Critical Analysis of Backward and Forward Linkages in Cotton Cultivation

Abstract

Backward and forward linkages will help cotton growers to plan their farm activities in advance from production to post production activities and gain information about inter-sectoral linkages operating in cotton cultivation.Understanding the significance of backward and forward linkages in the contemporary scenario, an attempt was made to find out the activity wise backward and forward linkages followed by cotton growers in cotton cultivation. Based on maximum area under cotton cultivation Kurnool and Guntur districts from the state of Andhra Pradesh were purposively selected. An ex-post facto research design was used for the study and the data were collected using pre-structured interview schedule from 240 respondents through multi-stages ampling. The results showed that, with respect to backward linkages more than half (58.33%) of the farmers were having moderate/medium backward linkages with various agencies followed by 21.25 per cent were having low and remaining 20.41 per cent were having high level of backward linkages with various agencies. With respect to forward linkages nearly half (49.58%) of the farmers were having forward linkages with various agencies followed by 30.41 per cent were having low and rest onefifth (20.00%) were having high backward linkages with various agencies.These findings draw attention of researchers, policy makers and other stakeholders for the introduction of innovative methods in better indulgent of backward and forward linkages in cotton cultivation.