Assessment of knowledge and adoption of drip irrigation in guava crop among farmers of Haryana

Abstract

Drip irrigation is an efficient method of watering and has significant impact on the growth of fruits crops. The present study was undertaken to assess the knowledge and adoption level of drip irrigation in guava crop among farmers of Haryana state. Majority of farmers belonged to 36 to 50 years age group (60.00%), general castes (82.50%), educated up to graduation and above (67.50%), having no membership of social organization (70.00%), belonged to joint families (67.50%), having high income (40.00%) and having medium family size and high mass media exposure (67.50%). Knowledge level of majority of sampled farmers was high (65.00%) followed by moderate (25.00%) level. Forty five percent farmers had high adoption level and 35 percent had moderate level. A number of socioeconomic characteristics, including age, land ownership, income, exposure to mass media, education, and socioeconomic position, have been found to be strongly correlated with the degree of awareness and use of drip irrigation in guava crops. The conclusion is that in order to see a broader adoption of micro-irrigation technology, more work has to be done to improve farmers' understanding of drip irrigation.