Socio-economic Status of the Farmers Growing Newly Released Wheat Varieties by CCSHAU

Agriculture, with its allied sectors, is unquestionably the largest livelihood provider in India. Wheat is an important source of carbohydrates. Wheat is mainly grown in the Rabi season (October-December to March-May) along with barley, lentils, peas, mustard and potatoes. The planting of winter wheat begins about 1st of October and runs through to the end of December. Farmers' innovations are also a way of life for the farmers who are being challenged by the ever-changing, technical, environmental, policy and market situations in the country Many wheat varieties evolved from the Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, CCSHAU, Hisar such as C-306, WH 147, Sonak, WH 157, WH 1105, etc. The study was conducted in Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa districts in Haryana state. Atotal of 180 farmers were selected from six villages where maximum FLDs of newly released wheat varieties were distributed, i.e., 30 farmers from each village. Socio-economic status of the farmers growing newly released wheat varieties by CCSHAU was assessed in terms of the socio-personal and economic profile of the farmers. Results showed that half of the respondents were of 25-40 years of age group, belonging to general caste, educated up to senior secondary, had nuclear type of family with small family size and had pucca house. Also, it was found that cent percent of the respondents were engaged in farming as their family occupation, had a medium size of land holding and annual income of Rs. 60,000 to Rs.3,07,000.