A Study on Knowledge of Sugarcane Growers About Integrated Weed Management Practices in Meerut District

Abstract

The present study was conducted in Meerut district of Western Uttar Pradesh which was selected purposively. The data was collected from 80 respondents who belonged to rural community with the help of structured interview schedule. The study reveals that, majority of the respondents 41.30 percent found in lower medium age group, 57.50 percent belonged to other backward caste, 41.30 percent of respondents were having 12th Pass level of education, 73.75 percent were living in joint family system, 73.80 percent had between 4-8 members in their family, 76.25 percent had pucca house and 43.80 percent were having 1-2 ha of land and 78.75 percent were engaged in agriculture. In material possession, majority of the respondents 75.00 percent had medium level of home appliances, 53.75 percent had medium level of transportation facilities, 70.00 percent had medium level of farm machinery and 43.50 percent had medium level of irrigation facilities. The majority of the respondents 58.75 percent had medium level of material possession. The finding of the study also reveals that majority 77.50 percent of respondents don’t have any membership for social organization and majority 36.30 percent of respondents had income between 1,00,000- 2,00,000 per annum. The study revealed that the majority of the respondents 65.00 percent had medium level of socio-economic profile. The majority of the respondents 65.00 percent had medium level of communication behavior. Further, the study also revealed that the majority of respondents 52.50 percent had low level of knowledge regarding Integrated Weed Management in Sugarcane cultivation. The result of the correlation analysis revealed that the knowledge of sugarcane growers regarding Integrated Weed Management was found to be positively and significantly correlated with their education status, occupation, Transportation Facilities, Farm machinery, Irrigation facility Social participation, size of land holding, Annual income, extension agency contact and mass media exposure at one per cent level of significance and housing pattern was found to have positive and significant correlation at five percent level of significance. The variable age was found to have negative correlation with knowledge of sugarcane growers regarding Integrated Weed Management. However, the rest of the variables, namely, caste, types of family, size of family and home appliances were found to be positive but non-significantly correlated with the knowledge of sugarcane growers regarding Integrated Weed Management.