Study on the knowledge level and Adoption index of dairy farmers about improved dairy farming practices in West Bengal, India

Introduction

Livestock is an important source of income for a nation. The livestock sectors are plying crucial role for the rural economy especially for the small and marginal farmers. They not only contribute to their income but also their best insurance against any natural calamity. Animal husbandry is an integral component of Indian agriculture supporting livelihood of more than two third of the rural population. Dairy farming is one of the important activities of the rural population of our country. The importance of the dairy, as a subsidiary industry to agriculture has been stressed by the National Commission on Agriculture. Dairy is an instrument of changing the life style of rural households. It provides to rural people employment throughout the year. India is the world's largest milk producing country with a share of about 24 per cent in the world milk production in 2021-2022 (Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying). Milk has achieved a unique status in terms of its output value and the exceeding Rs. 1, 00,000 in terms of number of milk producer and quantity of milk produced. Over the last two decades, while both population and food grain production grew at around 2 per cent, milk production grew at around more than double the growth of the population, resulted in an increasing per capita availability of milk. To enhance the production potential of our milch animals spread over the length and breadth of the country the only way is to develop superior technologies for mass adoption and to create the critical and necessary infrastructural facilities vital for adoption of the animal husbandry practices. This is a stupendous task which needs dedicated www.extensionjournal.com and skilled workers to produce the desirable impact. Impacts also depend upon knowledge and adopted scientific practices in Animal Husbandry sector. Accordingly, Rogers and Shoemaker (1971) defined adoption is a decision to make full use of an innovation as the best course of action available. It is believed that the livestock owners who have more knowledge about improved animal husbandry practices are more likely to obtain higher milk production from their livestock. Dissemination of knowledge of new improved animal husbandry practices is imperative for bringing white revolution in the country. There is a complex but important inter-relationship between the level of knowledge about improved animal husbandry practices in system and its rate of adoption. The level of the knowledge of the livestock owners about animal husbandry practices will be a good indicator of its level of symbolic adoption and the efforts made by the extension agencies to disseminate and create optimum threshold knowledge.

Materials and Methods

The study was carried out in the State of West Bengal. The district Murshidabad coming from alluvial zone have been selected purposively considering the importance of dairy animals acts in the rural economy. Two blocks were selected purposively depending on highest number of dairy cattle populations from Murshidabad district namely Burwan and Khargram. In this way, A list of farmers having at least 10 numbers of dairy animals was prepared with the help of the officials working under Department of Animal Resource Development in Burwan and Khargram blocks.There after a number of 120 farmers were selected randomly from the list, so prepared to be included in the sample for the study. Using interview schedules created for the study, the data were gathered in September to November of 2023. The respondent was shown the schedule, and their responses were gathered in accordance. The total numbers of 19 independent variables along with two dependent variables i.e., Knowledge level of large-scale dairy farmers on improved animal husbandry practices (Y 1 ) and Adoption behaviour of large-scale dairy farmers about improved animal husbandry practices (Y 2 ) were selected for the study. The collected data were tabulated in MS Excel and analysis was done by using IBM SPSS 21.0 through descriptive statistics, independent samples t test, ANOVA and correlation tests.

Results and Discussion

The research study was concerned to find out the Correlation of different independent variables. With knowledge level and adoption index of the respondents. The Table 01 explains the correlation of different independent variables with knowledge level and adoption index of the respondents. From the correlation study were found to be highly significant (P<0.01) when knowledge score was compared with total monthly family income, monthly income from dairy, herd size, material possession, mass media score and personal cosmopolite score but not significant with personal localite score due to lack of ignorance and awareness of improved dairy farming. However, when comparison was made with adoption index, significant correlation (p<0.05) was found with monthly income from dairy and herd size. Whereas non-significant correlation was found with total monthly family income, material possession, mass media score personal localite score and mass media score. Previous few studies different extension personnel were found several observations, like Khode et. al., (2010) [10] through his study revealed that majority of dairy schemes beneficiaries (73.26 per cent) have medium level of knowledge regarding animal dairy management practices followed by high knowledge level with 26.74 per cent respondents. Another study was done by Singh et. al., (2013) [17] found that most of the respondents had low level of adoption IDHP's (improved dairy husbandry practices) in breeding (44.17 per cent) and feeding (50.00 per cent) whereas, majority of dairy farmers in management (54.17 per cent), healthcare (60.83 per cent) and marketing (40.83 per cent) had medium level of adoption. Simiar types of the study were found from Kumar et. al., (2011), Aulakh et. al., (2011) [1] , Prajapati et. al., (2012) [13] , Rathod et. al., (2012), Khanal et. al., (2010) [8] , Khode et. al., (2010) [10] , Ismet Boz et. al., (2011) [7] , Quddus (2012) [14] and Devi (2013) [4] .

From Table no 02: Independent variables wise distribution of knowledge score and adoption index of the respondents

Table 02 presented the land holding wise distribution of adoption index and knowledge score. It was evident from the study that the adoption index varied significantly (P<0.05) among the landless, marginal and small farmers with higher estimates for the small farmers followed by marginal and landless farmers. This clearly indicates that the farmers having more land are more interested for adopting new technologies. Whereas it was observed that the knowledge score of lend less and marginal farmers was highly significant with other two land holding categories. Similar findings were observed by Quddus (2012) [14] and Rathod et. al., (2012). Table 04 represents the gender wise distribution of adoption index and knowledge score. Significant differences are observed between the genders with respect to adoption index with higher estimates for males. This clearly indicates that the male farmers are more inclines towards adoption of new technologies and improved dairy farming practices. However significant (P<0.05) differences were observed for the knowledge score with higher numerical estimates for males. Disparities of knowledge scores between male and female respondents could be influence by a variety of factors including societal, cultural, economic and educational consideration. Social norms and traditional gender roles may allocate certain responsibilities, including those related to Agriculture and Animal Husbandry more commonly to male. Due to less access of educational opportunities in rural area and lack of empowerment in decision making process both at house hold and community level. Female respondents were having significant less adoption index and knowledge score. Table 05 represents the occupation wise distribution of adoption index and knowledge score. It was clearly observed from the table that significant (P<0.05) differences exist between the estimates of labour, caste occupation, independent profession, cultivation and service with highest estimates for cultivation and lowest for service. This shows that the respondents with a service are less inclined towards farming. However, no such variations are observed in terms of knowledge score. Belakeri et. al., (2016) found that majority (75.84%) of the respondents had livestock farming along with cultivation as their occupation. difference was observed for the estimates of adoption index among all the categories. However, significant (P<0.05) differences were observed among the different castes for knowledge score with higher estimate for OBC followed by General and SC. Disparities in knowledge score among different caste categories could be influence byhistorical discrimination, access to education, economic disparities, access to extension services, land ownership pattern, cultural factors, policy intervention and social empowerment etc. Addressing these disparities required a multi faceted approach, including targeted educational initiative, improved access to resources and extension services, economic empowerment programmes and policies that specifically address the unique challenges faced by SC communities. Efforts should focus on promoting inclusivity, reducing socio-economic inequalities, and ensuring that all social categories have equal opportunities to acquire knowledge and engage in sustainable improve dairy farming practices. Table 07 represents the education status wise distribution of adoption index and knowledge score. Significant (P<0.05) difference was observed for the estimates of adoption index among the all categories. However, significant (P<0.05) differences were observed for estimates of knowledge score among all the categories with higher estimates for graduates, which is self-explanatory. The differences may be attributed to formal education, critical thinking skills, decision making capabilities, professional learning opportunities, motivation for learning and other factor. The similar types of the study were found from Uddin and Kumar (2013), and Sharma (2014) [16] . www.extensionjournal.com

Conclusion

The study revealed that the critical role of livestock, particularly dairy farming, in enhancing the livelihoods of rural populations in India, emphasizing the need for improved knowledge and adoption of animal husbandry practices to maximize production and economic benefits. It underscores the importance of targeted educational initiatives and infrastructural support to facilitate the dissemination of knowledge and foster the adoption of innovative practices among farmers, thereby contributing to the overall development of the rural economy.

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