PURCHASE BEHAVIOUR OF PADDY FARMERS TOWARDS HYBRID PADDY SEEDS IN DHARAMPUR TALUKA OF VALSAD DISTRICT

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Seed is the initial point of cropping cycle. Seeds play a vital role in agriculture and the seeds industry is rapidly growing due to the rising demand for increased food production and high quality seeds. The primary aim of this study was to explore the purchase behaviour of farmers regarding hybrid paddy seeds. To fulfill the objective descriptive research design was adopted with Multi-stage sampling method. Initially, Dharampur taluka was purposefully selected from 6 talukas in Valsad district. In the next stage, 10 villages were randomly selected within Dharampur taluka. Finally, 10 paddy farmers were conveniently selected from each village, resulting in a total sample size of 100 farmers. The structured interview schedule was used to collect the primary data from farmers. The collected data was analyzed with the help of statistical tools as simple percentage analysis, weighted average mean, rating scale, etc. The study found that most farmers (56%) were belonged to 41 to 50 year age group, primarily had secondary education (45%) and commonly combined farming with animal husbandry (58%). Most of the farmers (56%) owned small, fragmented land under 1 hectare. Hybrid paddy seed purchase was influenced by past experience and product benefits. KEY WORDS: Socio-economic profile, Purchase behaviour, Paddy farmers, Hybrid paddy seeds, Valsad district