Socio-economic Profile of Beneficiaries of the National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) Project in Telangana, India

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the profile characteristics of farmers adopting Climate Resilient Agricultural (CRA) technologies under the National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) project in the villages of Suryapet and Khammam districts, Telangana State, India. An ex-post facto research design was employed, with a sample of 200 farmers chosen using a multistage simple random sampling method. The study results revealed that the majority of farmers belonged to the middle-aged (36.50%) group with an education level up to primary school (28.00%) and belonged to the medium family size (65.00%). Among the respondents sampled, most of the respondents in the sample villages had low income (42.50%) with medium farming experience (41.00%) and labour + subsidiary + agriculture as an occupation (42.00%). The majority of the respondents were found to possess medium landholding (27.00%), Ag/Horticulture crops + AH/Poultry/goat as integrated farming systems (35.50%), low material possession (52.00%), having rainfed agriculture (94.50%) with irrigation under critical stages (49.00%), got drought once in four years (100.00%), medium individual contact (56.00%) and low mass media contact (44.00%), medium economic motivation (52.00%), high risk-taking ability (51.50%) and medium innovative proneness (63.00%). Considering the socio-economic and psychological characteristics of the farmers, NICRA project officials should develop tailored strategies for designing and disseminating technologies. This approach will enhance the adoption of these technologies within the farming community.