1. KAUTIR (Kerala Agricultural University Theses Information and Retrieval)

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    Gender analysis of vegetable growers in the homesteads of Kollam district
    (Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2018) Vani Chandran; Bindu Podikunju
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    Impact analysis of "finishing school programmes on VHSE (agri.)" by Kerala Agricultural University (KAU)
    (Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2018) Karishma Zen; Sreedaya, G S
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    Analysis of dimensions of entrepreneurial behaviour of members of coconut producer companies
    (Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2019) Vivek, S; Jose Joseph
    Producer 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.
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    Mainstreaming climate resilience into agricultural development: readiness of the extension system in Kerala
    (Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2018) Anseera, T P; Jiju P Alex
    Mitigating the impact of climate change requires mainstreaming climate resilience into agricultural systems through research, awareness building, standardization of new cultivation practices and introduction of adaptation practices, all of which call for targeted extension delivery, special support packages, action research programmes and participatory problem solving. Reorientation of the extension delivery system by equipping the extension institutions with scientific content and action programmes to propagate the strategies to mitigate climate change is imminent. Kerala, with its receding share of agriculture is under the pressure of climate change. The study attempted to appraise the readiness of the public extension system to face the challenge of climate change in Kerala in terms of the institutional and financial support available and find out the role played by various agencies. The study also assessed the extent of vulnerability at the farm level, delineated the dimensions of climate resilient agriculture and explored the level of awareness and adoption of climate resilient practices among the farming community. The sample included 40 extension personnel of the Department of Agriculture and 100 farmers drawn from 30 Grama Panchayats in Palakkad and 10 Grama Panchayats in Wayanad. Data were collected by using structured interview schedules and focused group discussions. The extent of climate change vulnerability at the farm level was assessed using Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI) and Palakkad was found to be more vulnerable (0.14) than Wayanad (0.12). Among the dimensions of climate change delineated it was found that there are three distinct dimensions of climate change and its impact, viz. ecological, economic and social resilience. Out of the different components of ecological resilience, agro-ecological features of farming was perceived to be the key component, whereas, integrated farming approach with weather based crop insurance, enhanced seed security and alternative livelihood options would enhance economic resilience of the farming community. Adequate infrastructure and community networks to encounter climatic debacle and increased awareness on climate change would help build up social resilience. Awareness of farmers on climate change was found to be higher with respect to crop related aspects and lower in the case of soil and water related components. However, significant difference could be observed between farmers and extension personnel with regard to overall awareness on climate change and its impacts. Of the different climate resilient practices, rain water harvesting structures, integrated weed management practices and community seed bank were found to be adopted more. Farmers in Wayanad were found to have higher mean adoption index (82.83). Attributes like farm size, annual income, farming integration, access to climatological information, education, institutional support and innovativeness of the farmers were found to have significant positive correlation with awareness on climate resilient practices and adoption. Readiness of the public extension system to mainstream climate resilience was explored by analyzing 16 programmes of the Department of Agriculture. Functional components of these programmes which would be instrumental in building climate resilience to the system were identified and financial support to each of them was assessed. ‘Vegetable development programme’ was found to have maximum functional components that could address climate resilience. However, financial outlay of these programmes from 2013-14 to 2017-18 showed higher compound growth rate for ‘soil and root health management and productivity improvement’ interventions. Considering both the outlay and number of programme components, extension support (4.88) and crop production (4.69) interventions were found to have more readiness to combat climate change. In view of the positive and significant relationship between climate change awareness and adoption of resilient practices, it is important that the farming community is scientifically oriented towards building climate resilient agriculture. Shortfalls in institutional and financial support should be sealed with redesigning each development programme with adequate components to address climate change.
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    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 J
    Medicinal 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.
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    Entrepreneurial behaviour of agripreneurs of KAU technology
    (Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Horiculture, Vellanikkara, 2017) Raju Parashuram Naik; Helen, S
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    Study on the utilization of the farm magazine rubber and analysis of its message constraints
    (Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1991) Shamitha Bharathan; Ranjan Karippai, S