Constraints faced by Farmers towards Resource Management in Puri District, Odisha, India

A study was carried out in Puri district of Odisha. Proportionate stratified random sampling technique was followed to select the sample size of 142 farmers. The study revealed that 51.4% of the respondents were localite, 53.5% of the respondents were economically poor, 46.46% had problems towards untimely availability of resources and 33.8% were having constraints due to BPH infestation. Provision for demonstration and tours for the farmers to visit progressive farmer fields, research centers and training of the farmers by extension functionaries is needed in the study region for upliftment and development of the farmers.


INTRODUCTION
Traditional farming resources include land, labour and capital. Land typically represents the physical assets owned by the farmer for cultivation, building such as store house and farm machineries. Labour is the manpower used during the cultivation turning physical resources into agriculture produce. Capital represents the cash used to purchase physical resources and pay for the labour used in the cultivation. Resource management separates resources according to the different farming practices currently being worked on by the farmer. Resources are typically made up of various components; these components use economic resources owned by the producer. Producers are responsible for ensuring the cultivation practices have enough economic resources to be completed in a timely manner.
Resource management behavior helps farmers maintain a competitive edge in the farming environment. Many farmers have a limited amount of resources to use when producing various items.
Resource management behavior ensures farmers find ways to eliminate waste, improve the production process, train workers on effective and efficient processes and limit the amount of over payment for economic resources. Farmers also use resource management to plan for future goals and objectives that can be achieved by cultivation. Failing to implement proper resource management behavior may cause the producer to lose capital from inefficient production operations. Inefficient operations make it difficult for the producer to accurately assess their use of economic resources. The inability to measure the use of economic resources may make it difficult for the producer to accurately replenish its economic resource supply. Keeping in view the importance of the study the research on constraints faced by Farmers towards Resource Management in Puri district, Odisha, India was carried out.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The study was carried out in Puri district of Odisha, India. Proportionate stratified random sampling technique was followed to select the sample for the study. A preliminary survey of the selected Villages was carried out from which 142 respondents were selected on proportionate random basis. An Interview schedule was developed with an item related to the management of resources and constraints encountered by farmers. The data were collected, tabulated and analyzed by using statistical tools like Percentage, Mean Score, Standard deviation, Rank order, Gap percentage, Pearson's co-efficient of correlation and Critical ratio.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Social Constraints
From table 1, it was observed that only 42.4% of the farmers had a lack of awareness in resource constraints. 51.4% of the farmers have less knowledge due to the strong prevalence of localiteness. 67.7% of the farmers were influenced by a peer group to manage the resources which might not be scientific. The results showed that the farmers were more localite which is a negative sign for the development. Lack of awareness could be removed through exposure to the farming community to the research centre or progressive farmer's field visits by which the farmers can be motivated.

Economic Constraints
Credit is one major input that largely determines the decision-making options of a small farmer vis-à-vis his entire farm family and social interaction process (Gupta, 1981). Table 1 indicates that 53.5% of the respondent farmers had lack of purchasing power of agricultural inputs. 26.05% of the respondent farmers got poor return from the entrepreneur. From availability of land point of view 30.97% of the respondent farmers had less availability of land as compared to other framers of their village. From the above three constrains that affect the living standard of the sample farmer. 50.7% sample farmers living standard was not up to standard living style. The lack of purchasing power can be only improved by raising income through proper resource management judiciously and efficiently. Poor income from entrepreneurs may be improved through the expansion of entrepreneurship in a diversified manner. For achieving sustainable growth in the agricultural sector, rational allocation of budgetary outlays and the development of better systems for establishing sectoral allocations remain to be the key issues (Ramasamy, 2004).

Organizational Constraints
Organizational value has great importance in the prosperity of farmers. From table 1, it was observed that 46.46% of the sample farmers faced difficulties due to untimely availability of resources. Farmers have access to the only restricted amount of fertilizers through government rationing programs or have not been able to afford/acquire fertilizer (Singh & Pal). 29.56% of the sample farmers faced organizational constraints due to lack of accessibility of the resources. 37.31% of the respondents were having problems due to the social norms they follow and the procedures needed to follow for getting the resources. Due to difficult norms and procedure implicated by government sample farmers face difficulties to execute their plans according to time.

Technological Constraints
From table 1, it was observed that 23.23% of the sample farmers had constraints related to infected seed material. Farmers having constraints as FMD in cows were 11.97%. 2.11% of the sample farmer had less growth of fingerlings. 33.8% of the sample farmers had infected rice fields with BPH of paddy. The problem of infected seed material can be reduced through proper seed treatment programme along with proper storage facilities. FMD can be reduced through vaccination and due care regarding sanitation and BPH in paddy can be reduced through plant protection measures along with integrated crop management practices like crop rotation and planting of rice with alley rows. Prusty et al. (2015) reported that 63.6% of the farmers selected exposure visits as most responsible for constraints similar to this. A similar study was conducted by Das and Borua (2017) where they reported several constraints such as lack of training on new technologies, lack of knowledge on efficient and appropriate methodologies in extension activities, lack of cooperation from senior colleagues, delay in availability of salary, lack of orientation training for newly recruited staff, nonavailability of agricultural inputs at an affordable price etc. were faced by extension functionaries.

CONCLUSION
It may be concluded from the study that 51.4% of the respondents were localite and had minimal contact outside their villages. 53.5% of the respondents were economically poor and didn't have the purchasing amount for some products. 46.46% of the respondents had constraints regarding the untimely availability of the essential resources required for farming. 33.8% of the respondent's paddy crops were prone to BPH. From these results, it may be suggested for carrying out frequent exposures or visits for the farmers of the study area by extension functionaries in the region, so that they will be able to learn and gain knowledge about recent technological advancements. Improving the farmers technically will improve their strength towards tackling different crop related issues more efficiently and getting a good return from their crop.