Identifying Farmers’ Preferences and Constraints to Finger Millet Production in the Submontane Kumaon and Garhwal Himalayan region of India

Researches have revealed that the rate of adoption of improved cultivars by farmers in difficult and resource-poor regions of the world is positively influenced by the inclusion of farmers’ preferences in the breeding objectives. A study was conducted in Kumaon and Garhwal region of Uttarakhand to examine factors constraining farmer’s adoption of improved production technology in finger millet, identify farmers’ preferences for crop variety traits and improved cultivation practices and to find out the effect of improved agricultural technology on productivity. Study revealed that varietal performance of improved finger millet varieties (VL Mandua 376 and VL Mandua 379) was higher than the farmer’s local finger millet variety. VL Mandua 376 was preferred as it performed better in traits like grain yield, head size, seed quality and taste followed by VL Mandua 379 and local variety. Based on the overall preference score, treatment 2 (improved variety along with broadcasting) was preferred by farmers. Treatment 1 (Improved variety with line sowing) was less preferred by farmers as it fails to score better in farmers’ convenience which was highly rated by farmers as a preference criterion. The practice of mixed cropping in finger millet is the major factor that constraints the adoption of improved method of sowing in finger millet crop. Line sowing perceived as labourious and cumbersome in finger millet crop as it is mostly grown under rainfed conditions. The study expected that breeding program will integrate these criteria in finger millet variety profiling to enhance adoption.