Extent of Precision in Input Utilization by the Rice Farmers in Nellore District of Andhra Pradesh

The present investigation was done to study the extent of precision in input utilization by the rice farmers in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh. Ex-post facto research design was followed for the study and a sample of 120 respondents was drawn. In terms of utilization of seeds, only 44.33 per cent of precision was noticed for seed treatment followed by variety with 49.33 per cent and seed rate with 95.70 per cent by the rice farmers. Overall precision towards all the major fertilizers is only 57.69 per cent by the rice farmers which includes time of application, method of application and dosage of fertilizers. In terms of utilization of insecticides only 30.33 per cent of precision was noticed towards identification of ETL, followed by dosage with 55.52 per cent, followed by use of recommended chemical with 57.22 per cent and quantity of spray fluid with 59.53 per cent in insecticides utilization by the rice farmers. Regarding the utilization of fungicides, only 29.86 per cent of precision was noticed towards identification of ETL, followed by dosage with 66.99 per cent, followed by use of recommended chemical with 68.97 per cent and quantity of spray fluid with 68.97 per cent in utilization of fungicides by the rice farmers. In terms of utilization of herbicides, only 64.83 per cent was noticed towards use of recommended chemical followed by 65.41 per cent of precision in terms of dosage. Regarding the utilization of rodenticides, 62.68 per cent towards use of recommended chemical, followed by 71.64 per cent of precision in terms of dosage. Coming to the overall results, the average of precision of inputs in utilization revealed that, herbicides was found to be having high extent of precision with 65.12 per cent, followed by seeds with 63.12 per cent, rodenticides with 62.16 per cent, fungicides with 60.20 per cent, fertilizers with 57.69 per cent and insecticides with only 50.64 per cent, ranked second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively.