Technology, Practices & Livelihood Security in Western Himalayas: An analysis of constraintsfaced in Rajmash Cultivation by the Hill Farmers of J&K State Singh S. P.1,*, Kumar Sanjeev1, Kachroo Jyoti1, Sharma Manish2, Bhat Anil1, Singh Harminder1 1Division of Agricultural Economics and ABM, SKUAST-J, Main Campus, Chatha, 180009, Jammu & Kashmir, India 2Division of Statistics & Computer Science, SKUAST-J, Main Campus, Chatha-180009, Jammu & Kashmir, India *Corresponding Author singh_sp073@yahoo.com
Online published on 30 November, 2019. Abstract The hill farming is supposed to be very fragile due to topographic conditions. The resource poorness of the hill farmers is an obstacle towards their livelihood security. Due to hilly terrains, the land holdings are too small to be suitable for large farming. As we keep on going towards the high altitudes, the farming profession gets tough due to many constraints. The most advantageous methods of farming insuch areas for sustainable development are the methods based on indigenous technologies. The hills are rich in resources for horticultural crops as well as some pulses. The infrastructural and marketing constraints are a big policy issue in the upper hills. The present study was conducted in Bhaderwah and Bhalla blocks of Doda district of J&K state which fall in the Western Himalayan region of India. A sample of 100 Rajmash growing farmers was collected for the present study. The results revealed that main constraints faced by the farmers in the production and marketing of Rajmash in the study area were-weak research-extension-farmer linkage, lack of proper knowledge regarding seed rate, spacing and sowing date, high cost of labour, labour scarcity, inadequate/no irrigation facilities, high cost of inputs, unorganized marketing and lack of regulated markets. Overall, all the major categories of constraints viz. socio-economic constraints had mean per cent score (MPS) of 81.40, infrastructural constraints (MPS 81.33), marketing constraints (MPS 81.20) and technological constraints (MPS 79.00)were at par with marginal difference in their respective mean per cent score which indicated the need for proper research-extension-farmer linkage, finance and credit facilities as well as organized regulated markets for marketing of Rajmash in the study area. Top Keywords Hill Farming, Sustainable Development, Livelihood Security, Constraints, Mean Percent Score. Top |