Journal of Community Mobilization and Sustainable Development Vol. 7(2), 165-170, July-December, 2012

A Study on ImpactUigad District of

^-K. Sikka. 2004.' Watersheds inSoil and Water

Research

Ganges in theies and Non-arnool DistrictW7-252.

the Watershedfessionals and: Challenges:

(IWMI)House,

WatershedEvidences.

12: 387-396.

Watershed^ssrnent of

ian India.

'uccessfulearch for

lation ofi/

Waterationali Hard7.

•roachIndian

ty of>mali

micI toiian

Technology Use Pattern and Constraint Analysis of Farmers inlammu District of Tammu and Kashmir State of IndiaJ 9?

Parveen Kumar1 and M.S. Nain2

'Division of Agricultural Extension Education, SKUAST-JammuDivision of Agricultural Extension, IARI, New Delhi

ABSTRACT

Technology developed in the research institutions is of no use unless and until it is made within the reach of thefarming community. Often, it is seen that large farmers are first and last to be benefitted from the new technologyin terms of adoption and consequent increase in net returns. The small and large farmers are still within the grip ofthe traditional methods with very little technological intervention. The present study was conducted in purposivelyselected blocks Ranbir Singh Pura and Bishnah of District Jammu to find out the technology use pattern and theconstraints of the selected respondents. The results of the study revealed that more than seventy five per cent of therespondents were in the marginal and serni medium category having holdings up to 2 hectares. More than 90% ofthe respondents plough their land using tractors. While 86% of the respondents purchased seeds for sowing in caseof Wheat, the corresponding per centage in Paddy was only eight. There was cent per cent use of herbicides in caseof Wheat and Paddy. None of the farmers used herbicides in other crops like Bajra, Barseem and pulses. Urea wasused by all the respondents in case of Wheat and Paddy whereas Diammonium Phosphate was used by ninety percent of the farmers. Harvesting was done manually by the respondents except in case of Wheat where 25% of therespondents use combine harvester. Threshing was also done manually in all the crops except Paddy where theharvesting was done manually by all the respondents. The selected respondents face many constraints. The majorones being the low yields, non availability of fertilizers, lack of credit facilities, lack of institutional and market linkages,lack of procurement facilities and less selling price of the produce.

Kew words: Technology, Constraint analysis

INTRODUCTION

Agriculture in Jammu and Kashmir state of India is

underdeveloped but has a promising future. In Jammu

& Kashmir state 7.34 lakh hectares is under cultivation,

of which 4.22 lakh hectares is rain fed constituting

about 57.46% of the total area under cultivation (Singh

and Sharma, 2011). The state comprises of three

geographical divisions namely; Jammu, Kashmir and

Ladakh . On the basis of the climate, the state can be

distinctly classified into three zones. The Sub-tropical

zone spreads between an altitude of 300-1000 m above

mean sea level, Intermediate zone is located between

an altitude of 1000-1500 m above mean sea level and

Temperate one is located at an altitude of more than

1500 m above mean sea level. The state has 22 districts

each having a peculiar cropping pattern and different

farming systems depending upon the climate of the

district. The Jammu division comprises of ten Districts

and is located between altitudes of 300-4200 m above

mean sea level. About 81% of the holdings in the state

fall below 1 hectare. The total area under Paddy, Wheat

and maize in the state is 2.63 lakh hectares, 2.78 lakh

hectares and 3.02 lakh hectares respectively. The

corresponding productivity of paddy, wheat and maize

in the state is 21.35 q/ha, 17.82 q/ha and 15.69 q/ha

and 17.35q/ha which is less than the national average

for paddy 22.03 q/ha, wheat 27.85 q/ha and maize

23.37q/ha (Digest of Statistics, 2007-08). The annual

food consumption in the state was 1.99 million tones

whereas the production was 1.57 million tones, having

a gap of 0.42 million tones (Prasad, 2009).

The state despite having a varied and favourable

166 Parveen Kumar and M.S. Nain

climate has low productivity levels ultimately leading tohuge gap in production and consumption. The micro-level studies are an important step toward assemblingthe background information about farmers who arecurrently using a technology and those who are not inorder to establish the reasons for low productivity.Cross-section analysis at the micro-level can answerimportant questions about technology adoption atfarmers' level and also data regarding crops actuallybeing grown in farmers fields and how they are growingthem. As changes occur in rural areas, it is useful tounderstand decision making of households andcommunities about technology adoption and factorsassociated. The data regarding growing conditions inspecific areas, varietal characteristics important tofarmers and the profitability of a given technology arecritical to learn about farmers' perceptions of theconstraints they face. The present study was thereforeaimed at reaching the underlying reasons of such a lowproductivity with the following specific objectives:

a) To study the socio-economic characteristics of theselected respondents

b) To study the technological use pattern of the selectedrespondents in kharif, Rabi as well as zaid

c) To analyze the constraints faced by the respondentsand suggest possible interventions thereof.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The Jammu District of J&K state lies in the subtropicalbelt with assured irrigation facilities in somedevelopmental blocks and totally dependent on rain forcultivation in other blocks. The source of irrigation ismainly canals and bore wells. The total geographical areaof Jammu Division is 26,293 Km2 constituting 12% ofthe total area of the state. Land use statistics is availablefor 17,940 km2. Paddy, wheat and maize are the staplefood crops of this division. The average size of holdingsin the state as per the 7th quinquennial agriculturalcensus 2000-01 was 0.66 hectares which is 0.10 hectaresless than the national average (Bhatt and Poddar, 2008).The district comprises of five tehsils and 11development blocks as per 2001 census. The presentstudy was conducted in purposively selected RanbirSingh Pura and Bishnah blocks of District Jammu as

the selected blocks have assured irrigation anlprogressive nature of farming. Paddy and wheat aret»major crops grown in these blocks. Total area of RanbiiSingh Pura block is 20,537 hectares with a populatiolof 149676 and that of Bishnah is 16,385 hectares havi»a population of 10,5003 (Digest of Statistics, 2007-08JFrom each block three villages were selected randomlyand from each village 20 farmers were selected for dalcollection making a total sample size of 120. Datawacollected with the help of a well prepared interviewschedule which was administered personally. Thlcollected data was analyzed using per centages anltables.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Table 1 revealed that maximum per centage olrespondents was in the old age group (above 50 yeatBand about 35 per cent of the respondents were illiterate,Only 5.83 per cent of the respondents were educa™above higher secondary level. Agriculture was the mailoccupation of about 63.33 per cent respondents. Mo«than 69 per cent of the respondents have a family olmore than five members and 77.50 per cent of thJrespondents have a livestock possession of up to threlanimals. The figure for social participation was shockJwith a mere 4.16 per cent. Only four respondents werJmembers of Panchayats and one was a member olvillage education committee. As far as different sourcBof information regarding agriculture is concernedmaximum number of respondents (35.84%) gelagriculture related information from input dealers. ThiJwas followed by neighbors (25%), Friends (18.33%)|Progressive farmers (11.67%) and peer group (9.16%).|

The land holdings were classified in five categoriesmarginal (< 1 ha), small medium (1-2 ha), semi medium(2-4 ha), medium (4-10 ha) and large (> 10 ha) as per)the classification of land holdings devised by Ministryof Agriculture, Government of India (PlanningCommission, 2003). Table 2 presented that 76.66%oflthe farmers have land holdings below 2 hectares. 10°/Jof the farmers have holdings in the range of 2-4hectares, 10.84% of the respondents were in themedium category having 4-10 hectares of land and only2.50 per cent of the respondents were large having morethan 10 hectares of land. This is in accordance with thenational scenario where about three fourth of thelfarmers are small and marginal.

Technology Use Pattern and Constraint Analysis of Farmers in ]ammu District 167

ion and Table 1. Socio-economic characteristics of theit are the respondentsrf Ranbirapulation Variable

•es having2007-08). Age (in years)randomly l^ung ( up to 35)

Middle (35-50)>d for data ^ 'Old ( Above 50)

Data was 1

L interview iuiterate

nally. The Up to Primaryntages and pry to High school

High school to Hr. Sec.Above Hr. Secondary

N Family sizeUp to 5

centage of L More than 5>ve 50 years) Occupation/ere illiterate. Agricultureere educated Agriculture + Jobwas the main 1 Agriculture + businessndents More livestock possession

re a family of ¥o3r rent of the

, Above 6of up to three t, . Source of information

i was shocking ^pondentswere lnputdealers

a member c 1 ̂ ^Lfferent sources p

i o r. is concerm Progressive farmers(35.84%) get 1 Social participation

jut dealers. This Panchayati Raj Institutionslends (18.33%), Village Education Committee

Frequency

223365

43243797

3783

762321

93198

2243301114

41

c p-roup (9.16%)- Village Development Committee 0(0)

Percentage

18.3327.5054.17

35.8320.0030.847.505.83

30.8369.17

63.3319.1717.50

77.5015.836.67

18.3335.8425.009.16

11.67

3.330.830(0)

in five categories

la), semi medium(> 10 ha) as per

-vised by

Table 2. Distribution of respondents as per theclassification of holdings devised by ministry of^culture, Government of India

ntedthat76.66%

•low 2 hectares. 10°/.n the range of 2ndents were in tl:taresoflandandoiiiyvere large having more

in accordance with thit three fourth of tr

Size of holdings

jJHgnal(<lha)Small medium (1-2 ha)Serai medium (2-4 ha)Medium (4-10 ha)large (>10 ha)

No. ofRespondents

345812133

Percentage

28.3348.3310.0010.842.50

The cropping pattern in the Table 3 depicted thatpaddy (Ory^a sativa) and bajra (Pennisetum typhoides) aremajor crops grown in iseason, wheat (Triticum aestivum),mustard (Brassica sps.) either as single crop or as mixedcrop and barseem (Trifolium alexandrinum} for animalfodder are grown in rabi season while in zaid seasonpulses like mash (Vigna mungo) and mung (Vigna radiata)are grown by the farmers of District Jammu. While allthe farmers were found growing wheat, paddy, barseemand bajra, only 32 respondents were engaged in thecultivation of mustard, 24 grow mash and 19 wereengaged in the cultivation of green gram. Pulses are stilltreated as an important crop and that is the reason whya small per centage of the farmers were found growingpulses.

Data in the Table 3 depicted the technological usepattern by selected farmers of the district. It is evidentfrom the table that more than 90 per cent of the farmersuse tractors for preparation of their fields irrespectiveof the crops grown. This on the one hand is anindicator of the declining use of animal power and onthe other hand increasing mechanization in Indianagriculture. In case of wheat 86% of the farmerspurchased seeds for sowing crops while in case of paddyit was mere 15 per cent. In case of paddy 85 per centof the farmers had saved their own seeds from theprevious crops for sowing and subsequent transplantingin the next season. It points that seed replacement ratiois low in case of Paddy. Again, in case of wheat, out of86 respondents who purchased seeds 62.80% used Raj.3077 variety whereas 37.20% used PBW-3432 variety.In case of paddy, 71.66% of the 112 respondents whoused their own seed had grown Basmati-370 whereas8.33% had grown Sharbati and the remaining had usedRatna variety. The data in the table also tells thathundred per cent of farmers used urea in both wheatand paddy whereas eighty eight per cent of the farmersused urea in barseem. DAP application in case of wheatand paddy was more than 80 per cent. In other cropsneither DAP nor was urea applied. Use of farm yardmanure in case of wheat and paddy was extremely low.All the farmers used herbicides in wheat and paddy.While source of irrigation for 74% of the farmers wasboth canal and bore well in case of wheat, the percentage was 76 in case of paddy. Harvesting was donemanually by 74.17% of the respondents in case of wheat

168 Parveen Kumar and M.S. Nairi

Table 3. Distribution of respondents according to cropping pattern followed

Cropping Pattern

KharifRabiZaid

Crops grown

Crops grown

Paddy, BajraWheat, Mustard, Barseem, Wheat + MustardMash, Green gram

No. of respondents

Wheat and PaddyWheat, Paddy and MustardWheat Paddy and BarseemWheat, Paddy, Barseem and MashWheat Paddy, Barseem and Green GramWheat, Paddy, Barseem and Bajra

Table 4. Number of respondents

Technological usepattern

Land PreparationAnimal drawnTractor drawnSeedOwnedPurchasedSeed TreatmentFarm Yard ManureFertilizerUreaDAPPotashHerbicidePesticideIrrigationCanalBore wellBothHarvestingManualCombine HarvesterThreshingManualThresher

Wheat(N=120)

6(5)114(95)

34(28.33)86 (71.67)86(71.67)

12(10)

120(100)98 (81.66)

0(0)120(100)14(11.7)

46(38.33)0(0) '

74(61.66)

89(74.17)31(25.83)

0(0)120(100)

according to

Paddy(N=120)

6(5)114(95)

112(93.33)8 (6.67)

112(93.33)5(4.17)

120(100)102(85)

0(0)120(100)

0(0)

22(18.33)28(23.33)70(58.33)

120(100)0(0)

120(100)0(0)

120321202419

120

Percentage

10026.6710020

15.83100

their technological use pattern

Mustard(N=32)

0(0)32(100)

0(0)32 (100)

0(0)0(0)

0(0)0(0)0(0)0(0)0(0)

22(68.75)10 (31.25)

0(0)

32(100)0(0)

32(100)0(0)

CropBarseem(N=120)

6(5)114(95)

12 (10)108 (90)

0(0)0(0)

106(88.3)0(0)0(0)0(0)0(0)

56(46.66)34(28.34)30 (25)

120(100)0(0)

120(100)0(0)

Mash(N=24)

2(8.33)22(91.7)

0(0)24(100)

0(0)0(0)

0(0)0(0)0(0)0(0)0(0)

17(70.83)7(29.17)

0(0)

24(100)0(0)

24(100)0(0)

Green Gram(N=19)

1(5.27)18(94.73)

0(0)19(100)

0(0)0(0)

0(0)0(0)0(0)0(0)0(0)

19(100)0(0)0(0)

19(100)0(0)

19(100)0(0)

Bajra(N=120)

6(5)114(95)

0(0)120(100)

0(0)0(0)

0(0)0(0)0(0)0(0)0(0)

82(68.33)

0(0)38(31.67)

120(100) I0(0)

120(100)1

0(0)

Non

Technology Use Pattern and Constraint Analysis of Farmers in ]ammu District 169

while in all other crops it was cent per cent manually.Threshing by all the farmers in case of wheat was doneby thresher while in other crops was done manually.

The statements in the Table 5 analyzed the constra-ints faced by the farmers with possible intervention. Themajor constraints faced by the farmers are the low yieldthat ultimately results in low yields. Non availability offertilizers, lack of credit facilities and institutionallinkages, lack of knowledge about improved varieties,lack of market intelligence, high transportation chargesand less selling price of the produce were other majorconstraints. Upon analysis of constraints it was foundthat the low profit was mainly attributed to the low seedreplacement ratio in case of paddy and high cost ofinputs which constitute 50% of the total cost ofcultivation. The labour cost too accounts for a major

portion of the cost of cultivation. Lack of knowledgeabout improved varieties, lack of credit facilities, noknowledge about the market and absence ofinstitutional linkages was mainly attributed to the lowuse of information communication technology and theshortage of extension personnel to disseminate therequired technology to the farming community. Hightransportation charges, no information about themarket, and low selling price of the produce was as aresult of lack of procurement centers at the gross rootlevels and the minimum support price set by thegovernment on the recommendation of the cabinetcommittee on economic affairs is much less,

INTERVENTIONS

To overcome the constraints some possibleinterventions need to be tried out. To make agriculture

Table 5. Analysis of the constraints faced by respondents along with possible interventions

ConstraintsLow yields

Non availability of fertilizers

Less profit

Lack of credit facilities

Lack of institutional and marketinkages

Lack of knowledge about improvedvarieties

^ack of procurement facilities

^ess selling price

Causes1. Low seed replacement ratio(SRR)2.Use of local varieties and ownseed kept during the previous year

1. Inability to estimate correctly theamount of fertilizer needed during eachseason,2. Total import of fertilizer from otherstates, lack of fertilizer plant in the state,3. Very low use of organic manures1. High Input cost2. High labor cost

l.Less awareness, cumbersome process

Less extension personnel

1. Illiteracy2. less trickledown effect3. less use of ICT

l.Lack of a coherent procurement policyat the state levell.Low MSP set by the government2. Presence of middlemen

Interventions1. Increasing Seed Replacement Ratio2. National seeds corporation, State SeedsCorporation to produce more seeds3. Seed Banks at the Panchayats levell.Use of Organic manures2. Production of fertilizers as per therequirement of the state

1. Subsidy for inputs2. Switch over to Organic farming,3.Use of Integrated methods for Disease, Pestand weed management4. Cooperative farming1. Increasing awareness, Use of InformationCommunication technology (ICT), Makingprocedure simpler for taking creditl.Para extension workers, Diploma for Agriinput dealers to disseminate requiredtechnology and to augment extension efforts1. Community Information Centers on thepattern of e-choupals based on Hub andSpoke mechanism,2. Use of printed material, seasonal campaigns1. Establishment of seasonal procurementcenters for a cluster comprising 4-5 villages.1. Increase MSP i.e. raising it to total cost ofcultivation +50%2. emphasis on Market ledExtension3. Setting up of regulated markets

170 Parveen Kumar and M.S. Nain

profitable, the focus should shift to the diversificationmade with major emphasis on the food processing andvalue addition. Seed replacement rate should beincreased at least to that of national average of 25%.Presently the seed replacement ratio in the state is lessthan 10%. The seed certification agencies have to renewtheir efforts to increase the supply of improved seeds.The option of establishing seed banks at the village orPanchayat5 level may be exploited and the availabilityof inputs should be ensured regularly. To overcome theshortage of extension personnel, para extension workersshould be prepared. The state Agricultural universitiesneed to introduce a short term diploma programme forthe Agricultural input dealers based on the pattern ofone started by MANAGE, Hyderabad. These inputdealers could disseminate the required knowledge to thefarming community besides ensuring the last miledelivery of Extension services. Agriculture is becoming

. non remunerative largely due to the high cost of inputs.Fertilizers are already being sold at subsidized rates. Acountry like India cannot do away with subsidies.Instead these should be made targeted. Some sort ofceiling should be put on the quantity of items that areto be given to the large farmers at subsidized rates sothat they could be extended to needy one. Forminimum use of these inorganic chemicals, organicfarming should be promoted on a large scale. Alsoconcepts such as minimum or zero tillage, integratedpest management, integrated disease management andintegrated weed management should be popularizedamong the farming community. To reduce the hightransportation charges, procurement centers should besetup at the Panchayat level or for a cluster of villages.At the same time the minimum support priceannounced by the government should be raised to costof cultivation +50%. Presently the MSP announced bythe government is low and the market price is oftenmore than the MSP announced by the government. Toeliminate the menace of middlemen who often force thefarmers to sell their produce at a lower price regulatedmarkets should be established.

CONCLUSION

The findings of the study spell out some important factswhich have a far reaching effect in augmenting theproduction in the state. The low seed replacement ratioin case of Paddy is a serious issue. More than eightyper cent of the farmers still use local varieties from theseed they have kept from the previous year crop. This Iis perhaps one of the major reasons for the low yieldof Paddy in the area. There is an urgent need ofincreasing the seed replacement ratio. A lot of chemicalfertilizer is being used which accounts for a majorportion of the cost of cultivation. Farmers should beencouraged to use organic fertilizers in the form ofanimal dung and other house hold wastes. This wouldreduce the cost of cultivation thus making agriculturemore remunerative. Agriculture cannot be developedonly within the confines of agricultural field. Timelyavailability of inputs, ease of credit facilities and use ofInformation and communication technology for !

bringing a trickle down revolution, suitable pre and postharvest infrastructure in the form of storage sheds, cool |storages and market reforms should be the priority of \e state government.

REFERENCES

Digest of Statistics. 2007-08. Directorate of Economics and IStatistics, 2007, Government of Jammu and Kashmir.

Prasad, G.R. 2009. India's Food Production: Review andParadigm Shifts Desired. Indian Journal of Fertilisers, 5(12):55-56 &59-61.

Singh, B. and B.C. Sharma. 2011. Productivity potential ofMustard Pulses based intercropping systems under!subtropical Kandi areas of Jammu region. Abstract jpublished in 1st JK Agricultural Science Congress.University of Jammu, J&K.

Bhatt, G.M. and S.A. Poddar. 2008. Agriculture in Jammu andKashmir : Challenges and opportunities. Agriculturalsituation in India: 71: 75.

Government of India. 2003. State Development Report,Planning commission, New Delhi.

Received on March, 2012, Revised on September, 2012