Adoption of improved production technology of Mandarin in Rajasthan, India: A review

Abstract

Fruits are of great importance in the field of human nutrition. Citrus is one of the most important fruit crop in India. In India common citrus fruits are mandarin, sweet orange and lime. India also earns foreign exchange by exporting orange to Iran, Bahrin, Singapore etc. The demand for mandarin fruit is very high because of its nutritive value. Citrus fruits have a special place in Indian diet as they are rich source of vitamin C, vitamin A and B and fruit sugars. In some part of Rajasthan such as Jhalawar, Kota, Sikar and Ganganagar districts, citrus is the leading fruit crop. Nagpuri mandarin is quite important and produced commercially at large scale of the various types of citrus. Majority of the farmers (69.00%) were found to have medium level of knowledge about improved production technology. The study shows farmers possessed maximum knowledge about “varieties” and “plantation” while minimum knowledge was reported in “manure and fertilizer” and “plant protection measure”. Majority of farmers (64.00%) were found to have medium level of adoption of mandarin production technology. The study indicates that farmers had high adoption level for the practices viz., varieties and plantation and low adoption practices viz., manure and fertilizer and plant protection measures. The knowledge of the farmers about improved production technology of mandarin cultivation was positively and significantly associated with their caste, occupation, educational level, social participation, size land holding while their market distance and irrigation potentiality were negatively and non significantly co-related with their knowledge level. Key words: Citrus, mandarin, improved production technology, farmers.