Socio-personal, communication and psychological determinants of farmers’ perception regarding soil health management practices

Introduction

Soil health is recognized globally as a cornerstone of sustainable agricultural production and environmental sustainability. Healthy soils provide essential ecosystem services, including nutrient cycling, water regulation, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity conservation, which collectively contribute to enhanced crop productivity and resilience against climatic stresses (Lal, 2015) [5] . However, intensive agricultural practices, excessive dependence on chemical fertilizers, residue burning, declining organic matter, and improper nutrient management have accelerated soil degradation across many agricultural regions, including India (FAO, 2022) [3] . In India, concerns regarding soil degradation have intensified due to continuous cultivation and unsustainable farming practices. Consequently, several soil health management interventions such as integrated nutrient management, green manuring, farmyard manure application, crop residue incorporation, direct-seeded rice, alternate wetting and drying, laser land leveling, and soil test-based nutrient management have been promoted through governmental and institutional initiatives (Bhardwaj et al., 2019; Choudhary et al., 2021) [1,2] . Despite the proven agronomic and environmental benefits of these practices, adoption rates remain uneven across farming communities. Farmers' perception regarding soil health management practices plays a crucial role in influencing adoption decisions. Perception can be defined as the process through which individuals receive, interpret, and evaluate information about innovations and subsequently develop attitudes toward them (Rogers, 2003) [8] . Positive perceptions facilitate technology adoption, whereas negative perceptions may hinder the implementation of beneficial agricultural practices. Previous research has demonstrated that perception is influenced by several socio-personal, economic, communication, and psychological factors. Educational attainment, extension contacts, social participation, and www.extensionjournal.com mass media exposure enhance access to agricultural information and improve awareness regarding sustainable farming technologies (Meena et al., 2017) [6] . Similarly, psychological characteristics such as risk orientation, innovativeness, scientific orientation, economic motivation, and ecological consciousness have been found to influence farmers' acceptance of environmentally sustainable agricultural practices (Kumar and Bishnoi, 2018; Singh et al., 2020) [4,9] . Understanding the factors influencing farmers' perception is essential for designing effective extension programmes and policy interventions aimed at improving soil health and promoting sustainable agriculture. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to examine the socio-personal profile of farmers and analyze the relationship between selected independent variables and their perception regarding soil health management practices.

Objectives of the Study

1. To describe the socio-personal characteristics of farmers practicing soil health management practices. 2. To examine the relationship between selected independent variables and farmers' perception regarding soil health management practices. 3. To identify the major factors associated with favorable perception towards soil health management practices.

Materials and Methods

The study was conducted among 300 farmers adopting soil health management practices from five districts of Punjab i.e. Gurdaspur, Jalandhar, Firozpur, Sangrur and Ropar. Data were collected using a structured and pre-tested interview schedule.

The independent variables included age, education, operational landholding, annual income, mass media exposure, social participation, extension contacts, risk orientation, economic motivation, scientific orientation, decision-making ability, innovativeness, ecological consciousness, level of knowledge, and extent of adoption. The dependent variable was farmers' perception regarding soil health management practices. Descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation were employed to describe respondents' socio-personal characteristics. Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to determine the relationship between selected independent variables and perception.

Results and Discussion

Socio-Personal Characteristics of Respondents

The socio-personal profile revealed that the majority of respondents (56.34%) belonged to the middle-age category, followed by young (22.66%) and old (21.00%) age groups. The mean age was 52.65 years. Regarding education, 31.67 percent of the respondents had completed matriculation, while 20.67 percent had middle-level education. The average educational attainment was 10.34 years. Most respondents belonged to joint families (66.33%) and had medium family size (57.66%). Agriculture was the primary occupation of all respondents, while dairy farming served as an important subsidiary occupation for 56.66 percent of farmers. The average operational landholding was 14.05 acres, with 41.00 percent of respondents belonging to the medium landholding category. More than half (51.33%) had medium farming experience, with an average of 36.26 years. Tube wells were the predominant source of irrigation for 89.33 percent of respondents.

Interpretation

The predominance of middle-aged farmers with substantial farming experience suggests that respondents possessed considerable practical exposure to agricultural activities.

The relatively high educational status and medium-to-large landholding pattern indicate a favorable socio-economic environment for understanding and adopting soil health management practices.

Relationship Between Independent Variables and Perception Regarding Soil Health Management Practices

The relationship between selected independent variables and perception is presented in Table 2. The results revealed that education (r = 0.404), mass media exposure (r = 0.507), social participation (r = 0.497), extension contacts (r = 0.449), risk orientation (r = 0.547), economic motivation (r = 0.286), scientific orientation (r = 0.308), decision-making ability (r = 0.132), innovativeness (r = 0.451), ecological consciousness (r = 0.274), level of knowledge (r = 0.330), and extent of adoption (r = 0.584) exhibited positive and significant relationships with perception. Among all variables, extent of adoption showed the strongest positive association with perception, indicating that farmers who had adopted soil health management practices developed more favorable perceptions based on direct experience. Risk orientation and mass media exposure also emerged as important correlates, highlighting the importance of progressive attitudes and access to information.

Age showed a negative association with perception (r = -0.143), suggesting that younger farmers were relatively more receptive to sustainable agricultural innovations. Operational landholding and annual income were not significantly related to perception, indicating that economic resources alone do not determine favorable perceptions toward soil health management practices.

Discussion

The findings highlight the importance of communication, psychological, and behavioral variables in shaping farmers' perception regarding soil health management practices. The strongest relationship observed between adoption and perception supports the proposition that experiential learning significantly contributes to the development of positive attitudes toward agricultural innovations (Rogers, 2003) [8] . Farmers who directly experience the benefits of soil health management practices are more likely to appreciate their usefulness and sustainability. The significant influence of risk orientation indicates that progressive farmers are more willing to embrace innovative practices and evaluate their potential benefits. Similar findings have been reported by Kumar and Bishnoi (2018) [4] , who observed that risk-taking ability significantly influences the adoption of sustainable agricultural technologies.

Communication-related variables such as mass media exposure, social participation, and extension contacts exhibited strong positive relationships with perception. These findings emphasize the critical role of agricultural communication systems in disseminating information and creating awareness regarding soil health management practices. Farmers who actively engage with extension agencies and social networks tend to develop a more favorable understanding of sustainable agricultural technologies.

The positive association of education with perception is consistent with previous studies suggesting that educated farmers possess greater ability to comprehend technical information and evaluate innovations objectively (Roco et al., 2015) [7] . Similarly, scientific orientation, innovativeness, ecological consciousness, and economic motivation contribute to the development of favorable perceptions by encouraging farmers to adopt evidence-based and environmentally responsible farming practices. The non-significant relationships of operational landholding and annual income indicate that favorable perceptions are www.extensionjournal.com driven more by knowledge, information access, and psychological readiness than by economic resources alone. These findings suggest that extension programmes should focus on improving farmers' awareness, knowledge, and communication exposure rather than solely targeting resource-rich farmers.

Conclusion

The study concludes that communication exposure, psychological orientation, knowledge level, and adoption behaviour significantly influence farmers' perception regarding soil health management practices. Extent of adoption, risk orientation, mass media exposure, social participation, extension contacts, innovativeness, and education emerged as major determinants of perception. In contrast, operational landholding and annual income did not significantly influence perception. The findings underscore the need for strengthening extension services, promoting mass media-based agricultural communication, encouraging farmer participation in social organizations, and enhancing experiential learning opportunities through demonstrations and field schools. Such interventions can improve farmers' perceptions and contribute to the wider adoption of sustainable soil health management practices.

References

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