Knowledge of the pineapple growers towards integrated pest management (IPM) in Chumukedima district of Nagaland

Introduction

Agriculture continues to be the mainstay of rural livelihoods in India, and Nagaland is no exception, where more than 70 per cent of the population depends directly on farming. Pineapple has emerged as one of the state's most important horticultural crops, and Chümoukedima district, particularly the Medziphema block, is popularly regarded as the "pineapple bowl" of Nagaland owing to its favourable agroclimatic conditions and long tradition of commercial cultivation. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) combines cultural, biological, mechanical, and chemical methods to keep pests below damaging levels while minimising health and environmental risks, using judicious, threshold-based pesticide application rather than rejecting chemicals outright (Gupta et al., 2020) [3] . Since IPM decision-making depends on farmers' ability to recognise pests and apply the right combination of controls, it is fundamentally knowledgebased making adoption inseparable from awareness (Baite et al). Despite promotion through schemes, many Northeast farmers still rely on conventional, calendar-based spraying due to limited awareness and weak extension outreach (Roy & Ghosh, 2022; Pongener & Patra, 2024) [9,8] . This study therefore assesses pineapple growers' knowledge of IPM practices in Chümukedima district and identifies the socioeconomic and communication factors associated with it.

Methodology

The study followed a descriptive research design and was conducted in medziphema block of chumukedima district, Nagaland. Four villages were selected randomly from which a total of 110 respondents were drawn through random sampling. Data were collected through personal interviews using prestructured interview scheduled developed specially for the study. Each statement was scored on a three-point scale (Fully corrected = 3, Partially corrected = 2, Not corrected =1). Total knowledge scores obtained by each respondent were summed and respondents were classified into low, medium and high knowledge categories using the mean and standard deviation of the scores as class boundaries (Low: below Mean -SD; Medium: Mean ± SD; High: above Mean + SD). The data were presented in tabular form and interpreted scientifically.

Result and Discussion

A. Socio-economic profile of respondents

The Socio-economic profile of the 110 respondents is presented in table 1. www.extensionjournal.com Patra and Kense (2021) [6] , studying fruit growers in Nagaland, similarly reported small to medium landholdings, low institutional credit access, and inadequate extension services

B. Knowledge of the respondents on Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices

The statement wise distribution of respondent is presented in table 2, followed by overall distribution in table 3 www.extensionjournal.com [3] and Roy and Ghosh (2022) [9] , who reported that farmers generally possess better knowledge of pest damage and pesticide hazards than of ecological and biological components of IPM. The results highlight the need for strengthening farmer training and extension services to improve knowledge of scientific IPM practices. As shown in the table, majority of the respondent (50.90%) fell in the medium knowledge, while (29.10%) possessed a high evel knowledge and (20.00%) possessed a low level of knowledge regarding IPM. The predominance of mediumlevel knowledge is consistent with findings reported by patra and kense (2020) [5] among fruit growers in Nagaland, where (75.85%) of respondent possessed a medium level of knowledge of improved cultivation practices. Correlation analysis showed training exposure had the strongest and most significant relationship with knowledge (r = 0.6803, p < 0.01) farmers who attended more training simply understood IPM better, since structured sessions directly build technical awareness. Extension contact (r = 0.4247) and social participation (r = 0.3521) followed close behind: farmers with regular extension visits stayed better informed, and those active in social groups picked up knowledge from peers in much the same way. Education (r = 0.3470) also mattered, as more schooling made it easier for farmers to grasp and apply recommendations. The remaining variables: age, gender, family type, landholding, area under pineapple, occupation, farming experience, income, and credit access were positively but not significantly related to knowledge, suggesting that on their own, these background factors don't really move the needle on how much farmers understand about IPM. These findings align with earlier research. Das and Jha (2022) [2] found that farmers in Northeast India with better knowledge actively sought out more information sources, while Pongener and Patra (2024) [8] identified knowledge as a strong predictor of IPM adoption among pineapple growers in Nagaland. Together, these studies confirm that regular training and meaningful extension contact do far more to build farmers' technical understanding of IPM than their socio-economic background alone.

Conclusion

It is concluded that pineapple growers in Chumukedima district possess a moderate level of knowledge regarding IPM practices, with 20.00 per cent of respondents falling in the low category, 50.90 per cent in the medium category, and 29.10 per cent in the high category. Farmers understood general pest damage and pesticide hazards better than they understood scientific IPM components such as biological control and economic threshold concepts. Training exposure, extension contact, social participation, and education were found to be the key factors influencing farmers' knowledge. Therefore, strengthening extension services, organizing regular need-based training programmes, and promoting practical demonstrations on IPM technologies are essential to raise more farmers from the low and medium categories into the high knowledge category, thereby encouraging sustainable pest management in pineapple cultivation.

References

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