Constraints Faced by the Farmers in Adoption of Recommended Cultivation Practices of Maize (Zea mays) in the State of Nagaland

Abstract

Nagaland is an agrarian state and agriculture being the backbone of the state's economy, a vast majority of the population depends on agriculture as a source of livelihood. Two of the most widely practiced methods of cultivation in the state are jhum (shifting cultivation) and terrace cultivation, which contributes to about 86 per cent of the total cultivable land. Few of the major variants of cereals produced in the state are rice, maize and millet. Due to ever increasing population growth and rise in demand of food grains, it has become mandatory to bridge this gap of demand and supply, which can only be fulfilled by putting into practice advanced and improved cultivation methods as well as use of modern technologies, quality inputs and high yielding varieties by the farming community. In order to find out the constraints faced by the farmers while adopting recommended cultivation practices of maize, a study was carried out in six districts of Nagaland taking a sample size of 300 maize farmers. An open-ended questionnaire was used to collect the farmer's constraints through personal interview technique and ranking was done based on the frequency and percentage. Findings of the study revealed that the major constraints faced by the farmers while adopting recommended cultivation practices of maize were non-availability of quality seeds which was followed by high pest and disease incidence, lack of proper financial assistance and subsidies, low market value for crops and lack of result-oriented trainings and demonstrations.