An analysis of factors influencing farmers buying behaviour of micro irrigation equipment in Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh

Abstract

The two most crucial natural resources for the growth of agriculture are land and water. In India, agriculture is the predominant user of water resources. Low level of water use efficiency in agriculture is another serious challenge for sustainable management of water resources. Micro irrigation which allows application of water to root zone of the crops through emitters, has already been adopted by many countries for transforming their agriculture. To carry out the study with the above objectives, Kadapa district of Andhra was taken up as study area. In Kadapa district almost all of the micro irrigation area is occupied by horticultural crops, in which a little above 60 per cent of area is occupied by fruit crops. The average area under micro irrigation for marginal farmers is around 1.47 acres, whereas for small farmers it is 3.96 acres and for semi medium farmers it is 6.95 acres. Around half of the respondent farmers showed their willingness to increase the area under micro irrigation in their land holding. The major factors influencing the farmers for the installation of micro irrigation system in their fields are; subsidy given by the Government, availability of water, peer influence and improvement of crop yield. The constraints encountered by farmers in the adaptation of drip irrigation technology are poor post installation services, difficulty in availability of spare parts and damages to the micro irrigation system because of inter cultivation operations. The benefits accrued by respondent farmers as a result of installation of micro irrigation system, included efficiency of water usage, reduced labour cost, reduced use of fertilizers, control of weeds and enhanced crop yield and quality.