PERCEPTION OF FARMERS ABOUT NATURAL FARMING

The study aimed to assess farmers’ perceptions of Natural Farming practices in Anand district, Gujarat. A sample of 120 farmers, who had received training on Natural Farming through the Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA), were selected for the study. Data were collected through personal interviews and analyzed using appropriate statistical tools. The results showed that a majority of farmers (79.16%) had a high perception of Natural Farming practices, while 9.17% had medium and 9.17% had very high perceptions. No farmers were found to have a very low perception. The study further explored the relationship between farmers’ characteristics and their perception of Natural Farming practices. The findings revealed that economic motivation (r = 0.463), innovativeness (r = 0.280), risk orientation (r = 0.263), social participation (r = 0.218), and family size (r = 0.196) had a significant positive relationship with farmers’ perceptions. These results suggest that factors like economic motivation and innovativeness play crucial roles in shaping farmers’ perceptions, influencing their willingness to adopt Natural Farming practices. The study concludes that fostering economic motivation and enhancing farmers’ social participation are key strategies to promote the wider adoption of natural farming practices.