3 research outputs found
Assessing the Bio-Pesticide Market in Khordha District of Odisha, India: A Study on Market Intermediaries\u27 Attitudes and Behaviors
No full textAims: This research analyses and explores the market status of bio-pesticides, attitudes and behaviour of intermediaries, the responsible factors and constraints in Khordha district of Odisha to deliver meaningful insights for the all the stakeholders involved.
Study Design: A descriptive and exploratory research design was utilized in this study.
Place and Duration of Study: This research, conducted in the crop year 2023–24, was confined to the Khordha district of Odisha.
Methodology: This research is based on descriptive and exploratory research design. The primary data was collected for the crop year 2023–24, using experts’ advice based structured schedules via snowball sampling (n=27), complemented by secondary data. Snowball sampling was used for its cost-effectiveness and this method leveraged existing social networks of the researcher. The sample was limited to 27 in number because of time-constraints and availability of the intermediaries during the data collection process. Based on the literature review and suitability of the data, statistical tools and techniques such as One-way ANOVA, Chi-square, Multiple Linear Regression, and Logistic Regression, etc. were analysed using MS Office and IBM SPSS software.
Results: This research revealed annual turnover of bio-pesticide to be positively influenced by number of villages served and number of dealerships of bio-pesticide based companies, while credit period for farmers (days) had a negative impact (F(14,12)=5.393, P=.01, R2=0.937). Among the dealers and retailers, DAESI (Diploma in Agricultural Extension Services for Input Dealers) certification was founf to be the significant and influencing factor in selling bio-pesticides (coefficient 4.252, Pseudo R2=0.673). Dealers and retailers largely preferred national level tours (59 percent), and 52 percent favoured doing business with local companies. They valued working with business-oriented company representatives (63 percent). Their preferred method of business transaction with farmers was cash (56 percent), and 81 percent of the respondents had plan for business expansion. As of promotion, posters/banners (96.30 percent) and farmer meetings (92.59 percent) were the most preferred tools among the dealers and retailers. Major constraints in pesticide business included high transportation costs (mean score: 3.41), lack of farmer knowledge (mean score: 3.22), and High cost of labour (mean score: 3.15).
Conclusion: To promote sustainable agriculture, stakeholders should consider expanding awareness initiatives to educate farmers, retailers and dealers about the benefits of bio-pesticides. Bio-pesticide companies can play a vital role by boosting promotional efforts about the advantages of using bio-pesticides. Moreover, companies should prioritize ethical sales and distribution practices. This study also lays the groundwork for further in-depth research into bio-pesticide sales and marketing strategies, offering opportunities for future exploration and development
Integrated Pest Management Technology as a Means to Cost Efficiency for Cotton Crop in Rajasthan, India
No full textAim: This research is an attempt to uncover the production opportunities of cotton grown with Integrated Pest Management (IPM) technology in Rajasthan, India.
Study Design: The study is based on both descriptive and exploratory type of research design.
Place and Duration of the Study: The study was conducted at Institute of Agri Business Management, Swami Keshwanand Rajasthan Agricultural University, Bikaner, Rajasthan. Sri Ganganagar and Hanumangarh districts of Rajasthan were selected under cotton cultivation for the study. The time duration of the project was for the crop year 2017–18.
Methodology: The respondents for the study were cotton farmers following different pest control measures in the study area. Multistage stratified random sampling method was followed for the research. Two major districts of Irrigated North Western Plain Zone (Zone Ib) were purposely selected. Based on experts’ opinion, villages were selected under three technologies viz. IPM, conventional and mix of both technologies. The list of farmers following IPM and mix of both technologies was collected from Central Integrated Pest Management Centre (CIPMC), Sri Ganganagar and lists of farmers following conventional technology were collected from respective gram panchayats. The sample size for the study was limited to 90 in numbers. The selection of farmers was based on probability proportional to size (PPS) method on the basis of their land holdings from each village. The analysis was done by calculating returns over variable cost, benefit-cost ratio and resource use efficiency of data collected from the field.
Results: The variable costs for the cultivation of cotton per hectare are ₹ 48001.78, ₹ 49105.66 and ₹ 48441.93 for the farmers following IPM, conventional and the mix of both technologies, respectively. The benefit to cost ratio in IPM was found to be the highest i.e. 2.23, followed by 2.04 for mix of both technology, and 1.85 for conventional technology. The estimation of resource use efficiency in cotton indicated the under-utilization of human labour in case of IPM and mix of both technologies and over-utilization of machine labour in case of conventional and IPM technology.
Conclusion: The IPM technology was found to be economical for the farmers growing cotton in the study area. The resources like human labour, machine labour, fertilizers and manure as well as plant protection measures were suggested to be effectively utilized for better cost effectiveness among the farmers in the study area
