IMPACT OF NFSM ON CHANGE IN KNOWLEDGE LEVEL OF BENEFICIARY AND NON-BENEFICIARY FARMERS ABOUT RECOMMENDED PACKAGE OF PRACTICES OF CHICKPEA

Abstract

National Food Security Mission (NFSM) is a centrally sponsored scheme launched in 2007-08, with mission aims to increasing the productivity at the individual farmers through the adoption of improved technologies and farming practices. To assess the effectiveness of the NFSM-pluses in Rajasthan state the chickpea crop is select for this study because India is the single largest producer of chickpea in the world and it is called as King of Pulses. The study was conducted in two Agro-climatic zones of the Rajasthan state i.e. Ic (Hyper arid partial irrigated) and zone IIIa (Semi-arid eastern plains). From these zones 120 Beneficiary Farmers (BFs) and 120 Non-beneficiary Farmers (NBFs) were selected randomly from selected village. Thus, total sample size of 240 respondents. The findings of study shows that majority of beneficiary farmers (46.67%) and non-beneficiary farmers (40 per cent) had medium knowledge level about recommended package of practices of chickpea. According to practice wise extent of knowledge it was found that both BFs and NBFs possessed maximum knowledge level for practice like Time of sowing with (91.53 MPS & 74.03 MPS) and assigned first rank while last rank order assigned for the practices like Physiological aspects (59.50MPS), Plant protection measures (42.25 MPS) and Weed management due to lack of knowledge, its complexity and risky application to the crop. The comparative data related to extent level of knowledge between BFs and NBFs show significance difference in all packages of practice of chickpea cultivation except the Irrigation Management show good impact of NFSM on change in knowledge level of beneficiary farmers of both Agro-climatic zones. The value of rank correlation (rs) was 0.61 which shows positive rank correlation between beneficiary and non-beneficiary farmer’s knowledge level.