Development of Scale to Measure Perceived Impact of Grape Beneficiary Farmers towards Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme

Abstract

. For the progress of our nation, our farmers need to be progressed. Driven by the motivation Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance scheme (RWBCIS) has been introduced in India. As agriculture is effected by disasters and consequences are beyond our control, it is very essential to take precautionary measures to mitigate from unforeseen events. Crop insurance assists in stabilization of crop production and reduces the negative impact on lives of the farmers. Grapes are susceptible to changes in weather and cause losses to the farmers. An attempt is made to develop a scale to measure perceived impact of Grape beneficiary farmers towards Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme. With the help of Likert’s Summated Rating technique perceived impact scale was constructed. The process started with selecting 39 statements after calculating Relevancy percentage, Relevancy weightage and Mean Relevancy score. Later for item analysis step, 30 farmers from non-sample area were selected and the test was administered having 39 statements on five point continum.  After computing t value, 29 statements were retained. The Reliability and validity of the scale was computed for precision and accuracy. The scale developed was found reliable and valid. Hence, the scale was finalized and administered to 75 Grape beneficiary farmers of RWBCIS farmers in the sample area ie. Nashik district of Maharashtra state. The overall perceived impact of beneficiary farmers towards Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme was low. Hence it can be inferred that the farmers perceived that there is low impact of the scheme on their lives. Therefore co-ordination between the concerned authorities and regular auditing of the insurance companies is required for the scheme to run efficiently.