Factors influencing the extent of adoption of blackgram variety LBG – 752 in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh

Introduction

Pulses are an important component of the Indian diet since they are a major source of protein. Pulses are known as "poor man's meat" since dairy and animal products are seldom consumed by India's poorest people, both in rural and urban areas. India accounts for about 25 per cent of global pulse production and it is also the largest consumer (27%) and importer (14%) of the pulses. Total Pulses production in the country was about 23.02 million tonnes. Area under pulses in India is 28.3 m ha and the average productivity is 776 kg ha -1 (2020-2021). Blackgram, greengram, chickpea, pigeon pea, lentil, and field pea are the most common pulse crops grown in India. Blackgram is scientifically known as Phasiolus mungo and commonly called as Urad in India. India is now the world's leading producer and consumer of blackgram, accounting for more than 70 per cent of worldwide output. Myanmar and Pakistan come in second and third, respectively. It produces about 24.5 lakh tonnes of Urad annually from about 4.6 million hectares of area, with an average productivity of 533 Kg per hectare in 2020-21. Blackgram area accounts for about 19 per cent of India's total pulse acreage which contributes 23 per cent of total pulse production. About 95 per cent of urdbean (blackgram) production comes from 10 states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Karnataka and West Bengal. In Andhra Pradesh it is mostly grown as rabi crop under rice fallows. Andhra Pradesh has 3.82 lakh ha of area under blackgram with a production of 3.43 lakh tones and with a productivity of 842kg ha -1 . In Andhra Pradesh, Krishna district is the major blackgram growing district. In Krishna district, blackgram is growing in 1.23 lakh ha with a production of 1.65 lakh tonnes and with a productivity of 1337 kgs ha -1 (DES AP 2020-21 objectives. The data pertains to the year 2021-2022. The selected respondents were interviewed personally with the well structured schedule. The information collected was analysed by using Tobit regression and Garret ranking technique.

Tobit Regression Model

where, Y i = the extent of adoption of Swarna variety Y* = latent variable (which is not observable) X i = vector of explanatory variable Β i = vector of parameters to be estimated and µ i = an independent normally distributed error term with zero mean and constant variance The The per cent position of each rank is converted to scores by referring to tables given by Garret and Woodworth (1969). By referring to Garrett's table, the per cent positions estimated were converted into score. Thus, for each problem, the mean score was estimated. The problem with the highest mean value was considered as the most important one and the others followed in that order. The constraints were analysed for LBG-752 blackgram variety for the non-adopted farmers.

Results and Discussion

Extent of Adoption of Blackgram Variety LBG -752

The tobit regression model was employed to analyse the extent of adoption of Blackgram LBG -752 variety and the results were presented in Table 1. The results indicated that the chisquare (0.05) was significant suggesting that the model has a strong explanatory power. The pseudo R 2 value showed that 60.3 per cent variation in the dependent variable was explained by the independent variables. This indicated that the model showed a good fit to the data. The age of the farmer and average annual farm income of farmer has positive and significant influence on proportion of land allocated under Blackgram LBG -752 variety. On contrary, experience in farming, access to membership and access to financial services have negative and significant impact on the extent of adoption of Blackgram LBG -752 variety. [12] .

Age of the

Average Annual Farm Income of the Farmer

Average annual farm income of the farmer showed positive and significant influence on the proportion of land allotted to blackgram LBG-752 variety and it was found significant at 5% level of significance. The coefficient of the marginal effect of the variable was 0.04 implied that the intensity of adoption of Blackgram LBG -752 variety increased by 4 percent. The farmers were more interested to allocate their farm land to LBG -752 variety due to higher average annual farm income. The results were in consistent with Atinafu et al. (2022) [3] .

Experience in Farming

The experience of the farmer found negative and significant relationship with the level of adoption of LBG -752 variety and statistically significant at 1% level of significance. A marginal value of -0.02 indicated that 2 per cent decrease in the level of adoption with one year increase in the farming experience of the farmer. It implies that farmers were not willing to increase the proportion of land under LBG -752 variety, if there was increase in the experience in farming.

Access to Membership in Farmers' Organisation

Farmers' membership found negative and significant relationship with the intensity of adoption at 5% level of significance. It indicated that negative association between the membership and intensity of adoption of LBG -752 variety. A marginal value of -0.18 represented that the intensity of adoption decreased by 18 percent with the increase in membership of farmers in organisation. Farmers participation in social organisation increases the social networks and share of information on different varieties which leads to decrease in the extent of adoption of LBG -752 variety.

Constraints Faced by Non -Adopter Farmers in the Adoption of Blackgram LBG -752 Variety

Garret ranking technique was employed to study and prioritize the constraints faced by the nonadopter farmers in the adoption of Blackgram LBG -752 variety. The results were presented in Table 2. Lack of availability of seed with a mean score of 67.77 was identified as the major constraint in the adoption of Blackgram variety LBG-752. It was followed by pest management (61.90), lack of awareness to identify different varieties (52.20), low market price (47.23), lack of market accessibility (42.33), high cost of plant protection chemicals (36.13) and lack of financial services (35.43). Shashikant et al. [8] reported that the pest and disease incidence, lack of extension service accessibility and non-availability of required varieties were the constraints in the production and marketing of Redgram.

Conclusion

The study concluded that, the extent of adoption of Blackgram LBG -752 variety was positively and significantly associated with the age of the farmer and average annual income of the farmer. These two variables indicated that there is increase in the proportion of land under Blackgram LBG -752 variety. On the contrary, experience in farming and access to membership showed negative and significant impact on the proportion of area under LBG -752 variety. It indicates that, these variables, decreases the level of adoption of Blackgram LBG -752 variety. And it also studied about constraints faced by the nonadopter farmers in the study area. The major constraints were, lack of availability of seed at right time, followed by pest management and lack of awareness to identify different varieties.

For the increase in the intensity of adoption the extension departments must demonstrate the low cost of production methods. The extension networks should penetrate much deeper into the farming societies and increase the awareness www.extensionjournal.com on adoption of LBG -752 variety through promotional activities. Programmes should be conducted to encourage progressive and young farmers to increase the level of adoption of LBG -752 variety. Considering high demand for the seed during season, sufficient quantity should be made available at the seed outlets. Farmers should be updated with the prices so that they can know in which period the price will be high so they can make sale arrangements. Promoting different organisations which can make future trading and also information regarding FPO in the study area.

Acknowledgement

AcknowledgmentI humbly place on record my respect and profound sense of gratitude to the respondents, Department of Agriculture, AO's, VAA's of Krishna district for their response and cooperation for the study.

References

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