PERCEPTION AND ATTITUDE OF THE FARMERS TOWARDS IMPROVED OKRA CULTIVATION PRACTICES IN EAST GODAVARI DISTRICT OF ANDHRA PRADESH

Okra (Abelmoschus esculentusL.) also known as Lady's Finger is an economically important summer vegetable crop that belongs to the family Malvaceae. It is known to have originated in tropical Africa. The crop is quite popular due to its easy cultivation, dependable yield and resistant to drought & water logging adaptability to varying moisture conditions & soil types. (Maurya et al., 2013). the major findings are 74.16 percent of the respondents have knowledge on soils that are Loose, loamy soils are required for Okra cultivation, followed by 64.16 percent of the respondents are saying that they cultivate Okra crop throughout the year. Okra plant produces fiber by 20.2 to 7.2 percent. (Chauhan 1972) East-godavari district of Andra pradesh state was selected purposively based on the maximum farmers' availability. Descriptive research design was used for the present study. A total of 120 respondents were selected purposively as a sample for the present investigation. The data was collected by using pre-tested schedule and analyzed using appropriate statistical tools. Karl Pearson's Co-efficient of Correlation test was applied to find out the association between farmers socio-economic profile with independent variables. It was concluded that the socio-economic status of the respondents constitute medium level. It was observed that majority of the respondents belonged to the high level of perception and towards improved okra cultivation practices. There was a positive and significant relationship between independent variables with dependent variables.