Constraints Faced in Adoption of Yield Maximizing Technologies by Pulse Growers

Pulses in India are considered as poor man’s protein. Pulses contain higher level of vegetable protein compared to any other grains and vegetables. The net availability of pulses has come down from 60 gm/ day/person in 1951 to 53 gm/day/person in 2017. Therefore, the present study was attempted to assess the constraints in adoption of yield maximising pulse technologies as perceived by the farmers of Tiruchirappalli district which would be essential for future planning by the policy makers to meet the farmer needs and enhance the production and productivity of pulses. A total of 200 farmers @ 50 farmers per category of pulse crop were surveyed for the study using simple random sampling technique and purposive sampling. Percentage analysis and Garrett ranking method were used to compute the data. It is evident from the study that more than 90 per cent of the farmers perceived lack of knowledge on pests and disease management, lack of guidance on marketing, non-cooperation among farmers, exploitation by input dealers /private agencies as prime constraints. By Garrett ranking method of analysis, the first five ranked factors of constraints faced by the pulse growers are pest and diseases (78.465) ranked first followed by poor marketing guidance (75.385), lack of technical know-how (75.05), low market price/price fluctuation (74.735), exploitation by input dealers /private agencies (71.255). Conducting a greater number of extension activities, training programmes, awareness programmes and the use of ICT tools along with mass media will certainly minimise these constraints thereby reducing the yield gap in pulse production.