Abstract:
The study was carried out in Puthur panchayat of Thrissur district to
formulate a promotional strategy for the use of plant based pesticides in vegetable
cultivation. The respondents consisted of 120 vegetable farmers.
The dependent variables of the study were the knowledge about plant'
o
based pesticides, attitude towards plant based pesticides and symbolic adoption.
The independent variables included the personal, socio-economic and psychological
characteristics of the farmers.
The study revealed that majority of the farmer respondents belonged to
high category in their distribution with reference to the selected independent
variables.
Respondents were in the low category with respect to knowledge and
attitude towards plant based pesticides and in the high category with respect to
symbolic adotpion.
Then these respondents were classified into four groups of 30 each. They
were exposed to different experimental treatments of extension and audiovisual
packages.
Results showed that there was significant change in the knowledge,
attitude and symbolic adoption after explosing the' respondents to experimental
treatments. The most effective combination of the audio-visual aids and extension
methods was lecture + group discussion + method demonstration.
The most important constraint experienced by the farmers in the use of
plant based pesticide was the absence of immediate results. Lack of knowledge
about plant based pesticides was also felt as an important constraint.
Based on the results of the study, a strategy to promote the utilisation of
the plant based pesticide in vegetable cultivation has also been proposed.
