Profile of organic vegetable growers in Western Vidarbha

Abstract

Organic farming represents a deliberate attempt to make the best use of local natural resources and is an environmental friendly system of farming it relies much on ecosystem management which excludes external inputs, especially the synthetic ones. The present study was conducted in Akola, Amravati, Yavatmal, Buldhana and Washim districts of Western Vidarbha region in Maharashtra State to know the socio-economic characteristics of the organic vegetable growers. The study has used exploratory research design. The study was conducted by taking total sample of 240 respondents. The data was collected with the help of pre tested interview schedule through personal interview. Major findings of study was nearly half i.e. 45.42 percent of the organic vegetable growers possessed medium family size, more than two third i.e. (69.17%) of them belonged to nuclear families, while more than half (52.92%) of the respondents belonged to semi medium category of land holding, three fourth of the organic vegetable growers (75.42%) have medium area under organic vegetable cultivation, more than half i.e. (51.25%) of the respondents had medium level of organic farming experience, near about half i.e.(47.50%) of the organic vegetable growers had received medium duration training, more than half (55.00%) of the organic vegetable growers had medium level of annual income, while 36.67 percent of the respondents had possessed 3 to 4 animals, (56.67%) of the respondents had medium level of source of information, over three fourth of the respondents (75.42%) had medium in­put accessibility, more than half (55.83%) of the organic vegetable growers had medium credit orientation, more than two third (67.92%) of the respondents had medium level of risk preference, (72.08%) of the organic vegetable growers had medium level of economic motivation, majority of the respondents (76.67%) had medium level of market orientation and majority of the organic vegetable growers (55.83%) had medium level of knowledge.