An analysis on farmers’ preference for rice varietal traits in Godavari districts of Andhra Pradesh

Abstract

This research aims to investigate the preferential traits of the farmers in the selection of rice variety using Conjoint Analysis. The present study was conducted in two purposively selected districts i.e, East and West Godavari of Andhra Pradesh during Kharif 2022-23. From each district three mandals, from each mandal three villages and from each village 15 respondents were selected. Thus, a total of 270 farmers who actively involved in paddy farming were randomly selected for the current study. The findings revealed that the most preferred trait of paddy farmers in East and West Godavari districts is pest tolerance (31.443%). The second most important trait disease resistance (22.634%). The third important trait is Non-lodging (19.072%). The fourth important trait considered by farmers’ is grain type (14.011%), grain type that farmers preferred to grow is slender grains. The fifth importance value is crop duration (7.685%), it shows that farmers are preferring to grow short duration paddy variety. Further, the last consideration of the preference was plant height (5.155%), which indicates that paddy farmers in Godavari districts preferred to grow paddy variety that is short in height.