Decision of Hi-Tech Vegetable Farmers on Nutrient Management and Advisory Service Preference

The study was aimed to explore the decisions on nutrient management by the adopters of precision farming and to identify preferred source of advisory immediate to adoption of precision farming and the present time. The study was also aimed at finding out whether the early adopters and late adopters differed significantly in their decisions and whether the adopters differed significantly between two time periods. The study was conducted in Palacode and Pennagaram blocks of Dharmapuri district during May and June 2023. Survey was conducted among 120 randomly selected precision farming farmers. The data on the decision of farmers on nutrient management and the concerned advisory source were collected for two time periods. The respondents were categorized into early adopters (more than 8 years of experience in precision farming) and late adopters (up to 8 years of experience). McNemar's test and Wilcoxon signed ranks test were used to compare the same sets of respondents over two time periods and Mann Whitney U test was used to compare the early and late adopters on their decisions. Majority(59.57 and 35.62 per cent) of the early and late adopters respectively were dependent on their own experience at present, which is significantly different from the period immediate to adoption with Z= -4.707 at P=0.000 for early adopters and with Z= -2.235 at P=0.025 for late adopters. Mann Whitney U test carried out between early and late adopters indicated a significant difference in the preference of advisory sources in the period immediate to adoption at P=0.045. Early and late adopters did not differ significantly in their advisory preference at present.76.60 per cent of the early adopters and 60.27 per cent of the late adopters were found to have followed Integrated Nutrient Management practices immediate to adoption. It had increased to 78.72 per cent and 75.44 per cent respectively. McNemar test resulted in the probability value of 0.001 (p<0.01) for late adopters indicating that late adopters differed significantly in their decision over two time periods. The early adopters did not differ significantly between two time periods. Similarly the early and late adopters did not differ significantly in their nutrient management decisions. Majority of the early adopters had previously adopted INM and hence there was no increase the proportion of respondents in nutrient management between two time periods, on the other hand, the late adopters who had not adopted INM to a greater extent during initial adoption had now shifted to INM significantly. Hence, the public extension system and the scientists are needed to intervene and promote the INM practices among the non-adopters keeping view of the sustainability, soil health and reducing cost of cultivation to farmers.