PG Thesis
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Item Study of factors affecting the adoption of selected agricultural practices(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 1978) Rajendran, P; Menon, A G GRice is the staple food of the people of Kerala. But Kerala is deficient in its rice production by about 50 per cent. All most all the cultivable area has already been brought under the plough. Therefore, the scope for increasing the area under rice is rather limited. The fact that more than 50 per cent of the cropped area is devoted for perinnial cash crops further limits the scope for expansion of area under rice. Besides 60 per cent of the holdings are less than 1 acre in extent . Therefore, the only possibility to increase rice production is to increase the gross area under rice by resorting to scientific cultivation practices. A number of development programmes particularly focused on rice production have been introduced and implemented in the state. Improved technology required for stepping up rice production was also diffused with great vigour and enthusiasm.Item Study on the role perception and the role performance of the convenors of group farming committees of rice cultivation(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1993) Jayasree Menon; Ranjan S KarippaiThe study on role performance of the convenors of Group Farming Committee was carried out using 150 respondents selected from Trichur and Palghat districts . The opinions of respondents towards the programme were collected by personally interviewing them Analysis of the data thus collected by personally interviewing them Analysis of the data thus collected indicated that the cosmopoliteness and training need were the most important independent variables positively influencing role perception . Training received by the convenors exerted a negative effect on the perception of their roles as convenors. Communication behaviour came first followed by knowledge and training need among the independent variables influencing role performance, constraints in implementing the programme exerted maximum indirect effect on other independent variables. It was also found that role perception was strongly correlated with role performance.Item Gender analysis of vegetable growers in the homesteads of Kollam district(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2018) Vani Chandran; Bindu PodikunjuItem Analysis of dimensions of entrepreneurial behaviour of members of coconut producer companies(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2019) Vivek, S; Jose JosephProducer companies are legal establishments formed by primary producers, viz. farmers, milk producers, fishermen, weavers, rural artisans, craftsmen. The concept of producer companies was introduced in India in 2002 by incorporating a new part IX A in to the companies’ act 1956 based on the recommendations of an expert committee led by Y. K Alag. Kerala accounts for major share in area and production of coconut in the country. Coconut Development Board (CDB) has a launched a scheme for mobilizing coconut farmers in to a three tier system of primary producer societies, federation of primary coconut producer societies and coconut producer companies. In this background a study on “Analysis of dimensions of entrepreneurial behaviour of members of coconut producer companies” was carried out to analyse the dimensions of entrepreneurial behaviour of members of coconut producer companies, factors influencing their entrepreneurial behaviour and the constraints faced by the members of coconut producer companies. The study was carried out in two companies which belong to Palakkad and Kannur districts. Palakkad Coconut Producer Company Ltd. (PCPCL) and Tejaswini Coconut Producer Company Ltd. (TCPCL) which are the first two coconut producer companies in Kerala and accredited as A plus category by CDB were selected for the study. A total of 120 respondents from the two companies were selected in equal proportion randomly. Analysis of the socio economic characteristics of members of the two selected coconut producer companies revealed that majority of the respondents belonged to middle age group category of 36-50 years. 40.00 per cent of the respondents in both the companies had high school level of education. 68.33 per cent of the respondents from PCPCL and 56.67 per cent of the respondents from TCPCL were engaged in farming. Around 55.00 per cent of the members of PCPCL had low level of annual income whereas, 60.00 per cent of the respondents from TCPCL had medium level of annual income. Members of both the companies had medium level of social participation, economic motivation, level of aspiration, extension orientation, attitude towards self-employment and mass media contact. 56.67 per cent of the members of PCPCL and 58.33 per cent of the members of TCPCL were more self-reliant. Members of both the companies had medium level of knowledge about value added products. Among the dimensions of entrepreneurial behaviour, members of both the coconut producer companies had medium level of innovativeness, achievement motivation, risk taking ability, profit orientation, entrepreneurial orientation and management orientation. Further it was also observed that leadership ability of members of both the companies were low. Among the listed 9 dimensions, composite index for market perception was ranked the highest (93.27). This indicated that the members gave much importance to the current market trend, marketing channel and market information. The overall entrepreneurial behavior of the respondents was found to be medium. Study on factors affecting entrepreneurial behavior of members of PCPCL and TCPCL showed that only economic motivation had a positive relationship with entrepreneurial behavior of the members. For PCPCL risk taking ability, decision making ability, market perception and management orientation were the important dimensions contributing to entrepreneurial behaviour. In the case of TCPCL achievement motivation, risk taking ability and management orientation were the important dimensions. Insufficient subsidy amount (financial constraint), low price for produce in the market (marketing constraint), high cost of inputs (production and labour constraint), lack of information about recommendations (information problem), multiple duties (personal constraint) were the major problems perceived by the members of PCPCL. In the case of TCPCL, the major constraints faced by the members were difficulty in securing working capital (financial constraint), low price for produce in the market (marketing constraint), high cost of inputs (production and labour constraint), lack of information about recommendations (information problem) and multiple duties (personal constraint). Strong branding of products, support from Government for financial investment and working capital, periodic management training for members of coconut producer companies and strengthening the three tier system of coconut producer co-operatives are some of the strategic options developed from the study.Item Performance analysis of agribusiness incubators (ABIs) in entrepreneurship development(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2019) Ashwini, T; Binoo P BonnyItem Scenario analysis of cardamom growers in cardamom hill reserves of Kerala(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2018) Anju, S; Kishore Kumar, NItem Prospects and challenges of medicinal plant cultivation in homesteads of Thrissur district(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2018) Roshni Thampi; Mercykutty, M JMedicinal plants are priceless gifts of nature. The State of Kerala is enormously graced with a rich biodiversity of medicinal plants due to its diverse agro-climatic conditions. In Kerala, cultivation of medicinal plants is confined to homesteads, along the boundary of farms, forest areas, leased land and as intercrops in coconut or rubber plantations. Ayurvedic medicine manufacturing units and practitioners use considerable quantities of parts of medicinal plants as raw drugs. Consequently there is excessive harvest of medicinal plants from forest areas which seriously threatens not only the future supply but also leads to extinction of medicinal plant species. For sustainable utilization of medicinal plants these species are to be conserved, hence it is necessary to cultivate medicinal plants to meet the internal and external demand. The study was primarily intended to assess the knowledge of homestead farmers on cultivation of medicinal plants, profile characteristics of homestead farmers and the influence of socio-economic attributes on knowledge level. The medicinal plant diversity, use of medicinal plants as home-remedies and ITK were documented and challenges in medicinal plant cultivation were analyzed. The study also tried to prescribe suggestions for popularization and area expansion of medicinal plant cultivation. The study was conducted in the Thrissur district of Kerala state. The sample included 90 farmers drawn from 3 blocks of the district namely Kodakara, Pazhayannur and Wadakkanchery and 30 extension personnel. Data were collected by using structured interview schedules and focused group discussions. The results revealed that 68.90 per cent of medicinal plant cultivators had medium knowledge level on cultivation of medicinal plants with Mean Score Index (MSI) of 65.26. It was observed that Kodakara block had highest MSI in production (93.30) followed by plant protection (70.00) technologies. However, all the three blocks had comparatively low MSI for post-harvest technologies. Correlation of profile characteristics with knowledge level showed that out of 20 variables, 16 variables had significant and positive relationship. The variables mass media exposure, social participation, trainings undergone, education and attitude towards organic farming had shown higher positive correlation with knowledge. The study also assessed the diversity of medicinal plants in homesteads. Pazhayannur and Wadakkanchery blocks recorded almost similar high diversity (0.905 and 0.904 respectively) of medicinal plants followed by Kodakara block (0.861). Sixty two medicinal plants were identified which are very commonly seen in the study area including 11 medicinal trees, 17 medicinal shrubs, 27 medicinal herbs and 7 climbers. Documentation of indigenous traditional knowledge on use of medicinal plants was done along with identification of common home remedies. The study revealed that respondents are highly knowledgeable about use of medicinal plants as home remedies. The major challenges in medicinal plant cultivation perceived by farmers of Wadakkanchery and Pazhayannur blocks were lack of marketing facilities, poor knowledge on cultivation aspects and post-harvest handling, exploitation of middlemen and inadequate storage facilities. However, Kodakara farmers had perceived differently. These could be overcome by providing peripatetic trainings focused on knowledge and skills, promoting group farming and buy back arrangements with medicine manufacturers and ensuring adequate price. Major interventions required for promotion of medicinal plant cultivation are providing proper marketing channels and minimizing involvement of middle men. Farmers should be made aware of the agencies through which they could possibly sell their products. For fostering medicinal plant cultivation, awareness cum training programmes on production practices, preservation, processing and cluster farming under societies can be popularized among homestead farmers and self-help groups. For promising areas, strategies for encouraging entrepreneurship may be designed and implemented.Item Technology utilisation of organic plant protection practices of KAU(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2017) Aparna, K V; Allan ThomasItem Multidimensional analysis of farmers of Integrated farming systems in Kuttanad(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2017) Mamatha G Nair; Jayalekshmi, GItem Entrepreneurial behaviour of agripreneurs of KAU technology(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Horiculture, Vellanikkara, 2017) Raju Parashuram Naik; Helen, S