Factors influencing the preference for specific pesticides and product loyalty among the tomato farmers of Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh

Abstract

Tomato is an important commercial and dietary vegetable and is a protective supplementary food. Its’ short duration and higher yield potential is important from economic point of view. Andhra Pradesh state stood first in total area under cultivation and Anantapur district contributed to 33 per cent of the state’s total area. It is important that the farmers use right amount of pesticide that save the excess use and reduce their investment. Most of the tomato growing farmers are small and medium, understanding their preferences for pesticides and the factors that influenced their loyalty to a particular product is important. Simple random sampling technique was used to select 90 farmers. Descriptive and factor analysis was used to identify the factors that influenced the preference of farmers towards a particular company’s products. Tomato farmers preferred the pesticide product from DuPont Company and there was a high degree of product loyalty. Four factors namely promotional attributes, flexibility, innovativeness and product acceptance were found to be most important factors that influenced them. Product loyalty was established by the immediate effectiveness of the pesticide followed by aspects like product quality, communication strategies adopted, discounts offered, competitive pricing, value added services extended and introduction of new product and package.