Farmers’ Perceptions, Awareness and Adoption of Improved Groundnut Varieties in Potwar Plateau of Pakistan
Farmers’ Perceptions, Awareness and Adoption of Improved Groundnut Varieties in Potwar Plateau of Pakistan
Khalid Mehmood1*, Abdul Rehman2 and Ammara Khan1
ABSTRACT
The study emphasizes the impact assessment and identification of factors affecting the adoption of improved groundnut varieties in Pakistan. An extensive field survey was conducted during 2019 to collect the data from the farmers of Potwar Plateau of Pakistan. Farmers’ preferences and perceptions of varietal characteristics were investigated. The elasticity of production was measured to compare the performance of improved and conventional groundnut varieties. Logit model was estimated to determine the factors affecting the adoption of improved groundnut varieties. The empirical findings suggested that the input elasticity of production of improved groundnut varieties was greater than that of conventional ones. Most of the farmers considered the improved varieties superior to the conventional ones in respect of their yield, pod size and marketing, and inferior in respect of their taste, local adaptability, and pest tolerance. The results also suggested that the adoption of improved groundnut varieties depended upon the farmers’ age, education level, access to quality seed, registration status, awareness, and active participation in farmers training programs. Farmers’ conventional behavior, lack of awareness, lack of access to quality seed, and lack of promotion of improved crop varieties were found as the major challenges in adoption of improved groundnut varieties in Pakistan. It is suggested that concrete measures should be taken for availability of the reliable seed of improved crop varieties to the farmers. The extension department may encourage the conventional farmers to adopt the improved varieties of groundnut through special training programs.
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