Yield gap, adoption level and constraints of improved rice production technology on tribal farms in District U.S. Nagar of Uttrakhand

This study undertaken in Khatima block of U.S. Nagar district of Uttarakhand, which have highest population of tribal household was purposively selected for the study, has examine the yield gaps and to identify the constraints being perceived by the farmers in adoption of recommended rice cultivation technology. The study has used the primary data collected from 40 tribal farmers using the random sampling. Sample farmers were categorized as marginal, small and medium size groups of farms. Yield gap-II defined as the difference between the potential yields obtained from on-farm trails and average yield realized by farmers in the same locality was estimated for rice crop grown by the farmers in study area. The significance of yield gaps was tested using student's t-test. For technology adoption level, a technology adoption index was constructed taking relevant parameters. To study the constraints faced by the farmers in the adoption of improved agricultural technologies for rice crop, the Garrett's ranking technique was used. Study reveals that yield of on-farm trails was slightly higher than the average actual farm yield ranging between 3.82 to 6.41 per cent across the farm size. It was observed that the level of improved farm technology adoption was not encouraging in the study area and it was positively correlated with size of land holding. The overall average technology adoption index was 83.88 per cent. The overall technology adoption index was highest on medium farms (92.71%) followed by marginal farms (81.53%). ‘Waiting for suitable soil moisture ’stood at rank I with Garrett's score 89.88 as the constraint faced by the farmers that hinders the timely preparation of the field and timely sowing of the crop followed by high costly diesel. High cost of diesel was also the top ranked constraint faced in irrigation by marginal and small farmers. While in case of medium farms, poor quality of seed (Garrett's score = 99.50) was first ranked constraint in adoption of recommended seed.