The attitude of farmers towards Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) in Tamil Nadu

Introduction

Agriculture is the main pillar of the Indian economy, around 70 per cent of the population depend on agriculture and allied activities for their livelihood. The Indian government launched the PM-KISAN scheme, as a key initiative toward doubling the farmers' income. It is a progressive step of the government of India towards stabilizing the farmers' income. PM-KISAN scheme is a central sector scheme launched under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare to provide income support to Small and Marginal land holding farm families to provide the financial needs of the farmers in procuring various inputs in order to ensure proper crop health and appropriate yields from their low level of cultivable land and also they gathered for the domestic needs. The scheme was launched in December 2018 and implemented from February 2019. PM-KISAN scheme directly pay of Rs. 6000 per year which transferred in three equal installments of Rs. 2000 every four months into the Aadhaar seeded bank accounts for eligible Small and Marginal farmers. The State Government will identify the eligible farm families for support per guidelines. The scheme along with agricultural advisory services has the potential to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty and low incomes of farmers though investment in modern technology and providing subsidised inputs to the Small and Marginal farmers. To achieve desirable objectives and success in the implementation of PM-KISAN scheme to strengthen the standard of living of farm families and increase their income based on the basic need. By understand the feelings of the beneficiaries towards the potentiality of this innovative scheme, the PM-KISAN is promoting them to the next level of cultivation.

Methodology

The research study was carried out in three districts of Tamil Nadu. Dindigul, Theni and Erode were selected because they are nearer to the researchers native and familiar with these areas. A list of farmers of each selected districts was prepared who have registered under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme with the help of PM-KISAN portal and other officials. From this list, the farmers were selected from each district through random sampling method to make a sample of 300 farmers. Thus, the sample was consisted of 300 respondents or beneficiaries whom were finally selected to collect the data. The data were gathered individually through personal interviews with the help of a well-formatted and previously tested interview schedule. The investigator approached the beneficiaries personally and told them about the aim of the study. After establishing rapports with the beneficiaries, the beneficiaries www.extensionjournal.com were interviewed with the structured interview schedule to know the attitude of beneficiaries towards PM-KISAN scheme. The schedule having twenty statements related to PM-KISAN scheme. The response of beneficiaries was recorded on three-point continuum as 'agree', 'undecided' and 'disagree'. The positive statements were assigned three score for agree, two for undecided and one for disagree and the vice versa in case of negative statement. On the basis of the responses received respondents were classified into three groups which are low, medium and high respectively by using cumulative frequency method.

Results and Discussion

The data concerning to attitude of the farmers towards Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana in regards to 20 statements were presented in Table 1.

Agree with statement:

The observations from the above Table 1 showed that majority of the respondents in respect of their attitude towards Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana of which 93.33 per cent were agreed with the statements viz., "Registration process for PM-KISAN scheme is more time consuming" and "The benefits of PM-KISAN scheme are available only to the selected farmers" followed by "The PM-KISAN scheme encourages farmers to maintain proper land records" (86.67 per cent), "PM-KISAN is a farmer friendly source to get credit" (86.67 per cent), "PM-KISAN aims at improving economic status of the farmers" (84.67 per cent) respectively. 81.67 per cent of the beneficiaries agree with the statement "PM-KISAN is the best scheme of the government to the farmers" and 73.33 per cent were agree with "PM-KISAN is able to encourage farmers to adopt innovative agricultural practices" respectively. Disagree with statement: About 91.67 per cent of the beneficiaries disagree with the statement "There is no need of PM-KISAN scheme as it is not helpful in reducing poverty" followed by "PM-KISAN does not discriminate between the rich and poor farmers" (53.33 per cent) respectively.

Undecided with the statement: About 50.00 per cent of the beneficiaries were undecided with the statement "PM-KISAN provides the livelihood security to the farmers" followed by "Availing of PM-KISAN would improve my social status in my community" (37.33 per cent) respectively. The Table 2 resulted that more than half of the respondents (63.00 per cent) were indicated medium level of attitude followed by 23.33 per cent of the respondents were belonged to high level and 13.67 per cent were low level of attitude towards PM-KISAN scheme. Farmers who understand the scheme's objectives but face minor implementation challenges, such as delays or difficulty accessing funds shows a medium level of attitude, whereas beneficiaries who receive payments on time and can utilize funds effectively for agricultural inputs or household expenses typically express a high level of satisfaction. Farmers with low level of awareness or access to the scheme often exhibit a low attitude level might due to outdated land records (Kaleeswaran et al, 2024) [3] . This finding is similar to the findings of Bhadoria et al (2022) [9] .

Conclusion

The study assessed the attitude of farmers towards Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme in Dindigul, Theni and Erode districts of Tamil Nadu. The findings concluded that majority of farmer's attitude level was found a medium level followed by high level and only small group of farmers possess low level of attitude towards PM-KISAN scheme. Strengthening the scheme requires targeted interventions, such as improving awareness campaigns, ensuring inclusive coverage, and addressing issues with land records. Increased financial support and enhanced accessibility could further elevate its acceptance and effectiveness. For future prospects, study on PM-KISAN scheme can be done on a large area or region to access about its success or failure and efficiency which would helpful for suggesting necessary improvements to the Government agencies and policymakers who are all involved in the scheme for the further upgrading.

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