PROFILE OF ORNAMENTAL NURSERY OWNERS, THEIR CONSTRAINTS AND SUGGESTIONS

Abstract

An ornamental nursery is a place where ornamental plants and their promoting commodities are being produced. The ornamental nursery owners are entrepreneurs who are engaged in operating and maintaining their enterprises. The present study was conducted in four talukas of the Navsari district of South Gujarat namely Khergam, Chikhli, Gandevi and Vansda during the year 2022-23. Among each selected talukas 25 respondents were randomly selected. Thus, a total of 100 ornamental nursery owners were drawn for the study. The study was conducted to study the profile of ornamental nursery owners and to find out the constraints faced by ornamental nursery owners and seek their suggestions to overcome the constraints. The present study revealed that the majority of ornamental nursery owners were in middle age, had medium and small family sizes, high school level of education, marginal land holding, medium farming experience, above ₹ 2,00,000 annual income, only ornamental nursery as a main occupation, not a member of any organisation, medium mass media exposure, medium level of material possession, medium level of extension contact. The study further revealed that education, social participation and mass media exposure together influenced nearly half of the entrepreneurial behaviour (dependent variable). Moreover, the study reveals that major constraints faced by ornamental nursery owners were a lack of awareness regarding nursery production technology/Govt. initiatives, lack of timely technical advice regarding plant protection and nursery management, and scarcity of labours. The major suggestions given by ornamental nursery owners to overcome their constraints were extension contact should be strengthened, increase dissemination of information regarding Govt. initiatives/ training programmes/ plant protection, provide improved practices of mechanization.