Technology assessment and refinement in coastal homegardens of Kerala: linkages with biodiversity and household livelihoods

Abstract

The study entitled “Technology assessment and refinement in coastal homegardens of Kerala: Linkages with biodiversity and household livelihood” conducted from 2019 to 2023 focused on the primary objectives to assess crop diversity, identify the dominance of crops, delineate technology needs, sorter dimensions of technologies and analyze the adoption and technology gaps through action research for sustainable coastal home garden systems. The study also examined the social anthropogenic variables of coastal home garden farmers and explored the linkages between biodiversity and household livelihoods in terms of perceptions and practices by farmers. Constraints in the coastal home garden farming system as perceived by farmers and extension personnel were also studied. The study was conducted in homegardens of three coastal Agro Ecological Units (AEU 1- Southern coastal plains, AEU 3- Onattukara Sandy Plains and AEU 4- Kuttanad) of southern Kerala. 35 farmer respondents were chosen from the home gardens of selected panchayats, comprising 15 participants and 20 non-participants who had at least 25 cents. The total numbers of respondents for the study were 165 comprising 105 coastal home garden farmers, 30 Agricultural Officers and 30 Scientists. Within the framework of Participatory Technology Assessment and Refinement, a collaborative effort was made to select appropriate technology for the primary crops within specific AEUs. This encompassed the evaluation of technology for bittergourd in AEU 1, chilli in AEU 3, and cowpea in AEU 4. Furthermore, Front Line Demonstrations (FLDs) were conducted to showcase and validate KAU-proven technologies that were deemed suitable for these specific crops. The structural configuration in terms of dominance-biodiversity profile of crops in coastal home gardens of southern Kerala was studied under two aspects viz., numerical and economic dominance and the diversity profile of coastal homegardens in Kerala. The study revealed that in AEU 1, out of the 82 identified crops, the most dominant one was coconut (5.90) followed by bittergourd (5.81) whereas in AEU 3 a total of 78 crops were identified, of which the maximum dominance was noted with black pepper (5.65) followed by chilli (5.26). In AEU 4 a total of 85 crops were identified of which the maximum dominance was noted with cowpea (5.24). The study compared the mean diversity index across different AEUs and found that AEU 4 exhibited the highest diversity index at 1.547, followed by AEU 3 at 1.159, and AEU 1 at 1.058. When examining the crop-wise diversity profile of coastal AEUs, fruits had the highest diversity index at 0.998, followed by vegetables at 0.878, and spice crops at 0.850. Conversely, the lowest biodiversity index was recorded for tubers at 0.360 and ornamental plants at 0.357. In AEU 1, the maximum diversity index was observed for spices at 0.801, followed by vegetables at 0.770, and medicinal crops at 0.741, with tubers having the lowest diversity index at 0.350. In AEU 3 and AEU 4, the highest diversity index was noted for fruit crops at 1.181 and 1.164, respectively, while the lowest diversity index was recorded for medicinal plants at 0.225 and 0.226 respectively. One-way ANOVA analysis revealed no significant difference in crop diversity among selected AEUs, but there was a significant difference in crop-wise diversity for plantation crops, multipurpose trees, medicinal plants, tubers, and ornamental plants. In terms of region-wise biodiversity, the mid-regions had the highest diversity index at 1.433, while the courtyard of coastal home gardens had the lowest diversity at 1.117. The study on vertical diversification of crops in different coastal AEUs revealed that in AEU 1 maximum diversification was seen for banana with six levels of diversification whereas in AEU 3 maximum diversification was seen for banana and coconut with five levels of diversification. In AEU 4 the maximum diversification was seen for coconut and banana with four levels followed by cowpea and black pepper with two levels of diversification. The extent of horizontal diversification was also recorded and found that 40 % of the homegardens in AEU 1 had 5 tier diversification whereas in AEU 3, 60 % of the home gardens had 6 tier or more diversification. In case of AEU 4, 73.33% of the homegardens were having 6 and more tiers of diversification. The study revealed that a significant percentage (53.33%) of homegardens in all AEUs had six or more tiers of diversification. This study involved assessing the technology requirements for the top dominant crops in the selected AEUs. The study identified that in AEU 1, the maximum technology need was recorded with production practices of bittergourd (6.83), whereas in AEU 3, the highest technology need was noted with protection practices (leaf curl disease management) in chilli (6.67). In AEU 4, highest technology need was noted for production practices in cowpea (6.50). Based upon the technology needs of the dominant crops in different AEUs, FLDs were conducted in selected three homegardens on production aspects of bittergourd (AEU 1) and cowpea (AEU 4) and protection aspects for chilly (AEU 3). The FLD in all the AEUs of study clearly highlights that scientific approach in farming and correct use of technology in accordance to KAU POP will help the farmer to derive more profit through improved production. The B:C ratio for FLD studies on bittergourd cowpea was found to be higher (1.96 and 1.78) compared to farmers practices (1.37 and 1.42). Research showed that using scientific methods like KAU practices reduced leaf curl disease in chilli by 48.19%, emphasizing the importance of adopting these techniques. The study also examined how farmers adopted KAU practices. It was found that 77.14% of AEU 1 farmers had low adoption, while 74.29% of AEU 4 farmers had high adoption. In AEU 3, 51.43% had low adoption. The study also categorized farmers as innovators (0.95%), early adopters (16.19%), early majority (34.29%), late majority (32.38%), and laggards (16.19%). In the study, a reliable scale was developed to assess technology-related aspects in Kerala's coastal home gardens. The Single ANOVA tool helped choose indicators with a mean value below 4.49, resulting in 26 variables across 8 dimensions. For reliability, the odd-even split-half method was used, yielding a strong correlation of 0.846 for the half-test and 0.917 for the full test. Pearson's correlation coefficients also confirmed the scale's validity by exceeding 0.25 at a 0.05 significance level. The scale was administered to respondents and the results showed that participating farmers perceived economic dimensions (4.62), environmental dimensions (4.30), and psychological dimensions (4.31) as the most important. Non-participating farmers, on the other hand, considered economic dimensions (4.61), psychological dimensions (4.14), and human resource dimensions (4.12) to be significant. Extension personnel, in their evaluation, rated economic dimensions (4.28), human resource dimensions (4.04), and political dimensions (4.03) as the most important factors. Cluster analysis was done for different dimensions for different categories of respondents and it invariably shows interaction effects of different dimensions of technology. The analysis was done using Ward linkage with 26 indicators, representing 8 dimensions of technology in coastal homegardens. For participant farmers 3 clusters were identified. The first cluster comprised of 10 indicators viz., profit, sustainability, technical efficiency, interpersonal relationship, initial cost, bureaucratic support, perception of technology, coordination, supply chain and acquisition of information that showed strong association. The second cluster encompassed 12 indicators that demonstrated proficiency in areas such as credit access, effective decision-making, keen observability, viability, adept resource management, resource recycling capacity, reasonable price expectations, local resource utilization, ready availability, utilization of family labour, dependable delivery reliability, and skilled labour requirements. The third cluster, comprised of four dimensions, exhibited characteristics related to flexibility, strong social networking, effective budgeting abilities, and openness to utilizing open-source technology. Analysis of livelihood assets revealed that social assets scored the highest mean value (239.3) followed by human assets (227.3), physical assets (185.6), natural assets (172.3) and financial assets (176). ANOVA confirmed that there is significant difference between AEUs in case of all assets except human assets and Pearson correlation analysis was conducted to examine the strength and significance of the relationship between these variables. The results showed a moderate positive correlation (r = 0.311, p < 0.05) between total assets and biodiversity. This suggests that as the total assets of the communities increase, the level of biodiversity also tends to increase. The study delved into gender roles within various coastal home gardens, with a focus on dominant crops. In AEU 1, particularly in bittergourd cultivation, men were predominantly engaged in labour-intensive tasks like land preparation (54.29%) and drain preparation (85.71%). Women, conversely, played more active roles in activities such as weeding (51.43%), kitchen gardening (57.14%), and harvesting (51.43%). Both genders actively participated in operations like irrigation (62.86%), plant protection activities (57.14%), and post-harvest tasks (51.43%). In AEU 3, where chilli cultivation was highlighted, men took on tasks like drain preparation (62.86%) and fencing (74.29%), while women were prominently involved in sowing seeds (68.57%), planting seedlings (57.14%), plant protection (57.14%), kitchen gardening (54.29%), harvesting (74.29%), and post-harvest operations (62.86%). Both men and women contributed to activities like applying manure (62.86%) and fertilizers, as well as weeding (54.29%). In AEU 4, centered on cowpea cultivation, men primarily handled land preparation (60%). Interestingly, women took on most responsibilities related to cowpea cultivation including, applying manure (57.14%), sowing seeds (51.43%), planting seedlings (51.43%), applying fertilizer (57.14%), weeding (51.43%), kitchen gardening (57.14%), and harvesting (60%). Both genders were involved in applying irrigation (54.29%). A chi-square test assessed the significance of gender differences in home garden activities, revealing a strong association between gender and agricultural tasks. The calculated chi-square statistic was 192.78, surpassing the table value of 33.92 at a 0.05% significance level, affirming the substantial gender differences in home garden activities. The study identified a total of 22 constraints within coastal home gardens, which were rated by respondents. The most significant challenges reported by coastal home garden farmers were, lack of scientific knowledge (1031) followed by salinity issues (rated at 1010), flooding concerns (1008), ineffectiveness of plant protection methods at recommended dosages (rated at 969), insufficient knowledge about plant protection chemicals (960), the impact of climate change (948), and the absence of proper drainage systems (916), listed in descending order of importance. Key suggestions to improve coastal home gardens as perceived by farmers and extension personnel were, the creation of customized packages of practices tailored to the coastal home garden system, enhanced on-going support and guidance from extension agencies for the adoption of recommended scientific practices and the promotion of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) to enhance post-harvest handling and marketing Social anthropogenic variables of coastal home garden farmers like age, education, gender, occupation, economic motivation, extension contribution, irrigation potential, information source utilization, credit orientation, training need, market orientation and adoption were also studied. In essence, the research revealed a multifaceted profile of dominance and diversity within the coastal home garden community. Furthermore, it outlined specific technology requirements, adoption patterns, and dimensions conducive to the development of coastal home gardens. Additionally, the study delved into aspects related to livelihood assets, gender roles, constraints, and provided valuable suggestions to promote the sustainability of coastal home gardens in the Kerala region.