Analyzing the Factors Influencing the Adoption of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Technology in Cotton in Rajasthan

Background: The model of sustainable agriculture mostly emphasizes on enhancing the efficacy of agrochemical usage by the implementation of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) technology, substitution of various inputs and practices with effective alternative technologies involving low energy utilization and plant/animal integration. Following the sustainable approach towards agriculture, a research has been conducted in the state of Rajasthan to identify the major factors that influence the adoption of IPM technology in Cotton. Cotton being the major crop of Sri Ganganagar and Hanumangarh districts for kharif season had an average area of 2.39 lakh hectares and average production of 7.44 lakh bales that constituted 51 per cent and 52 per cent of total area and production of Rajasthan, respectively during last five years ending 2016-17. Methods: On the basis of pest management strategy, farmers in the area were classified into three categories viz. farmers following conventional practice, farmers following IPM practice and farmers following both the practices, for the research. The purpose of the study was to identify the factors influencing adoption of IPM technology in the study area. A total of nine metric socio-economic variables of three groups of a total sample of 90 farmers from both the districts were taken for the study for the crop year 2017-18. The data were analyzed through suitable statistics: linear discriminant analysis and two-step cluster analysis. Result: It was found that ‘years of experience in current practice followed’, ‘number of workshops attended for current practice’, ‘years of education’, ‘years of experience in agriculture’ and ‘number of trainings attended for current practice’ are the major variables that discriminated among the three group of practices followed by the farmers of the study area. Among the selected significant discriminating factors, ‘higher education’, ‘higher number of workshops attended for current practice’ and ‘higher number of trainings attended for current practice’ were found to be the major influencing factors towards the adoption of IPM technology among the cotton growers in the study area. This study would facilitate the stakeholders involved in the dissemination of IPM technology as a measure for sustainable agriculture.