Farmers’ Perspective about Organic Manure Production and Utilization in Dakshina Kannada, India.

Abstract

The perception and utilization of organic manure have all along been critical, due to the socioeconomic and demographic factors among farmers of  different parts of the world including India. A study aimed to explore factors affecting farmer’s perception about organic manure production and its  utilization in Dakshina Kannada. A questionnaire-based survey was used to collect data from farmers and bears quantitative data. This data shows that the 3.2% of farmers adopted farming activities for more than 30 years, and the experience acquired has influenced the knowledge and perceptions on utilization of organic manure. It was found that 86% of males and females positively enjoyed producing organic manure, while 14% had a negative attitude towards the practice. The core factor influencing farmers to produce organic manure from municipal solid wastes was high yield/crop production which accounted for 16.1% of all respondents. The study indicates that the attitude and willingness to use organic manure from organic waste were high among the farmers of Dakshina Kannada, India. Therefore, an approach that can get the farmers involved in organic manure production using organic wastes could be implemented to inform good practices. Keywords: Wastes, agriculture, attitude, fertilizer, wastes management, small farmers