A STUDY ON KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE LEVELS OF BENEFICIARIES AND NON-BENEFICIARIES OF PMFBY IN TUMKUR DISTRICT OF KARNATAKA

The study was based on data collected from 120 respondents comprising of beneficiaries and non beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) selected using the random sampling technique from Tumkur district of Karnataka. The PMFBY intended to help farmers by providing stability in farm income and improve their confidence in farming. Sixteen independent variables were selected based on judges relevancy rating and were quantified using measurement devices. The data were collected using a pretested structured interview schedule and suitable statistical tools were used to analyze the data. Results of the study indicated that fairly higher proportion of the respondents (48.33%) had a favourable attitude towards the scheme. The variables like age, education, land holding, annual income, farming experience, extension contact, extension participation, social participation, scientific orientation, risk orientation, economic motivation, credit orientation and crops cultivated had positive and significant association with attitude of beneficiaries of PMFBY at five per cent level. Regarding knowledge level of beneficiaries it was observed that, more than half of them (53.33 %) belonged to medium knowledge level, 25 per cent belonged to high knowledge level and 21.67 per cent belonged to low knowledge level. The variables like age, annual income, education, land holding, farming experience, extension contact, extension participation, scientific orientation, cosmopoliteness, achievement motivation, mass media exposure and crops cultivated had positive and significant association with knowledge level. Risk orientation, economic motivation and credit orientation had positive and significant at one per cent level. However, social participation was not significantly associated with the knowledge on Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. A comprehensive knowledge on scheme and insuring crops against natural disasters is having immense value.