Development of scale for assessing farmers' attitude towards precision conservation agricultural practices

SHITU G A; M S NAIN; FREDERICK KOBBA

doi:10.56093/ijas.v88i3.78741

Authors

SHITU G A ICAR International Research Fellow, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110 012
M S NAIN Senior Scientist, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110 012
FREDERICK KOBBA ICAR International Research Fellow, Division of Agricultural Extension, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110 012

https://doi.org/10.56093/ijas.v88i3.78741

Keywords:

Attitudes, Reliability, Resource conservation, Right practices, Standardized scale

Abstract

Attitude is a behavioural construct that cannot be measured by a single variable, hence the need for developing a standardized instrument for its measurement. The present study has been conducted to develop a reliable and valid instrument for exploration of farmers’ attitudinal orientation towards Precision Conservation Agricultural Practices (PCAPs). PCAPs are technologies and practices that are capable of helping farmers to apply right resources at the right place, at the right time, with a right method. The combination of these technologies and practices can help in achieving optimum resource stewardship and resource conservation at the farmers’ field. However, the attitude of farmers’ may influence the uptake of these practices at farmers’ field. A step by step procedure of developing standardized attitude scale was followed using Likert’s summated rating approach. The steps include item collection, relevancy test, item analysis, reliability test as well as validity test. Finally, thirty items were selected for the attitude scale which were found reliable at Spearman Brown coefficient of 0.75 and satisfied content validity. The attitude scale may be useful for researchers and extension functionaries in the field of Precision Conservation Agriculture (PCA) as well as climate smart agriculture (CSA).

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Allport G W. 1954. The historical background of modern social psychology. (In) Handbook of Social Psychology. Lindzey G (Ed).

Anastasi. 1968. Psychological Testing. MacMillian Company, London.

Aryal J P, Sapkota T B, Jat, M L and Bishnoi D K. 2015. On-farm economic and environmental impact of zero-tillage wheat: a case of north-west India. Experimental Agriculture 51(1): 1–6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S001447971400012X

Ashoori D, Bagheri A, Allahyari M S and Michailidis A. 2016. Understanding the attitudes and practices of paddy farmers for enhancing soil and water conservation in northern Iran. International Soil and Water Conservation Research 4: 260–6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iswcr.2016.09.003

Badola R, Barthwal S and Hussain S A. 2012. Attitudes of local communities towards conservation of mangrove forests: A case study from the east coast of India. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 96: 188–96. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2011.11.016

Berry J K, Delgado J A, Khosla R and Pierce F J. 2003.Precision conservation for environmental sustainability Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 58:332–9.

Dillard J P. 1993. Persuasion past and present: Attitudes aren’t what they used to be. Communication Monographs 60: 90–7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03637759309376299

Edwards A L. 1969. Techniques of Attitude Scale Construction. Vakils Feffer and Simons Pvt Ltd, Bombay.

FAO. 2015. Conservation Agriculture. Agriculture and Consumer Protection Department, Rome, Italy. Available from http://www. fao.org/ag/ca/ (Accessed April 2017)

Fitzsimons J A and Wescott G. 2007. Perceptions and attitudes of land managers in multi-tenure reserve networks and the implications for conservation. Journal of Environmental Management 84(1): 38–48. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2006.05.009

Garrett H E. 2007 Statistics in Psychology and Education. Paragon International Publishers, New Delhi.

Gül E, Ömay Çokluk Ö and Gülc Ç D. 2015. Development of an Attitudes Scale toward online assessment. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 174: 529–36. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.01.699

Holl and R W, Verplanken B and Knippenberg A. 2002. On the nature of attitude behaviorrelations: The strong guide, the weak follow. European Journal of Social Psychology 32: 869–76. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.135

Jat M L, Gathala M K, Ladha J K, Saharawat Y S, Jat A S, Vipin K, Sharma S K, Kumar V and Gupta R. 2009. Evaluation of precision land leveling and double zero-till systems in the rice–wheat rotation: Water use, productivity, profitability and soil physical properties. Soil and Tillage Research 105: 112–21. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2009.06.003

Jat M L, Saharawat Y S and Gupta R. 2011. Conservation agriculture in cereal systems of South Asia: Nutrient

management perspectives. Karnataka Journal of Agricultural Sciences 24(1): 100–5.

Jat R K, Sapkota T B, Singh R V, Jat M L and Kumar M. 2014. Seven years of conservation agriculture in a rice-wheat rotation of Eastern Gangetic Plains of South Asia: yield trends and economic profitability. Field Crop Research 164: 199–210. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2014.04.015

Khatri-Chhetri A, Aggarwal P K, Joshi P K and Vyas S. 2017. Farmers' prioritization of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) technologies. Agricultural Systems 151: 184–91. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2016.10.005

Kumar V, Saharawat, Y S, Gathala M K, Jat A S, Singh S K, Chaudhary N and Jat M L. 2013. Effect of different tillage and seeding methods on energy use efficiency and productivity of wheat in the Indo-Gangetic Plains. Field Crop Research 142: 1–8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2012.11.013

Kumar R, Slathia P S, Peshin R and Nain M S. 2015. Development of scale to measure attitude of farmers towards rapeseed mustard crop. Journal of Community Mobilization and Sustainable Development. 10(2): 221–4.

Likert R. 1932. A technique for the measurement of attitudes Archives of Psychology 140: 1–55.

Maarten E and Florian S. 2016. Global demand for food is rising. Can we meet it? Harvard business review. Available online: https://hbr.org/2016/04/global-demand-for-food-is-rising-can-we-meet-it

Lindquist E F (Ed). 1951. Educational measurement.Research methods in social sciences and extension education. Variables and their Measurements, pp 18–33.

Meena M S and Singh K M. 2013.Impact of self help groups on attitudes of members. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 83(9): 971–6.

Nikam V R, Singh P and Chahal V P. 2014.Attitude of farmers towards grape cultivation and export. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 85(4): 592–5.

Kuppannan P, Kumar D S, Malik R P S, Raman S and Mohan K. 2015. Managing water management research: analysis of four decades of research and outreach programmes in India. Economic and Political Review: 33–43.

Pathak H, Aggarwal P K and Singh S D (Eds). 2012. Climate Change Impact, Adaptation andMitigation in Agriculture: Methodology for Assessment and Applications. Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi.

Kumar R Slathia P S, Peshin R, Gupta S K and Nain M S. 2016. A test to measure the knowledge of farmers about rapeseed mustard cultivation. Indian Journal of Extension Education 52(3&4): 157–9.

Ray G L and Mondal S. 1999. Research Methods in Social Sciences and Extension Education. Kalyani Publishers, New Delhi.

Sadiku M N O, Tembely, M and Musa S M.2017. Climate smart agriculture. International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Science and Software Engineering 7(2): 148–4. DOI: https://doi.org/10.23956/ijarcsse.v7i7.165

Sapkota T B, Manjumdar K, Jat M L, Kumar A, Bishonoi D K, Mcdonald, A J, Pampolino M. 2014. Precision nutrient management in conservation agriculture based wheat production of North west India: profitability, nutrient use efficiency and environmental footprint. Field Crop Research 155: 233–44. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2013.09.001

Searcy S W. 2005. Precision Farming: A New Approach to Crop Management. Texas Agricultural Extension Service.Available online: http://lubbock.tamu.edu/files/2011/10/precisionfarm_1.pdf

Shiferaw B A, Okello J and Reddy R V. 2009. Adoption and adaptation of natural resourcemanagement innovations in smallholder agriculture: reflections on key lessons and best practices. Environment, Development and Sustainability 11: 601–19. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-007-9132-1

Shitu G A, Maraddi G N, Sserunjogi B. 2015. A comparative analysis in resource utilization and yield performance of precision farming technologies in north eastern Karnataka. Indian Journal of Economic Development 11(1) 137–45. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5958/2322-0430.2015.00015.3

Siebert R, Berger G, Lorenz J and Pfeffer H. 2010. Assessing German farmers’ attitudes regarding nature conservation set-aside in regions dominated by arable farming. Journal for Nature Conservation 18: 327–37. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2010.01.006

Thurstone L L and Chave E J.1946.The measurement of Attitude. Comment.American Journal of Sociology 52: 39–50.

Ward J, Varua M, Maheshwari B L, Oza S, Purohit R, HakimuddinO and Dave S. 2016. Exploring the relationship between subjective well being and groundwater attitudes and practices of farmers in rural India. Journal of Hydrology 540: 1–6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2016.05.037

Yadav S, Godara A K and Nain M S. 2017. Attitude of farmers towards Bt cotton production technology in western Haryana. Journal of Community Mobilization and Sustainable Development 12(2): 157–62.