The Journal of Research ANGRAU
Contents of 41(1) 2013 - acharya ng ranga agricultural university
Contents of 41(1) 2013 - acharya ng ranga agricultural university
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<strong>Research</strong> Notes<br />
J.Res. <strong>ANGRAU</strong> 41(1) 96-100, 2013<br />
PROFILE CHARACTERISTICS OF SUGARCANE FARMERS IN<br />
CHITTOOR DISTRICT OF ANDHRA PRADESH<br />
S. RAMALAKSHMI DEVI, P. V. SATYA GOPAL, V.SAILAJA and S.V. PRASAD<br />
Department <strong>of</strong> Extension Education, S.V. Agricultural college, Tirupati-517502<br />
Date <strong>of</strong> Receipt : 26.09.2012 Date <strong>of</strong> Acceptance : 11.01.2013<br />
Sugarcane is the world’s largest crop and is<br />
grown in over 110 countries. In 2009, an estimated<br />
1,683 million metric tons were produced worldwide<br />
which amounts to 22.4% <strong>of</strong> the total world agricultural<br />
production by weight (FAO, 2009). India ranks second<br />
in cane area and sugar production after Brazil. <strong>The</strong><br />
states <strong>of</strong> Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka,<br />
Tamil Naidu and Andhra Pradesh together produce<br />
nearly 90 per cent <strong>of</strong> the cane and sugar in the<br />
country. Andhra Pradesh ranks fifth in sugar cone<br />
area <strong>of</strong> the country with a share <strong>of</strong> 4.83 per cent.<br />
<strong>The</strong> average production <strong>of</strong> Andhra Pradesh is about<br />
20.30 million tons contributing to 5.83 per cent <strong>of</strong><br />
the total production <strong>of</strong> the country. In Andhra<br />
Pradesh, the major sugarcane growing districts in<br />
Telangana, coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions<br />
are Nizamabad, Visakhapatnam and Chittoor districts<br />
respectively.<br />
<strong>The</strong> significant contribution <strong>of</strong> researchers,<br />
extension functionaries and farming community plays<br />
pivotal role in achieving the above success. On one<br />
side, the researchers developed sustainable<br />
technologies to meet the production requirements <strong>of</strong><br />
the farmers followed by effective dissemination <strong>of</strong><br />
technologies by the extension functionaries so as to<br />
bring the technologies to the farmers for adoption.<br />
On the other side, the farming community is<br />
successfully adopting those technologies so as to<br />
increase the productivity levels <strong>of</strong> sugarcane. As the<br />
farmers are the key contributors <strong>of</strong> production, the<br />
present study was taken up to study the pr<strong>of</strong>ile<br />
characteristics <strong>of</strong> sugarcane farmers.<br />
Ex-post-facto research design was adopted<br />
for the study. <strong>The</strong> investigation was carried out in<br />
Chittoor district <strong>of</strong> Rayalaseema region. Four<br />
mandals were selected in Chittoor district purposively<br />
that have highest area under sugarcane. From each<br />
mandal 3 villages were selected purposively. From<br />
each village 10 sugarcane farmers were selected<br />
randomly thus making a total <strong>of</strong> 120 respondents .<br />
<strong>The</strong> data were collected by personal interview method<br />
through structured interview schedule.<br />
<strong>The</strong> sugarcane farmers were distributed into<br />
different categories based on their selected pr<strong>of</strong>ile<br />
characteristics and were presented in the Table 1<br />
and interpreted through frequencies, percentages,<br />
mean and standard deviation.<br />
Age<br />
Majority (57.50%) <strong>of</strong> the sugarcane farmers<br />
belonged to middle age category followed by young<br />
(31.66%) and old age (10.83%) categories. <strong>The</strong><br />
probable reason for distribution might be that the<br />
agriculture in the present situation has been perceived<br />
as a pr<strong>of</strong>itable enterprise in particular as sugarcane<br />
is one <strong>of</strong> the remunerative crops for the farmers.<br />
Middle age and young age farmers were motivated<br />
to cultivate sugarcane by adopting latest production<br />
technologies and obtaining good returns.. Hence the<br />
above trend was observed. It is in conformity with<br />
Reddy (1997) and Gowda et al., (2011).<br />
Education<br />
Majority (90.00%) <strong>of</strong> the respondents were<br />
educated, 4.17 per cent were under can read and<br />
write only category and only 5.00 per cent were<br />
illiterates. <strong>The</strong> probable reason for the above<br />
distribution might be that, as education was gaining<br />
importance for the past three decades and brought<br />
out awareness among the farming community about<br />
the functional literacy. Majority <strong>of</strong> the sugarcane<br />
farmers were under middle and young age lead to<br />
the proper educational status among the farming<br />
community. It is in conformity with Latha (2002) and<br />
Gowda (2011).<br />
email: shilpamohan5050@gmail.com<br />
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