Technology adoption and risk management by young vegetable farmers in southern Kerala

Abstract

The present study entitled "Technology adoption and risk management by young vegetable farmers in Southern Kerala" was conducted with the objectives of assessing KAU technology adoption, analyzing impact on production and income levels, determining factors influencing adoption, and analyzing risk perception and management strategies. The study was conducted in Thiruvananthapuram and Alappuzha districts, purposively selected for having highest area under vegetable cultivation and highest urban populations in Southern Kerala. Seven blocks were selected from each district with five commercial farmers randomly selected from each block, and seven wards were selected from Thiruvananthapuram Corporation and Alappuzha Municipality with five urban farmers selected from each ward. The sample included 140 participants: 70 commercial farmers (35 from each district) aged 25-45 years with minimum landholding of 1.5 acres and maximum respondents cultivating all of the selected crops (bhindi, tomato, brinjal, chilli, and cowpea), and 70 urban farmers (35 from each district) aged 25-45 years engaged in rooftop/house terrace cultivation with minimum 30 growbags or containers. The study's dependent variable was extent of KAU technology adoption assessed using adoption index. Other variables that were assessed include impact of the adopted technologies, was evaluated using MAPP technology, factors influencing adoption were analyzed using TAM, risk perception was measured using risk perception index and risk management index was analysed using mean, with ten independent variables selected to understand respondents profile characteristics.The statistical tools including frequency and percentage analysis, mean, standard deviation, t-test, Kruskal-Wallis test with Dunn's post hoc test, multiple regression, Spearman's correlation, and skewness and kurtosis analysis. The study found that majority of 57.14% fell in the medium-high age category with a mean age of 40.13 years (SD 5.40). Urban farmers demonstrated higher educational qualifications, with 68.57% being college educated. Overall, 51.43% were male and 48.57% female, with urban farming showing higher female participation. The mean cultivation area was 834.29 square feet (SD 383.09) for urban farmers and 3.80 acres (SD 3.72) for commercial farmers. Extension orientation was significantly higher among commercial farmers (mean 8.68, SD 4.49). Majority demonstrated medium innovativeness 212 and credit orientation. Agriculture was the primary occupation for 80% of commercial farmers, while it was secondary for 81.43% of urban farmers. Mean annual income was 3.72 lakhs (SD 2.72) for commercial farmers, with majority in the low-medium category in both districts (48.57% and 50% in Alappuzha and Thiruvananthapuram, respectively), and 6.00 lakhs (SD 5.27) for urban farmers, with a majority of 70.58% in the low-medium category in Alappuzha district and 48.57% in the medium-high category in Thiruvananthapuram district. Mean cultivation experience was 14.61 years (SD 7.72), with majority in the medium-high category in both districts for commercial farmers (42.86% and 37.14% in Thiruvananthapuram and Alappuzha, respectively), and 9.49 years (SD 6.53), with majority of 42.86% in the low-medium category in both districts for urban farmers.The study showed that mean adoption index for commercial farmers in Alappuzha was 44.56 with standard deviation of 8.34 with majority of 37.10 % in medium-low adoption category, while in Thiruvananthapuram it was 44.14 with standard deviation of 8.50 with 34.29 % each in medium-low and medium-high categories, with no significant difference between districts, while mean adoption index for urban farmers in Alappuzha was 29.93 with standard deviation of 14.87 with majority of 31.43 % in medium-low category, and in Thiruvananthapuram it was 36.79 with standard deviation of 18.87 with majority of 34.29 % in medium-low category. The study revealed that impact assessment showed substantial increase in vegetable production in both districts, nutrient management, land preparation, and plant protection were most valued interventions with district-specific variations in irrigation, weed management, and varieties, yield of major vegetables and average farmer income were most influenced indicators with plant protection and land preparation showing highest influence, trend analysis revealed positive trends in yield and farmer income despite differences in crop diversity, climate-related losses and return on investment, and impact profile indicated positive impacts for production and income with challenges in addressing climate change and maintaining crop diversity. The study showed that factors influencing adoption among commercial farmers of Alappuzha included PU (0.392), PEOU (0.334), and IU (0.426) were significant, while in Thiruvananthapuram, PU (0.337) and IU (0.348) were significant, among urban farmers, IU was strongest in Alappuzha (0.536), along with significant PU (0.334) and PEOU 213 (0.353), while PU (0.345) and IU (0.383) were significant in Thiruvananthapuram, and comparison revealed significant differences in technology and economic factors, with commercial farmers having higher PU and PEOU, and no significant differences in institutional and environmental factors for PU and PEOU respectively. The study found that risk perception among commercial farmers showed Market Risk was most severe in Alappuzha (55.66) while Production Risk was most critical in Thiruvananthapuram (58.71), urban farmers in Alappuzha showed Institutional Risk as most severe (45.71) while Production Risk was primary concern in Thiruvananthapuram (49.90), comparison revealed highly significant differences in Market Risk (t-value 6.32 in Alappuzha, 8.16 in Thiruvananthapuram) and Financial Risk (t-value 2.91 in Alappuzha, 8.04 in Thiruvananthapuram), and specific risk sources ranking highest included climatic variations and pest incidence for production risk, overproduction, price fluctuations, perishability and low price for market risk, government regulations, credit policy changes, insufficient support and limited extension linkage for institutional risk, and inadequate credit availability and high interest rates for financial risk. Risk management strategies revealed planting high-yielding disease-resistant varieties and intensive methods ranked highest for production risk, proper post-harvest management and market information for market risk, participation in farmers' groups for personal risk, information on schemes and extension contact for institutional risk, and improving farm documentation and income diversification for financial risk, while focus group discussions (n=62) highlighted reducing vegetable imports (77.4%), improving input quality (69.3%), and establishing standardised produce collection (59.3%). Regression results indicated among commercial farmers of Alappuzha, age and gender (<0.01) and area of cultivation (<0.05), among urban farmers of Alappuzha, innovativeness (<0.05), for commercial farmers of Thiruvananthapuram, extension orientation and credit orientation (<0.01), age (<0.05), and innovativeness (p<0.1), while among urban farmers of Thiruvananthapuram, innovativeness (<0.05), and extension orientation and experience (p<0.1) shown as significant.