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Department of Agril. Extension Education, S.V. Agricultural College, ANGRAU, Tirupati-517 502.
The study was conducted to know the profile of cotton growers in light soils of Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh over a randomly drawn sample of 120 cotton growers and the results revealed that the majority of the respondents were middle aged with a middle school level of education, small and marginal farmers with medium farm size, annual income, achievement motivation, innovativeness, mass media exposure, scientific orientation, risk orientation, economic orientation, and market orientation towards on growing of cotton in light soils.
KEYWORDS: Profile, cotton, light soils.
Growing cotton in light soils, predominantly sandy or loamy, necessitates meticulous soil management and irrigation practices to ensure optimal plant health and yield. These soils offer excellent drainage but are often deficient in water and nutrient retention. Enhancing soil fertility through the incorporation of organic matter, such as compost or well rotted manure, is crucial for improving soil structure and its ability to support cotton cultivation. A comprehensive soil test should be conducted to ascertain the pH and nutrient levels, as cotton prefers a slightly acidic to neutral pH range of 5.8 to 7.0.
The study was conducted with an Ex post facto research design to assess profile of cotton growers in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh. Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh was selected for the study based on the highest area and production under cotton cultivation. From the district, four mandals namely Adoni, Yemmiganur, Mantralayam, and Aspari with the highest area and production were selected for the study. From each of the selected mandal three villages were selected, and ten farmers from each village were selected by following a simple random sampling procedure, thus making a total of 120 respondents. Eleven independent variables that were relevant for the study and two dependent variables namely level of knowledge and level of satisfaction were identified for the investigation.
The cotton growers were distributed into different categories based on their selected profile and the results were presented in Table 1.
The majority (58.33%) of the cotton farmers belonged to the middle-age category followed by the young (33.34%) and old age (8.33%) categories The trend might be attributed to the fact that older individuals have retired, handing down their occupations to their eldest sons. A similar finding was reported by Reddy (2017).
A significant fraction (22.50%) of the cotton farmers belonged to functionally literate, followed by illiterates (20.00%), primary school (17.50%), high school (15.00%), intermediate (15.00%), and graduates (10.00%). The most likely reason is that practically everyone aspires to be literate as people become more aware of the importance of education.
The results are in tune with the results of Parveen (2015).
About 44.16 per cent of cotton farmers had semi- medium farm size followed by small (25.83%), medium (19.16%), marginal(9.16%), and large(1.16%) farm size. This might be due to the reason that most of the respondents had low income and fragmentation of land
was occurring from generation to generation and with an increase in the population small holdings became more prevalent. These findings conform with the results of Parveen (2015).
A large segment (40.84%) of the respondents had a medium level of annual income followed by a high level (35.00%) and a low levels of annual income (24.16%). Despite having hardships in farming, as cotton is a commercial crop, farmers were very interested in cultivating cotton on a large scale and enjoying the returns from the crop. These findings conform with Reddy’s (2017) results.
Nearly half (43.33 %) of the farmers had medium achievement motivation followed by high (30.00%) and low(26.67%) levels of achievement motivation. The possible reason for the medium achievement motivation of farmers might be that these categories of respondents consisted of a greater number of middle-aged, experienced as well as educated farmers. The result was supported by the findings of Kumar (2019).
About 46.65 per cent of the respondents had medium innovativeness followed by high (27.50%) and low (25.85%) levels of innovativeness. The possible reason for this trend might be that the farmers with higher education, medium extension contact, and mass media exposure were able to update their knowledge and skills from time to time and ready to accept the new technologies in their farming. This result was in accordance with the findings of Parveen (2015).
A little more than half (51.67%) of the respondents had medium mass media exposure followed by high (27.50%) and low (20.83%) levels of mass media exposure. The possible reason for the above trend might be high education level, medium extension contact, and mass media exposure of the respondents which directly contributes to the scientific orientation among the cotton farmers. This finding was in accordance with the findings of Patel (2016).
Nearly half (46.66%) of the respondents had medium scientific orientation followed by high (29.17%) and low (24.17%) levels of scientific orientation. The possible reason for this might be that the high education level, and mass media exposure which directly contribute to the scientific orientation among the cotton farmers. This finding was in accordance with the findings of Kumar (2019).
A significant portion (40.84%) of cotton farmers had a high level of risk orientation followed by medium (33.33%) and low (25.83%) levels of risk orientation. The possible reason for this situation might be that the small and medium land holdings of the majority of the respondents, This finding was in conformity with the findings of Parveen (2015).
About 50.83 per cent of respondents had medium level of economic orientation followed by high (25.84%) and low (23.33%) levels of economic orientation. This disparity in economic motivation results in differences in income levels, resource utilization, and overall farm development among farmers. This finding was in accordance with the findings of Gaware (2019).
The study revealed that 53.33 per cent of respondents had a medium level of market orientation followed by low (24.17%) and high (22.50%) levels of market orientation. Specifically, the cotton crop being commercial, it requires different inputs from seed to final harvest. Hence the above trend might have occurred. The results were in accordance with the results of Prathyusha (2014).
The results showed that the majority of the respondents were middle-aged with a middle school level of education, small and marginal farmers with medium farm size, medium annual income, medium achievement motivation, medium levels of innovativeness, mass media exposure, scientific orientation, risk orientation, economic orientation, and market orientation towards growing of cotton in light soils.
Gaware, K.M. 2019. Entrepreneurial behaviour of onion seed producers. M.Sc. (Ag.) Thesis (Unpublished). Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola.
Kumar, P., Dhorey, R.K and Singh, S.N. 2019. Profile characteristics of farmers in adoption of Bt cotton. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences. 8 (1): 2373-2378.
Parveen, S.N. 2015. A study on feasibility and adoption of best management practices of cotton in Nalgonda district of Telangana. M.Sc. (Ag.) Thesis. Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, Hyderabad, India.
Patel, J.K., Prajapati, M.R and Patel, V.T. 2016. Knowledge and attitude of bt cotton growers about integrated pest management. International Journal of Agriculture Sciences. 8(25): 1511-1513.
Prathyusha, T. 2014. A study on SWOT analysis of Bt cotton in Karimnagar district of Andhra Pradesh. M.Sc. (Ag.) Thesis. Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, Hyderabad, India.
Reddy, M.M.K. 2017. Impact of mobile phone based agro-advisory services on cotton farmers. Ph.D. Thesis. Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, Hyderabad, India.