MSc

The study entitled ‘Technology utilization of KAU practices of amaranthus and vegetable cowpea in Thiruvananthapuram district’ was conducted with the objective to study the extent of awareness, knowledge and adoption of KAU varieties and selected recommended practices of amaranthus and vegetable cowpea and their relationship with selected socio - psychological and economic characteristics of commercial vegetable growers in Thiruvananthapuram district and also to identify the constraints in the adoption of KAU varieties and recommended practices, if any and bring out suggestions for refinement of technologies.
Ninety farmers engaged in commercial cultivation of amaranthus and vegetable cowpea were selected through three stage random sampling procedure. The study was conducted in Kalliyoor, Kazhakoottam and Pullampara panchayats of Nemom, Kazhakoottam and Vamanapuram blocks respectively of Thiruvananthapuram district in Kerala. Ten independent variables were selected based on judges’ relevancy rating. The dependent variables for the study were awareness, knowledge and adoption. Constraints in the adoption of KAU varieties and selected recommended practices were recorded as perceived by the amaranthus and vegetable cowpea growers. For refinement of technologies, the suggestions made by the Agricultural Officers, farmer respondents and Agricultural experts were included.
The results of the study revealed that majority of the amaranthus growers and vegetable cowpea growers belonged to the middle age category, were literate and had high experience in vegetable cultivation. Majority of the farmers belonged to medium category in the case of area under cultivation, risk orientation, contact with extension agency, scientific orientation, innovativeness, mass media exposure and economic motivation.
Majority of the respondents had medium level of awareness (55.86 % for amaranthus growers and 88.89 % for vegetable cowpea growers), knowledge (68.89 % for amaranthus growers and 73.33 % for vegetable cowpea growers) and adoption (60.00 % for amaranthus growers and 57.78 % for vegetable cowpea growers). In the case of commercial amaranthus growers, contact with extension agency, scientific orientation, innovativeness and mass media exposure were found to be significantly and positively related to awareness, knowledge and adoption. While in the case of commercial vegetable cowpea growers, education, scientific orientation and innovativeness were found to be significantly and positively related to awareness, knowledge and adoption. Major constraints perceived by the farmers were prevalence of pest and diseases followed by lack of sufficient quantity of good quality seeds and high labour charges. The suggestions given for refinement of the technology include development of a package of practices recommendations for direct sown amaranthus, development of an amaranthus variety which is resistant to leaf blight, and refinement of package of practices recommendations for vegetable cowpea.
From the present study, it is concluded that the technology utilization of KAU practices of amaranthus and vegetable cowpea in Thiruvananthapuram district was high in the adoption of KAU varieties. Adoption of other recommended KAU practices of amaranthus and vegetable cowpea can be increased by providing them proper awareness and training which would help the farmers in improving the production.