Assessment on the economic motivation of farmers in agricultural extension service systems in Telangana

Introduction

Global studies have examined the economic motivation of farmers across different agricultural and allied farming contexts. Narbaria (2017) [1] , in a study on identification, characterization and adoption patterns of farm practices under existing farming systems, reported that the majority of respondents possessed a medium level of economic motivation. Similarly, Sadashive et al. (2017) [2] , while studying the entrepreneurial behaviour of dairy farmers, found that a considerable proportion of respondents exhibited a high level of economic motivation. Chakrawarty (2018) [3] , in a study on the impact and awareness of Soil Health Cards on soybean production technology, observed that most of the soybean growers had a medium level of economic motivation. Pawar et al. (2019) [4] , while investigating the socio-economic and psychological characteristics of distressed farmers, reported a predominance of medium-level economic motivation among the respondents. Further, Sakthivel et al. (2020) [5] , in their study on the socio-economic and psychological characteristics of tapioca growers, found that a substantial proportion of respondents had a high level of economic motivation. Overall, these studies indicate variation in the level of economic motivation among farmers across different farming systems and agricultural enterprises, with medium and high levels of economic motivation being predominant in most contexts. These findings highlight the importance of economic motivation in understanding farmers' decision-making, adoption behaviour and participation in agricultural development interventions.

Methodology

The Telangana state was purposively selected for the study, the three agro climatic zones of state i.e., North, South and Central zones were considered. One district from each zone, thus a total of three districts were selected randomly for the study. i.e., Rangareddy of Rural India (MARI), Sankalp and Sarvodaya were selected purposively. Respondents of the study include; the beneficiaries or users of the extension services of the selected extension service systems and criteria of a minimum three years utilisation of the extension system services was used for considering a particular beneficiary as a respondent for the study. A total of 135 farmers were selected for the study as respondents at the rate of forty-five farmers from each extension service system were selected from the list provided by the extension service systems by following simple random sampling method using random number generator technique. The data from the farmers on economic motivation was collected with the help of closed-ended questionnaire. Data collected was analyzed and interpretations were drawn based on results. Kruskal Wallis Test was used for comparison of farmers across the three agricultural extension service systems.

Results and Discussion

The data was collected from the farmers on economic motivation were analyzed, interpreted, and accordingly the following results and conclusion were drawn. The results presented in table 2. revealed that majority of farmers from public extension service system i.e. 44.44 per cent of farmers had low economic motivation, followed by 37.78 per cent of farmers had medium economic motivation and 17.78 per cent of farmers had high economic motivation. Majority of farmers from private extension service system i.e. 51.11 per cent of farmers had low economic motivation, followed by 33.33 per cent of farmers had medium economic motivation and 15.56 per cent of farmers had high economic motivation. Majority of farmers from NGO extension service system i.e. 60.00 per cent of farmers had low economic motivation, followed by 24.44 per cent of farmers had medium economic motivation and 15.56 per cent of farmers had high economic motivation. Thus, it can be concluded that majority of farmers from public, private and NGO extension service system had low to medium level of economic motivation. The probable reason might be due to majority of farmers were marginal to small land holders and had low to medium level of annual income, so they were not able to cultivate cash crops to increase their monetary profits. The economic motivation of farmers across three extension service systems i.e. public, private and NGO were compared to know the existence of any significant. Kruskal Wallis test was used for the comparison between economic motivation of farmers. Since, the p-value was found to be less than 0.05, it can be inferred that there was significant difference in economic motivation across the systems. Kruskal Wallis test statistics and its level of significance are portrayed in table 3. and the results were found to be significant at p < 0.01 level of significance. The study found a significant difference in economic motivation among farmers from public, private, and NGO service systems (p < 0.01). farmers from public extension service system exhibited the highest economic motivation (Mean Rank: 89.28), followed by private (60.62) and NGO (54.10). Pairwise comparisons showed that farmers from public extension service system had significantly higher economic motivation than both private (p = 0.010) and NGO farmers (p = 0.000), while farmers from private and NGO did not have significant difference in economic motivation (p = 0.419). These results suggest that public, private and NGOs extension personnel should formulate a combined strategic training programmes for upliftment of economic motivation of farmers.

Conclusion

The study concluded that economic motivation among farmers was predominantly low to medium across public, private and NGO extension service systems in Telangana, indicating the need for stronger interventions to enhance farmers' economic orientation towards profitable and sustainable farming. Significant differences in economic motivation were observed among the three extension service systems, with farmers associated with the public extension system exhibiting relatively higher economic motivation than those associated with private and NGO systems. These findings highlight the need for greater convergence and coordination among extension service providers. From a policy perspective, a common and need-based capacity-building programme may be developed by integrating public, private and NGO extension agencies, with emphasis on profitable technologies, enterprise diversification, market-oriented farming, financial planning and efficient resource utilization. Strengthening market linkages, access to economic information and farmer-oriented advisory services can further improve economic motivation and farm profitability.

Acknowledgement

AcknowledgementI sincerely express my deepest gratitude to my Major Advisor and Chairperson of the Advisory Committee, Dr. B. Savitha, Professor & Head, Department of Agricultural Extension Education, College of Agriculture, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, for her invaluable guidance, insightful suggestions, and unwavering support. Her wisdom, meticulous supervision, and constant encouragement have been instrumental throughout my study and research journey. I consider it a privilege to express my sincere gratitude and deep respect to Dr. M. Jagan Mohan Reddy, Director, Extension Education Institute, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, Dr. G.E.Ch. Vidyasagar, Registrar, PJTAU, Rajendranagar and Dr. D. Srinivasa Chary, Associate Professor, Department of Statistics and Mathematics, College of Agriculture, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad. Their expert guidance, invaluable suggestions, constructive criticism, and keen attention to detail have been instrumental in shaping this research. Their constant encouragement has played a crucial role in bringing this study to its final form.

References

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