Constraint analysis of cotton farmers in Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh

摘要

India has made a spectacular progress in cotton production from 27.9 lakh bales in 1947-48 to 156.5 lakh bales in 1995-96. Although the country has recorded marked increase in production the productivity is admittedly low with 313 kg ha~(-1) lint asagainst the world average of 580 Kg ha~(-1) (Santhanam, 1997). This is largely due to 70 percent of the area being-grown under rainfed conditions and seasonal incidence of pests and diseases in irrigated areas leading to instability in yields per unit area and fluctuating production levels. From the year 1969 in Andhra Pradesh, with a humble beginning in Thimmapur village of Guntur district, cotton has grown in rapid strides all over the state of Andhra Pradesh. The total area and production of cottonincreased from 99,500 ha and 1.26 lakh tones in 1969 to 10.07 lakh ha and 18.49 lakh tones in 1996-97 (Anonymous, 1998). During the year 1997-98 severe dry spells followed by the insect pest attack has devastated the cotton crop in Andhra Pradesh especially the telangana region. Warangal, which is a typical telangana district, with 1.24 lakh ha under cotton crop, has a miserable record of 150 suicides of the cotton farmers. It is in this background the study was taken up with an objective to explore theproblems faced by the farmers relating to cultivation of cotton crop Warangal district. The study was conducted in Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh state during the year 1998. Warangal district and 3 mandals in Warangal district namely Duggondi, Venkatapur and Atmakur were purposively selected because more number of suicides were reported from these mandals.