tajsarkhejdolian were selected purposively on basis of maximum area and production under wheat crops. From each selected villages approximately 25 percent of the respondents were selected by applying proportionate random sampling method. Thus, a total of 130 respondents constituted the sample of the study.
Processing and statistical analysis data
Data collected were qualitative as well as quantitative. The quantitative data were interpreted in terms of percentage and qualitative data were tabulated on the basis of approved categorization method as described earlier.
Knowledge of improved post-harvest technologies of wheat
The study reveals that out of total respondents, 54.61 per cent of respondents had medium knowledge level of improved post-harvest technologies of wheat. Because young and middle-aged farmers have knowledge of various advanced technologies such as new available variety, packages of practices, packaging, processing various latest technologies and various post-harvest equipments. The information to prevent the effects of various insects is kept in the method so that the wheat does not spoil quickly. This finding is supported by the finding of Azad et al., 2014 [1] .
Overall, Knowledge level of farmers about postharvest of wheat crop
In context to overall knowledge of farmers about postwww.extensionjournal.com harvest technologies of wheat crop, the study reveals that the famers having maximum knowledge of marketing followed by rat control, cleaning, grading, packing, storage pest management, method of drying, harvesting, threshing and storage. This finding is supported by of Kothari et al., 2010 [3] . The table shows the mean values and rank order of improved post-harvest technologies of wheat adopted by the farmer that marketing having mean4.66, followed by cleaning (3.78), drying (3.73), packing (3.19), harvesting (2.66), threshing (2.43), storage Pest Management (2.08), storage (2.05), grading (1.02) and rat control (0,807) as per adoption level of improved post-harvest technologies of wheat This finding is supported by Patodiya (2018) [5] . [1] , is in line with the study.
Adoption of improved post-harvest technologies of wheat by the farmers
The relationship between independent variables and extent of adoption of improved post-harvest technologies of wheat by the farmers
Conclusion
To reduce post-harvest losses, farm families must be educated on scientific grain storage methods that will allow them to make the best use of available produce in terms of quality and quantity. Knowledge of improved post-harvest technologies of wheat of farmers had shown positive and significant relationship with the extent of adoption of improved post-harvest technologies of wheat. Majority of the respondent (55.38%) had medium level of adoption of improved post-harvest technology of wheat. Adoption of famers about post-harvest of wheat crop the study reveals that farmer having maximum knowledge about the Marketing followed by Cleaning, drying, packing, harvesting, threshing, storage pest management, storage, grading and rat control. The government should provide adequate grain storage, facilities near the village the form of warehouse or cooperative godowns in order to minimize the post-harvest losses. Additionally, grain storage technologies in the future will become eco-friendlier and more sophisticated. To remove the obstacles to adoption, especially in developing nations, knowledge sharing and proactive farmer and community involvement are essential.
References
- Azad MJ, Ali MS, Islam MR. Farmers' knowledge on post-harvest practice of vegetables. MSc (Ag. Ext. Ed.) thesis, Department of Agricultural Extension and Information System, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka, 1207. 2014.
- Dhenge SA, Mankar DM, Walke PK. Knowledge level of farmers about integrated pest management practices of paddy. Doctoral dissertation, Dept. of Ext. Edu., Dr. PDKV, Akola. Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola. 2014;9(4):547-555.
- Kothari GL, Intodia SL, Sharma FL. Knowledge and adoption of maize production technology by farmers. Rajasthan J Ext Educ. 2009-2010;17-18:48-51.
- Nath B, Chen G, O'Sullivan CM, Zare D. Research and technologies to reduce grain postharvest losses: A review. Foods. 2024;13:1875.
- Patodiya RS. Knowledge and adoption of scientific wheat cultivation practices in Rajasthan. Indian Res J Ext Edu. 2018;18(1):93-95.
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