Author(s): D. Roy and A. K. Bandyopadhyay

Abstract: Scented or aromatic rice is nature’s gift to the Indian sub-continent and human kind at large. Compare to other classes of rice, aromatic rice is highly demanded and get better premium price in global market due to its pleasant aroma, superfine long slender grains with delicate curvature, remarkable linear elongation and excellent flaky soft texture on cooking. The concerned two agricultural university of West Bengal (Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya and Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya) have introduced the high yielding varieties of aromatic rice to the farming community with modern package of practices for betterment and popularization of aromatic rice through different Central and State sponsored projects. Accordingly farmers are showing very kin interest about the cultivation of aromatic rice and most of the farmers have already adopted the different varieties of aromatic rice. Keeping in view the vast potential and importance of aromatic rice cultivation to the state’s revenue in the broader sense and the impact of practice on improving the social life of the farmer, the study was under taken. The main objective of the study was to estimate the factors contributing towards the adoption of aromatic rice production technology. Two blocks from Nadia district of West Bengal were purposively selected for this study. The work was conducted with the dependent variable adoption behaviour and 22 independent variables categorised in three different factors viz socio-economic factors, socio- psychological factors and extension communication factors. For the study 150 respondents were selected purposively for interview in the year 2013. Data were collected through well structured interview schedule and analyzed by co-efficient of correlation and multiple regression analysis. Family type, family size, education, area under aromatic rice cultivation, land, farm power, material possession, annual income, attitude towards aromatic rice cultivation, knowledge level, market orientation, risk orientation, economic motivation, innovation proneness, personal cosmopolite were positively significant with the adoption behaviour of aromatic rice growers. From Regression analysis, the R2 value indicates that all the casual variables put together could explain 72.10% variation in the consequent variable. Natural hazards are found to be the greatest problem perceived by the respondents....

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