MSc

India’s agrarian culture and economy is in a progressive path of resurrection. The local administrative bodies are vested with increased powers to plan and execute need based development activities. Hence a clear understanding of the concept of agricultural development among the major stakeholders serves as a firm base for development. The present study entitled ‘Reorienting the concept of agricultural development in the context of Kerala’ was carried out in five blocks of Thrissur district, namely, Mullassery, Vadakkanchery, Chavakkad, Chowannur and Ollukkara. Progressive farmers, panchayat presidents, agricultural officers and agricultural scientists were the four groups of respondents selected for the study.

An open ended question was formulated to explore, explain and clarify the perceptions of these respondent groups on the concept of agricultural development. The perception differences among the respondent groups were visually depicted by using the tool of concept mapping. It is a type of structured conceptualization that can be used by groups to develop a conceptual framework that can guide evaluation or planning. A ranking schedule with four sub-sections namely, physical dimension, economic dimension, ecological dimension and socio-psychological dimension was prepared after discussing with agricultural experts and incorporating productive suggestions from the different respondent groups.

The Comparison of percentage mean scores between various respondent groups conducted after the analysis of the responses of open ended questions revealed that agricultural scientists scored the most (75 %) and farmers scored the least (36.3). The scores of agricultural officers and panchayat presidents were respectively 50 % and 41 %. The extent of perception differences among the four respondent groups regarding the concept of agricultural development was significant when it was compared with the standard definition chosen for the purpose of the present study.

It was revealed from the study that the concept map of progressive farmers focused more on production related activities whereas concept map of panchayat presidents also followed suite except that it laid more importance on socio-concern. The concept map of agricultural officers was hinged on participatory approach and committed to social well-being of the society. The concept map of agricultural scientists stood out distinctly from the rest of the concept maps. The major emphasis was on marketing and finance assistance.

A model for agricultural development was constructed from ten most preferred activity statements ranked by the four respondent groups among physical, economic, socio-psychological and ecological dimensions. A venn diagram was prepared as a pictoric representation of prioritised statements.