Constraints in Pigeonpea Production in Maharashtra

The study was conducted to identify the constraints in pigeonpea production in Maharashtra. For this purpose a survey was conducted in Akola district of the State which was representative of the main pulses growing zone of India. Three villages were selected randomly i.e. one from Akola taluka and two from Murtizapur talukas. A sample of 135 farmers were selected, of which, 90 farmers were from adopted villages and 45 farmers from non-adopted villages. The result of the present study was observed to identify the constraints in pigeonpea production. In last five years soybean, black gram, green gram were found replacing pigeonpea (12.59 percent). It is hypothesized that some constraints in pigeonpea production must be responsible for reducing the area of pigeonpea and it is observed that major constraints in pigeonpea were non-availability of good quality seed, high seed price and lack of information about recommended variety, high incidence of pest and disease, poor test which was analyzed by Garrett ranking method.