Farm Mechanization Status of Farmersin Rainfed Area of Western Maharashtra in India

摘要

Farm mechanization implies the use of various power sources and improved farm tools and equipment in agriculture. A survey was conducted with 144 representative farmers selected from the rainfed areas of Ahmednagar and Solapur Districts of Western Maharashtra in India to study knowledge of the farmers and utilization of farm implements and machinery in the rainfed areas. The majority of farmers had medium knowledge and utilization of farm implements and machinery in the rainfed area. The farmers hadcomparatively more knowledge and utilization of hand tools, manually operated farm implements and animal drawn farm implements than power operated farm implements and machinery. This may be due to lesser complexity, lesser cost and more familiarity of hand tools than other implements. Few farmers were using highly technical, sophisticated and costly machinery like excavator, tractor drawn leveler, power operated weeder, power operated cultivator, and self-propelled combine harvester. This may be becauseof the poor knowledge and limited resources. Based on the findings, it has been established that attention of the extension agencies need to bediverted to this important aspect in order to enhance knowledge level of farmers about the farm implements and machinery. This brings forward the need for launching a massive publicity campaign about farm implements and farm machinery in the rainfed area.