Knowledge level of castor growing respondents of Sirohi district of Rajasthan

Abstract

Castor is an important oilseed cash crop. Castor oil obtained from castor seed is non-edible, but is of great industrial importance. India is the largest castor growing country in the world. Gujarat state has highest area and production of castor. In Rajasthan, Sirohi district stands first in terms of area and production of castor. Therefore, a study was undertaken to assess the level of knowledge of respondents about castor production of Sirohi district. The study was conducted in 5 blocks. Further, 100 farmers were selected randomly from 10 villages. The findings of this study revealed that majority (52%) of the castor growers had medium to level of knowledge regarding recommended hybrid castor production technology. Predominantly the hybrid castor growers had good knowledge regarding castor cultivation practices viz., land preparation, harvesting, recommended rates of seed land preparation, manual weeding and FYM application.