Nexus between knowledge of farmers related to paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana and socio-personal variables

Abstract

India is the country with the best indigenous skills and potential for growth and development in organic agriculture due to its traditional type of farming. Currently, primarily agricultural produce is contaminated by various chemicals, and those chemicals badly impair soil, environment, and human health. Organic farming is that system of agriculture which promotes working in harmony with nature rather than against it. The Government of India has realized the dire need and importance of this realm and has taken various initiatives towards it. Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) is one of those initiatives by the Indian Government through which organic farming has been promoted, and people are being made aware of the devastation caused by agrochemicals. The scheme was implemented in the year 2015 throughout the country. In PKVY, rainfed and hilly areas are selected as remote sensing areas because there have been low uses of chemicals on various crops cultivated by the farmers. As we all know that Rajasthan is popularly known for its desert, farmers are also comfortable with organic farming because of its traditional approach. It is a potential zone for PKVY. Thus, to measure the knowledge level of farmers about PKVY, this study was conducted in the Bikaner District of Rajasthan state, which was selected purposely. The Bikaner district comprises eight tehsils, namely Bikaner, Chhatargarh, Khajuwala, Kolayat, Lunkaransar, Nokha, Poogal and Sridungargarh. Out of these, three tehsils, namely Nokha, Sridungarhgarh and Bikaner, were purposely selected for the current investigation based on the highest number of registered farmers under PKVY during 2015–18. One village from each selected tehsil constituted the sample of the study and PKVY beneficiary farmers were purposely selected using proportionate random sampling method and the non-beneficiary farmers were selected randomly from the same villages to constitute the other half of the sample size. Thus, 180 respondents, i.e., 90 beneficiary and 90 non-beneficiary respondents, were included in the present investigation. The study results concluded that the majority of the farmers had a medium level of knowledge about PKVY in the study area. They had the highest knowledge about “nutrient management” and slightest knowledge about “marketing”. A significant association was found between education, mass media exposure, information-seeking behaviour, and information sharing behaviour with the respondents’ knowledge level.