Levels of Utilization of Farmer Assurance Centres Services by the Farmers of Kurnool District in Andhra Pradesh

Abstract

Farmer Assurance Centres (FAC) also called Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs) have been transforming the agriculture sector in Andhra Pradesh by catering to the needs of the farmers, from supplying the needed inputs to product procurement and it called “one-stop shops” that provide solutions to farmers from “seed to sale”. They provide a range of services like Agri-input shops, Farmer knowledge centers, kiosks, Community Hiring Centers (CHC), etc., and are equipped with experts from various disciplines of agriculture and allied sectors to assist the farmers. The present study was conducted in the Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh to analyze the extent of utilization of Rythu Bharosa Kendra (RBK) services by the farmers. The data was collected from a total of 80 beneficiary farmers under four RBKs from the selected villages. A simple random sampling technique and descriptive research design were used for the study. The majority of the respondents had a medium level of utilization of RBK services and technologies. Regarding the extent of utilization of services of RBK by the farmers, among the five categories of different services provided by RBKs, marketing services were most utilized by the farmers with the highest mean score values ranging from 2.10 followed by capacity building services and consultancy services with the mean score range of 2.07. Similarly input and veterinary services with the mean score range of 2.07.