Exploring farmers’ perceptions and adoption of orobanche management methods

The present study is an attempt to analyze the farmers perception and adoption behaviour with respect to orobanche management. Expost facto research design is used, and random sampling technique is employed in selection of respondents. The study is based on field survey and interaction with FCV tobacco farmers in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The primary data was collected from 30 randomly selected FCV tobacco farmers in each of the two tobacco growing regions viz., Southern Light Soils (SLS) & Southern Black Soils (SBS) in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka Light Soils (KLS) region in Mysuru district of Karnataka thus making total sample size of 60 respondents. Results showed that orobanche menace is more prominent in FCV tobacco cultivated in black soils and drought condition triggers the parasite in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka respectively. Majority of the farmers follow physical removal of the parasite, deep summer ploughing, inundation to the fields and crop rotation as commonly followed practices for its management. Low adoption behaviour was observed among the respondents in both the study areas. Correlation analysis of independent variables with the adoption behaviour showed that operational land holding, annual income, cosmopolitan nature, mass media exposure, extension contact and participation in extension activities exhibited significant correlation.