Constraints Experienced by the Paddy Farmers in Three Agroclimatic Zones of Telangana State, India

Abstract

The present investigation was conducted during 2021-22 to assess the constraints experienced by the paddy farmers in three agroclimatic zones of farming sustainability in Telangana state. Findings revealed that, constraints such as high cost of seed varieties (I), lack of knowledge and skill for determining economic threshold level of pests and diseases (II), labour scarcity due to Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (I), labour scarcity during peak operations (II), insufficient finance with farmers (I), high rental charges for farm machinery (II), lack of new technologies and uneconomically viable solutions for residue management (I), lack of knowledge about input management (II), lack of information about government schemes  (I), lack of information about recent pest-management strategies (II) were the first and second priority constraints under ecological, social, economical, technical and institutional dimensions respectively. Accordingly, Government organisations, NGO’s, ATMA, KVK’s, DAATC’s, SAU’s should look after certain issues such as providing seeds at affordable cost , Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme must give prioritize to agricultural field operations along with other activities, crop loan must be sanctioned to every farmer by considering crop yield assurance and bring out new technologies like happy seeder to remove residues but also allows the farmer to seed the new crop without involving manual labour, which saves time and money for the farmers. Extension education functionaries and line departments experts must use the Situation Based Extension with Participatory Approach (SBEA) in order to effectively overcome constraints and get feedback, which act as source for ATMA action plans to implement at grass root level.