Vol. 12, Special Issue 12 (2023)

This study investigates the impact of the NICRA project on rural livelihood security, focusing on technological, economic, and social dimensions among beneficiary and non-beneficiary farmers in Chintamani taluk, Chikkaballapura district, Karnataka. A total of 120 respondents, including 80 beneficiaries from S. Raghuttahalli and 40 non-beneficiaries from D. Nagarajahosahalli villages, were randomly selected. The data was collected by personal interview method. Appropriate statistical tools like frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, paired t-test, correlation and multiple regression were employed to analyze and interpret the data. The overall mean impact index for beneficiaries was 76.35, significantly higher than the non-beneficiaries, who scored 61.25. The salient findings of the study highlighted the following aspects.

Overall Impact: 47.50% of non-beneficiary farmers fell into the low overall impact category while 42.50% of beneficiary farmers were categorized under high overall impact.

Technological Impact: Mean impact indices for beneficiaries were 16.66 (low), 18.18 (moderate), and 41.75 (high) whereas for non-beneficiaries scored 12.30 (low), 14.50 (moderate), and 34.45 (high). 45.00% of non-beneficiary farmers had low technological impact, while 37.50% of beneficiaries experienced high technological impact.

Economic Impact: 45.00% of non-beneficiary farmers exhibited low economic impact. 43.75% of beneficiary farmers reported high economic impact.

Social Impact: 52.50% of non-beneficiary farmers fell into the low social impact category. 41.25% of beneficiaries were categorized under high social impact. The NICRA project demonstrated significant positive impacts on beneficiary farmers, particularly in technological and economic dimensions, highlighting the project's effectiveness in enhancing rural livelihood security.