ASSOCIATION BETWEEN CHARACTERISTICS OF GROUNDNUT GROWERS AND THEIR EXTENT OF ADOPTION ABOUT PLANT PROTECTION MEASURES

Groundnut is an important oilseed crop in India which occupies first position in terms of area and second position in terms of production. The study was conducted in Banaskantha District of Gujarat state during 2018-19. The main focus of the investigation is on adoption of plant protection measures in groundnut crop by the farmers of Banaskantha district. The district was selected purposively as the area of groundnut is increasing day by day. Three talukas viz., Deesa, Lakhani and Dantiwada having higher area under groundnut cultivation were selected purposively (Anonymous 2018). Five villages were selected randomly from the list of groundnuts growing villages of each taluka. Ten groundnut growers were selected, randomly from each selected village. Thus, the final sample was 150 groundnut growers. Ex-post facto research design was used for the study. The data were collected by personal contact method with help of structured interview schedule and data were coded, classified, tabulated and analysed in the light of objectives. Ten independent and one dependent variable were selected for study. The independent variables viz., education, land holding, annual income, extension participation, source of information, and scientific orientation were positively and highly significantly associated with extent of adoption about plant protection measures. Risk orientation had positive and significant association with extent of adoption about plant protection measures. The remaining variables namely age and family size had negative and non-significant correlation, while social participation had positive and non-significant correlation with the extent of adoption about plant protection measures.