Constraints faced and suggestions offered by beneficiary farmers for effective conduct of cluster frontline demonstrations (CFLDs) on oilseeds in Telangana State

Introduction

India's agricultural industry is appropriately referred to as the "backbone" of the country's economy. Oilseed crops are the second most important determinant of agricultural economy, next only to cereals within the segment of field crops. The self-sufficiency in oilseeds attained through "Yellow Revolution" during early 1990's could not be sustained beyond a short period. Oilseeds play an essential role in agriculture in many regions of the world. Despite being the fourth largest oilseed crop producing country in the world, India is one of the largest importers of vegetable oils. It has 20.8% of the total area under cultivation globally, accounting for 10% of global production. The production of oilseeds in India has been growing for the last five years. During FY24, the total oilseeds production in the country was recorded at 396.69 lakh tonnes. The production of oilseeds during FY24 was higher by 20.38 lakh tonnes than the average oilseeds production of 376.30 lakh tonnes over the past five years (IBEF, 2023) [3]. The country produces Groundnut, Soybean, Sunflower, Sesamum, Niger seed, Mustard, and Safflower oilseeds. The area covered in Telangana state for the oilseed crops cultivation was 3.040 lakh Ha, the total oilseeds production in the Telangana state was recorded at 5.274 lakh tonnes, the yield was 1735 Kg/Ha during the year 2023-24 Oilseeds.dac.gov, (2024) [1] . Despite vast cultivation areas, farmers face challenges like low adoption of improved practices, rainfed conditions, and poor extension support. To address these issues, Cluster Front Line Demonstrations (CFLDs) were introduced under national initiatives like the NMOOP and later under NFSM (Oilseeds), aiming to demonstrate improved technologies directly on farmers' fields, allowing them to witness the results under real farming conditions. Although CFLDs have been conducted in the state for several years, there is still limited evidence on how much they have actually helped in improving farmers' knowledge, adoption of best practices, productivity, and incomes.

Materials and Methods

Two KVKs i.e., KVK Palem, which are conducting CFLDs on oilseeds in a larger area in the crops like groundnut and castor was selected for the study. The CFLDs pertaining to oilseed cropsi.e., Groundnut and Castor was selected for the study. Two districtsi.e., Nagarkurnool and Wanaparthy which are covering the highest areas under selected oilseed crops were selected for the study. A total of 2 mandals were taken from each district, three villages were selected from each mandal making total of six villages through stratified random sampling for the study. Sixty beneficiaries who were adopting CFLDs on oilseeds from selected KVKs were chosen for the study. Data was collected from the respondents using open-ended personal interview method by the researcher.

Results and Discussion

Constraints faced by beneficiary farmers: The input constraints elicited by beneficiary farmers were tabulated and expressed in Table 1. A great majority 86.66% of the farmers perceived the problem of delay in availability of quality seeds at the time of sowing hence it was ranked first among the input constraints. 60.00% of farmers expressed that there was insufficient quantity of seed is provided under the programme was assigned rank II, 53.33% farmers had perceived that there was non-availability of fertilizers and bio-fertilizers in required quantity and at required time was assigned and ranked as III and 48.33 percent of farmers felt there was irregular supply of recommended plant protection chemicals leading to crop loss due to pests and diseases and was assigned rank IV. The reasons might be due to late procurement, weak coordination. Swami et al. (2023) [4] and Vamshi et al. (2022) [5] . The Financial constraints elicited by beneficiary farmers were tabulated and expressed in Table 2. Among the financial constraints, majority of the farmers 73.33% had expressed the constraint high price of certified/improved seed varieties due to affordability issues was assigned as rank I, 66.66% of farmers perceived plant protection measures as very expensive so it was assigned as rank II, 65.00% of farmers expressed increasing cost of farm labour during peak operations leading to increase of cost of cultivation was assigned as rank III and 46.67 had expressed higher rate of interest increasing debt risk was assigned rank IV. Swami et al. (2023) [4] and Verma et al. (2018) [6] . The Technical constraints elicited by beneficiary farmers were tabulated and expressed in Table 3. Among technical constraints majority of farmers 68.33% had expressed the constraint limited technical guidance from extension personnel as was assigned rank I, 65.00% expressed poor awareness of weed and nutrient management practices and was assigned rank II, 60.00% inadequate knowledge of seed treatment techniques, 51.67% limited knowledge of integrated pest and disease management practices, 48.33% lack of awareness about critical stages of irrigation and was assigned ranks III, IV, V respectively. Gamit et al. (2018) [2] . The Marketing constraints elicited by beneficiary farmers were tabulated and expressed in Table 4. Among marketing constraints majority of farmers 73.33 had expressed market in accessibility in some areas facing higher transport costs and fewer market opportunities was assigned rank I,70.00% had expressed price crash during peak harvest season affecting the income and was assigned rank II, 65.00% expressed lack of proper storage infrastructure at village level or farm level and was assigned rank III, 50.00% had expressed inadequate transport facilities for timely market access and was assigned rank IV. Swami et al. (2023) [4] .

References

1. Directorate of Oilseeds Development. Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India. Hyderabad: GOI; 2024. https://oilseeds.dac.gov.in/
2. Gamit PS, Khodifad PB, Dedun VS. Constraints faced by frontline demonstration beneficiary's neighbouring farmers. Biol Forum Int J. 2018;7(7C):14029-14030.
3. India Brand Equity Foundation. Economic Survey 2023-24. New Delhi: Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India; 2023.
4. Swami S, Rajesh KV, Sanju M, Vijender K, Priyanka Y, Shobhana B. Exploring Constraints in the Adoption of Groundnut Production Technologies by CFLD Farmers: A Comprehensive Study. Biol Forum Int J. 2023;15(10):39-46.
5. Vamshi M, Padma Veni C, Ravinder Naik V, Vidya Sagar GECH. Adoption Constraints of Improved Crop Technologies by Farmers of Cluster Frontline Demonstration-Pulses. Biol Forum Int J. 2022;14(4):154-157.
6. Verma R, Singh U, Sahu RK. Constraints and suggestions perceived by soybean growers in front line demonstration on adoption of recommended technologies. Int J Chem Stud. 2018;6(3):2893-2895.