Vol. 8, Issue 12 (2019)

Author(s):
Darsana S and SV Suresha

Abstract:
The agricultural scenario in Kerala is somewhat unique and distinct from many other states in India in terms of land utilization pattern and the cropping pattern. The state which had been highly acclaimed for its high social and economic indicators, witnessed a significant decline in agricultural production in the last few decades. The constraints that are experienced and expressed by the farmers and suggestions to re-orient the existing programmes will be of immense help for policy makers to plan the future programmes most effectively in achieving the welfare of the farmers. The present research paper was focused to elucidate constraints and suggestions of beneficiaries on development programmes implemented by the State of Kerala for the welfare of the farming community. The study was conducted during 2017-18 in the state of Kerala, India. Palakkad district of the state was purposively identified. Thirty each in seven combinations formed a total of 210 respondents. All the respondents availed the benefits of one or more development programmes. Garrett’s ranking technique was used to rank the factors of constraints. Beneficiaries of development programmes ranked the six factors of constraints viz., financial constraints (61.86), input constraints (58.23) and management constraints (54.55), one to six, respectively. Farmers considered the financial constraints as the most important in the development of programmes. It’s quite obvious that finance plays a major role in making farming profitable and hence, the financial institutions need to be strengthened and made farmers friendly and also to make the procedure borrowers friendly for advancing loans.