Vol. 8, Issue 9, Part N (2025)
Abstract
Climate change poses a significant threat to the sustainability of agriculture, particularly for small and marginal farmers who often lack access to resources. This is exacerbated in highly vulnerable areas, such as the Marathwada region, located in the central region of Maharashtra state, characterised by a semiarid agroecosystem. Within this region, Parbhani and Hingoli districts are highly vulnerable to climate variability, facing erratic rainfall, frequent droughts, and depleting groundwater resources (Adhav et al., 2021) [1]. Agriculture is dominated by soybean, cotton, sorghum, and pulses, cultivated mainly under rainfed conditions. To tackle climate vulnerability, climate-resilient agricultural technologies were introduced. However, the awareness of these technologies is largely determined by farmers’ socio-economic and psychological characteristics. The present study aims to study the relationship between the awareness of small and marginal farmers on climate resilient technologies and their socioeconomic and psychological profile which includes age, education, size of landholding, farming experience, annual income, occupation, source of irrigation, social participation, extension contact, source of information, mass media exposure, economic motivation, innovativeness, risk orientation, and institutional support. A total of 120 respondents were selected through a multistage random sampling method. The data were collected using a structured and pretested interview schedule under an ex post facto research design. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was employed to determine the relationship. The findings revealed that education, occupation, size of landholding, annual income, social participation, extension contact, source of information, mass media exposure, economic motivation, innovativeness, and risk orientation exhibited a positive and significant correlation with awareness of climate-resilient technologies. Among these, the size of landholding and risk orientation exhibited a significant relationship. In contrast, age and farming experience showed a significant but negative correlation, indicating that younger and less experienced farmers were more aware of such technologies. Source of irrigation and institutional support were found to be non-significant.
