Vol. 12, Special Issue 10 (2023)

Author(s):
Mohit Chaudhary and Dr. Mehul G Thakkar

Abstract:
Since times immemorial, agriculture has remained as the strongest backbone of our economy and has the power to transform Indian economy from a developing nation to a developed nation. When we talk about agriculture productivity, the agricultural sector is highly dependent on the availability and quality of seeds for a productive harvest. But, ironically, the adoption of improved seed and other planting material in developing countries shows mixed results despite its potential to increase agricultural productivity. To arrive at a better understanding of the observed adoption rates, a lot of research is focused on finding the cultivars and variety traits that are attractive to farmers. Considering the importance of improved planting material in enhancing farmers’ income and their welfare as well as nation’s prosperity, the present Empirical Research Paper, utilizing the published theoretical literature and Communication Approach of the Descriptive Cross-sectional research design, assesses the influencing factors for procurement of improved planting material by farmers in Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh. It also highlights the constraints faced by these farmers. Based on a survey of 100 farmers selected through purposive sampling method, this study found that majority of the farmers were using previous years’ produced material for seed purpose and commercial nurseries was the major source of seedling procurement. Farmers were found to mostly consider price followed by variety of seed and delivery time while procuring seedlings. Major constraints faced by the farmers in getting quality planting material were high price, unavailability of range of variety, late delivery, non-uniform seedling, and inadequate variety of seed.