Socio economic status of lac growing farmers of Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh and Gondia district of Maharashtra

Abstract

To study socio economic status of lac growing farmers’, random sampling technique was followed to select lac growers and interviewed through a structured questionnaire on selected 40 farmers in Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh and 31 farmers in the Gondia district of Maharashtra between 2020 and 2021. The study revealed that majority of lac growers of Balaghat (67.5%) and Gondia (48.39%) belonged to middle age group (35-55 years) and in terms of production, 42.5% farmers of Balaghat and 38.7% farmers of Gondia produced Rangeeni lac between 100-300 kg per annum. In Balaghat district, income from lac contributes 31.85% to farmer’s total household income and maximum farmers (27.5%) earned Rs. 10001-20000 per annum from lac cultivation whereas in Gondia district, lac income contributes 22.12% to farmer’s total household income and maximum farmers (22.6%) earned between 40001-60000 per annum from lac cultivation. Study revealed that most of the farmers of Balaghat and Gondia districts are getting supplementary income from lac cultivation, there is a need - for capacity building and awareness on scientific methods of lac cultivation to enhance production and income so can be developed as a successful model of income generation of local communities through lac cultivation.