Level of determinants and constraints in adoption of different rainwater harvesting systems in Chandel District of Manipur

The study was conducted on 80 farmers of Chandel district of Manipur state, India to delineate the constraints in adoption of rainwater harvesting (RWH) technologies. It was done to assess the major factors or determinants influencing farmers’ adoption decisions and their willingness to adopt these techniques. A detailed structured pretested schedule containing a list of constraints and a focused group discussion was used and the opinion of respondents in the study area on constraints was measured on a five point continuum scale of very severe, quite severe, severe, not so severe and least severe with score of 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1, respectively. Relevancy Coefficient was determined for each constraint reported and Garret’s ranking technique was used for analysis. The major constraints in rapid adoption were found to be land tenureship, rain-fed mono-cropping system and small land holdings with relevancy coefficients of 0.92, 0.76 and 0.75 respectively. Labour scarcity during the peak season too was a major constraint with a relevancy coefficient of 0.96. Farmers’ high motivation to successfully integrate the time-proven scientific technologies to suit their socio-economic and agro-ecological conditions would further affect its profitability and sustainability. Identifying and overcoming the constraints would lead to wide scale adoption of the RWH technologies at the grassroot level and this would trigger conservation and harvesting of the scarce and fragile resources and to expand income generation opportunities for improved livelihoods.