Construction of a scale to measure the attitude of vegetable growers towards hi-tech vegetable cultivation practices

Abstract

Hi-tech vegetable farming is the practice of applying modern techniques to grow vegetable crops commercially. It includes techniques such as hydroponics, protected cultivation, precision farming etc., While efforts have been taken to popularize hi-tech practices among vegetable farmers, it is essential to understand the attitude of the farmers towards the practices which would influence adoption and continuance of the technology. Hence, in this paper, a scale is developed to measure the attitude of the vegetable farmers regarding Hi-tech practices. Likert's method of summated ratings is employed to develop the scale. A total of 28 items, retained after editing 71 statements as per the informal criteria, were administered for item analysis among 100 vegetable farmers. A total of 10 statements were selected based on the 't' value resulted from item analysis and included in the final scale. The reliability and validity of the final scale are established by appropriate methodology.