wrapper.cdr 6343 Research Article Journal of Extension Education Vol. 31 No. 3, 2019 DOI:https://doi.org/10.26725/JEE.2019.3.31.6343-6348 1 Senior Scientist & Head, ICAR-Krishi Vigyan Kendra, 2 - 6 Subject matter specialist, ICAR-Central Island Agriculture Research Institute, Andaman and Nicobar Islands - 744 201. Received : 08-12-2019; Accepted : 03-03-2020 Cultivation and Marketing Knowledge level of Areca nut Farmers in Andaman & Nicobar Islands B. L. Kasinath1, B.L. Meena2, Shailesh Kumar3, S.V.Lal4, P. Kapoor5 and B. Gangaiah6 ABSTRACT Areca nut (Areca catechu L) also known as betel nut or supari is the second most important plantation crop of Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI) after coconut It has been observed that wide differences in productivity of areca nut exist among the farmers with in a village due to socio-economic status. A survey based study was conducted to understand the knowledge level of areca nut growers and link to productivity vis-a-vis socio-economic status. For this purpose, 120 areca nut farmers from four villages of Harinagar Panchayat were randomly selected. Data collected were analysed following standard statistical procedures. The results showed that 52.5% of areca nut growers had poor knowledge of cultivation and marketing. The study also revealed that about 45% growers had poor knowledge about selection of suitable site, soil and spacing requirement for plants. The analysis of socio-economic factors with knowledge level of farmers revealed that knowledge of respondents increased with the increase in their education and land holdings whereas it was negatively correlated with age and annual income. Further, the study also suggests that, educating the farmers through mass media, capacity building and demonstration will help them in learning/ adopting new technologies, which in turn help them to increase their productivity level and farming income on sustainable basis. Keywords: Knowledge; Areca nut; Productivity; Socio-Economics; Andaman & Nicobar Islands INTRODUCTION Areca nut (Areca Catechu L.) is an important commercial plantation crop grown in India. The research and extension institutions recommend of improved production technologies to farmers for achieving higher returns, yet the growers are not following all the recommended technologies and their cultivation pattern vary from farmer to farmer according to their personal, psychological, socio-economical characteristics, availability of inputs for cultivation and avenues for marketing of areca nut. A study in Uttaranchal had showed that 73.60 per cent knowledge gap existed with respect to adoption of improved Agricultural practices (Chandra and Pandey, 2006). Hence, it was felt to analyse knowledge and adoption levels of 6344 recommended cultivation practices of areca nut growers; their economic performance in relation to their personal, psychological, socio- economical characteristics and the problems faced by them. Keeping this in view the present study has been undertaken to study and ascertain knowledge level of farmers in the middle Andaman regarding areca nut cultivation and marketing and its relationship with farmers’ socio economic characteristics. METHODOLOGY The study was conducted in the year 2017-18 in middle Andaman area of North and Middle Andaman district. Four villages under Harinagar Panchayat viz., Harinagar,Kamalapur,Pinakininagar and Jaipur representing major areca nut growing belt was selected for the study in consultation with local line departments. A total of 120 farmers were selected randomly for the study and data was collected using pre-tested structural schedule through personal interview method. The data were analyzed and tabulated using frequency and percentage. The knowledge level of farmers was measured using three point scale on areca nut grower’s knowledge about selection of suitable site/soil, selection of suitable varieties, spacing and proper method of land preparation, application of manure (FYM) and fertilisers, knowledge about pests and diseases, pesticides, fungicides and weedicides, waiting period & pesticide residue. Knowledge was evaluated in terms poor knowledge, medium knowledge and good knowledge. Knowledge of individual farmer was calculated by adding the scores of 14 dimensions. In addition to this information on age and education was also collected and analysed during the study. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION The knowledge adoption is a social process (Rogers, 2003) and the behaviour is influenced by many factors like social networks, personal circumstances, education and economic situations (Singh et al., 2011). In this study, the majority of respondents were in the age group of less than 60 years (38%). It was observed that only 28 per cent of young (age <35 years) are engaged in areca nut cultivation. The education level of respondents showed that 46.66 per cent farmers are illiterate/ studied up to 8th standard and only 33.33 per cent farmers studied up to secondary level. Only 20 per cent of them had completed the graduation. Table-1 shows that in the present study it was found that 44.16 per cent respondents owned less than 1.0 ha while majority of farmers owned less than 1.0 ha area under areca nut cultivation. Areca nut crop contributes major proportion of income (57.5%) of farmers out of their total annual income (more than 1.5 lakhs). The annual income (more than 2.0 lakhs) of the majority of farmers (46.66 %) are categorised in higher income group and areca nut cultivation contributes around 50 per cent of annual income of the farmers. As shown in Table-2, knowledge levels of respondents were analysed considering 14 parameters. Majority of farmers were found to possess poor knowledge about site selection and suitable soil requirement for the Journal of Extension Education (Conference Special) 6345 crop (43 %). This may be due to the fact that the farmers owning mostly hilly land and are forced to take up the cultivation irrespective of soil types. For growing a successful crop, improved varieties play a vital role and the study shows that 46.66 per cent farmers do not have knowledge about availability of high yielding disease resistance varieties/ hybrids, which is very much essential to minimize the crop loss as well as reduces the cost of production through minimising the Table.1 Socio Economic Profile of Areca nut Growers (n=120) Sl. No. Profile Characters Classification Respondents Frequency Percentage 1 Age Less than 35 years (Young) 34 28.33333 35 to 60 years (Middle) 46 38.33333 Above 60 years(Old) 40 33.33333 2 Education level Illiterate/Less than VIII std 56 46.66667 up to XII std. 40 33.33333 Graduate & Above 24 20.00 3 Total Owned Area Less than 1 ha 53 44.16667 1.0 ha to 2.0 ha 35 29.16667 More than 2.0 ha 32 26.66667 4 Area under Areca nut Less than 1 ha 83 69.16667 1.0 ha to 2.0 ha 21 17.5 More than 2.0 ha 16 13.33333 5 Total Annual income Less than Rs 1.5 lakh (low) 20 16.66667 Rs.1.5 to Rs 2.0 lakh (Medium) 44 36.66667 More than Rs 2.0 lakh (High) 56 46.66667 6 Income from Arecanut Cultivation Less than Rs1.0 lakh (low) 12 10.00 Rs. 1.0 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh (Medium) 39 32.5 More than Rs 1.5 lakh (High) 69 57.5 Cultivation and Marketing Knowledge level of Areca nut Farmers in Andaman & Nicobar Islands 6346 requirement of plant protection chemicals, and for achieving desirable yields and income. In the present study, it was observed that majority of farmers were not aware about application of manure and fertilizers application (56.66 %), possessed poor knowledge about pest and diseases (53.33%), and poor knowledge (56.66 %) on use of Table 2. Knowledge level of Respondents about Basic Agricultural Practices Sl. No. Cultivation Practices Level of Knowledge Poor knowledge Medium knowledge Good knowledge Frequ ency Percen tage Frequ ency Percen tage Frequ ency Percen tage 1 Selection of Suitable Site/Soil 52 43.33 44 36.66 24 20 2 Selection of Suitable Varieties 56 46.66 44 36.66 20 16.66 3 Spacing and Proper Method Land Preparation 52 43.33 48 40 20 16.66 4 Application of manure (FYM) application & Fertilisers 68 56.66 32 26.66 20 16.66 5 Knowledge about pests and diseases 64 53.33 32 26.66 24 20.00 6 Knowledge about pesticides, fungicides and weedicides 68 56.66 32 26.66 20 16.66 7 About waiting period knowledge for pesticide residue 76 63.33 24 20 20 16.66 8 Knowledge about Biological control methods 88 73.33 28 23.33 4 3.33 9 Knowledge about use of organic pesticides/ bio control methods 71 59.16 28 23.33 21 17.5 10 Knowledge about harvesting index 48 40 51 42.5 21 17.5 11 Knowledge of post harvest handling/packing 56 46.66 32 26.66 32 26.66 12 Knowledge about grading 52 43.33 44 36.66 24 20.00 13 Knowledge about marketing 64 53.33 40 33.33 16 13.33 14 Knowledge about marketing costs 72 60 32 26.66 16 13.33 Mean 63.35 36.5 20.14 Journal of Extension Education (Conference Special) 6347 pesticides/fungicides. This may be due to less pest and disease problems in areca nut crop in the Island, non-availability of plant protection chemicals and lack of awareness about pest and diseases as they are still dependent on agricultural department for supply of plant protection chemicals. The data presented in Table-3 shows the overall knowledge level of respondents towards basic areca nut cultivation practices. It was observed that 52.5 per cent of respondents possessed poor knowledge, about latest technologies/skills in areca nut cultivation. This may be mainly due to lower socio-economic status of the farmers. The adoption behaviour is influenced by many factors like their social networks, personal circumstances, education and economic situations (Singh et al., 2011). Thus there is need to increase the level of knowledge through awareness training/ demonstrations in order to achieve the desirable yield levels in areca nut cultivation on sustainable basis. The knowledge level of respondents in different dimensions of areca nut cultivation were subjected to correlation analysis with their socio-economic parameters like land holdings, age, education and annual income as given in Table-4. The knowledge level about cultivation, marketing aspects of areca nut showed land holdings and education level showed positive correlation and on the Table 3. Overall classification of Knowledge level of respondents towards Basic Agricultural Practices Sl. No. Knowledge level of respondents Classification Frequency Percentage 1 Poor Knowledge 63 52.5 2 Medium Knowledge 37 30.83333 3 Good Knowledge 20 16.66667 Total 120 100.00 Cultivation and Marketing Knowledge level of Areca nut Farmers in Andaman & Nicobar Islands Table 4. Correlation of Socio Economic Status with Knowledge level of respondents Sl. No. Socio economic parameter Knowledge Correlation coefficient “r” 1 Total Owned Area 0.9635341 2 Area under Areca nut 0.9439795 3 Total Annual income -0.99756 4 Income from Areca nut -0.988676 5 Age -0.988676 6 Educational Level 0.9927778 6348 other hand income and age were negatively correlated. It can be consumed that educated farmers are more motivated towards learning new innovations in farming. CONCLUSION The farmers in middle Andaman possessed poor to medium level of knowledge in areca nut cultivation practices. It was observed that farmers had poor knowledge in use of improved varieties for better productivity and returns and possessed medium knowledge level in nutrient, and have poor knowledge in plant protection and post- harvest management aspects. This may be the reason for the lower productivity levels and lower annual income in Island farmers. Further it was found that due to lack of storage and subsidised transport facilities, they have been forced to sell their produce at local markets that too to middlemen. Effort should be made by developmental departments for establishment of FPOs and subsidized transport and storage facilities should be provided. In order to increase the productivity, effort should be made by the extension institutions in motivating and educating the farmers through mass media, capacity building programmes and demonstrations. REFERENCES Chandra, N. & Pandey, D. (2006) Transfer of technology in hill agriculture. In Gupta, H.S., Srivastav, A.K. and Bhatt, J.C. (Eds) Sustainable production from Agricultural Watersheds in North West Himalaya. Vivekanand parvitiya Krishi Anusandan Sansthan,Almora,pp526-534. Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations. Free press. New York. Singh, D. K., Gautam, U. S., Singh. S. R. K., & Patle, N. K., (2011). Awareness of farmers related Crop Production technology in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh. Indian Journal of Extension Education. 47 (1&2):113-116. Journal of Extension Education (Conference Special)