Knowledge of Tribal Farmers about VDVK Activities in Andhra Pradesh

Abstract

Van Dhan Vikas Kendra’s (VDVK) were formed as a part of Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Vikas Yojana (PMVDVY) scheme, which constitutes of around 300 members in each VDVK. In VDVK activities like value addition to various forest products, trainings etc., were done in order to provide employment opportunities, avoid exploitation by the middlemen and to improve the livelihood of the tribals. The objectives of the current study were 1. To study the profile characteristics of the tribal farmers. 2. To assess the knowledge of tribal farmers about VDVK activities. 3. To find out the relationship between profile characteristics and knowledge of tribal farmers. The present study i.e., Knowledge of tribal farmers about VDVK activities in Andhra Pradesh was conducted under ITDA-Rampachodavaram which was situated in Andhra Pradesh in the year 2021-2022. Out of the seven tribal mandals, only two mandals i.e., Rampachodavaram, Maredumilli mandals were selected randomly and from each mandal four villages were selected by simple random sampling method. By using proportionate sampling method, a sample size of 105 was taken. Through the findings, it was revealed that majority of the beneficiaries were young age group and belonged to female gender. Most of the beneficiaries were illiterates, having low annual income and small land holdings. Majority of the beneficiaries had moderate level of utilisation of source of information, with medium extension contact and having medium awareness regarding PMVDVY. While knowledge about VDVK activities, majority of the beneficiaries comes under medium category. Thus, the present study helps in finding the lacunae in the implementation of PMVDVY scheme and running VDVK’s smoothly, effectively and efficiently.