Extent of adoption of improved citrus production technologies in Nagpur mandarin belts of Vidarbha region of Maharashtra

Nagpur mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco) is an input intensive perennial fruit crop which is shallow rooted and demands proper care and management throughout its life cycle of 20-25 years sometimes even more. Hence adoption of scientific production techniques is essential to obtain a bumper yield of good quality fruits which can fetch remunerative market price. In this direction, ICAR-Central Citrus Research Institute, Nagpur has developed package of practices right from disease free planting material production technology and nursery management techniques to post harvest handling of fruits. The authors of this study attempt to measure the extent of adoption of these technologies amongst farmers of different yield categories in the citrus growing districts of Nagpur, Amravati and Wardha of Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. The Technology Adoption Index (TAI) was developed for assessing the extent of adoption of improved technologies of ICAR-CCRI. It was found that overall farmers lagged in adoption of post harvest handling of fruits (TAI=12.99). There was found to be very less difference among different categories of farmers with respect to nutrient management and hence this technology showed good extent of adoption (TAI=19.88). Disease management (TAI=14.15) and insect pest management (TAI=16.75) practices were adopted by all categories of farmers but to a slight less extent by medium yielders and extremely low adoption of disease and insect management practices by low yielders. Orchard management (TAI=14.92) were adopted to a moderate extent by all categories of farmers. The findings of the study provide a feedback to researchers for reorienting their research to develop farmer-friendly technologies to address the challenges of citrus farming existing in the region.