International Journal of Agriculture Extension and Social Development

author(s)
Sujata J Parmar, Dr. VJ Savaliya and Khushbu Jadeja

abstract
Mango (Mangifera indica) is one of the most nutritious and high-value fruit crops for nutritional security. The mango is also known as the "king of fruit." India is the world's second-largest producer of fruits and holds the first position in producing mangoes. As per the second advance estimate of the National Horticulture Board, mango is growing on 2258.13 thousand hectares and produces 21822.32 thousand MT in India. Mango is one of the well-known fruits for consumers, but it is a seasonal fruit farmer who gets income from it once a year. Keeping in mind study has been done to identify constraints farmers face in mango enterprise and suggestions to overcome. The research project was undertaken in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat. In the Saurashtra region, Junagadh and Gir Somnath have more coverage on the area & production of mango. This study was conducted by using an Ex-post facto research design. Out of these 11 districts, two districts namely Junagadh and Gir Somnath were purposively selected for the study because of the sound production of mango found in these districts. Three talukas were selected from each of the selected districts purposively because of the excellent mango production in these districts. A total of six talukas were chosen for the study. Four villages were selected from each taluka. Out of twenty-four villages, ten mango growers were selected to draw a sample size of two hundred and forty. Open-ended questionnaires are used to measure responses from mango farmers. For analysis, frequency and percentage are used to assign a rank. Major constraints faced by farmers, the majority (75.00%) of the respondents reported that “Fluctuation in market prices” was accorded the first rank, followed by “Crop production affected by climate and environment” and “Difficulty in storage due to perishable crop” was secured second (69.16%) and third rank (66.66%), respectively. Overcome constraints, the majority of respondents suggested “Strengthening information support through transfer of technology from the concerned department” secured a first rank with 73.33%, followed by “Providing market update by concern agricultural produce market committee” and “Organization of capacity building programmes for farmers for better agro-enterprise” was secured a second (70.00%) and third rank (66.66%), respectively. Addressing these challenges through targeted interventions can improve mango growers' entrepreneurial effectiveness, ultimately boosting the region's productivity and profitability.