Adoption Behavior among Farmers of Tamil Nadu towards District Agro-meteorology Unit (DAMU) Agro Advisory Services in Agriculture and Allied Sectors

Abstract

An ex post facto research was undertaken during 2022 to assess farmers' adoption of District Agro-Meteorology Unit (DAMU) Agro Advisory Services (AAS) in Cuddalore, Ramnad, and Aruppukottai districts of Tamil Nadu with sample size of 180. Data was collected using a standardized questionnaire. DAMU offers specialized weather information to support local agricultural activities. The study revealed that 70 per cent of farmers fall into the "Medium" adoption category adopting weather-based timing for planting, harvesting, and irrigation. The respondents fully adopt the practice of scheduling sowing time using weather-based farm advisories (77.78%), 62.22 per cent adopt the practice of scheduling harvesting operations, illustrating a substantial majority using this approach to enhance efficiency and yield during crop harvesting and 56.67 per cent fully adopt the practice of scheduling supplementary irrigation. The farmers attributes viz., education status, annual income, extension agency contact, extension participation, mass media participation, information seeking behaviour, knowledge level and perception had shown a positive and significant correlation with the dependent variable adoption of DAMU services at one per cent level of significance. The study revealed that traits like media engagement, scientific thinking and information seeking are closely tied to DAMU AAS adoption, along with extension involvement, knowledge, and perception, contributing to a notable 68.30% variance in adoption.