International Journal of Agriculture Extension and Social Development

author(s)
SS Jadhav, HP Sonawane and BD Tayade

abstract
The research was conducted in three tehsils of Kolhapur district Karveer, Hatkanangle, and Shirol that are prominent for sugarcane cultivation. A total of 150 sugarcane farmers were selected and interviewed personally using a structured and pre-tested interview schedule. The study considered thirteen independent variables encompassing the personal, socio-economic, communicational, and psychological attributes of the respondents, measured through suitable tools and scales. The present study examined the relationship between selected personal, socio-economic, communicational and psychological characteristics of sugarcane growers with their knowledge and adoption of soil health management (SHM) practices. Karl Pearson’s correlation coefficient was employed to analyze the association between thirteen independent variables and the dependent variables, namely knowledge and adoption of SHM practices. The findings revealed that education, farming experience, annual income, size of land holding, cropping intensity, mass media utilization, information seeking behaviour and innovativeness showed significant positive relationships with both knowledge and adoption of SHM practices. Variables such as age, occupation, soil type and social participation were found to be non-significant. The study highlights the importance of educational and communicational factors in enhancing farmers’ awareness and adoption of sustainable soil health practices.