Constraints in Adoption of Recommended Production Technologies of Chilli in Punjab

The present study was undertaken to know the constraints faced by chilli growers in adoption of recommended production technologies in Punjab. A sample of 120 chilli growers was selected randomly from four districts of Punjab for the present study. The data were collected by personally interviewing the chilli growers with the help of interview schedule. Study revealed that the majority of the respondents were matriculate, possessed medium operational land holding and medium level of extension contacts. Although majority of respondents sought advice from pesticide dealers, most of them regularly consulted progressive or fellow farmers for acquiring farm information on chilli cultivation practices. WhatsApp, newspaper and YouTube were emerged as important sources of information for chilli growers. It was indicated that almost half of the growers had 12-21 years of experience in chilli cultivation and only 18.33 per cent of them acquired training on vegetable cultivation. Major constraints encountered by chilli growers were scarcity of labour at the time of picking, fluctuation in market prices or no support price fixed by government on the crop, costly hybrid seed, problems in identifying the pests or diseases, inadequate knowledge on post-harvest practices and poor quality of fruit produce due to rains were the most severe constraints as perceived by the chilli growers.