Profile Characteristics of the Farmers Showing Stubble Burning Behaviour in Punjab

Aim: To study the socio-personal, economic, communication, psychological, and situational characteristics of the farmers.

Study Design: Descriptive design.

Place and Duration of Study: Malwa region of Punjab, between first week of October 2019 to mid-December 2019.

Methodology: Multi-stage sampling was followed. Malwa region was selected purposively because of the maximum number of stubble-burning incidents reported in the area during 2018. Within Malwa region, three districts (Bathinda, Sangrur and Ludhiana) were selected randomly. One block was selected randomly from each district and two villages were selected randomly from each selected block. The sample size of 246 was determined using Cochran’s formula and the selection of farmers was based on proportional allocation. Based on the literature, a total of 14 characteristics were taken to document the profile of the farmers who were engaged in the stubble burning behaviour.

Results: The results indicated that most of the respondents were middle-aged (65.46%), male (91.06%), had formal education up to intermediate level (21.95%) and possessed semi-medium (5-10 acres) landholding (27.24%). Economic characteristics revealed that 51.46% farmers earned low annual income (<Rs. 50,000- Rs.4,50,000), possessed lager milch animals (98.78%) and were practicing specialized farming (45.93%). More than half (51.63%) of the farmers possessed medium information seeking behaviour. Among psychological and situational characteristics, most of the farmers showed medium levels of innovativeness (49.19%), risk orientation (47.15%) and scientific orientation (57.32%) while high levels of ecological consciousness (45.53%) and economic motivation (42.28%). Most of the farmers (45.93%) showed medium level of awareness towards various stubble management measures.

Conclusion: The analysis of these profile characteristics could be crucial in segmenting the farmer respondents and designing target-specific appropriate interventions to tackle the stubble burning behaviour of the farmers.