Impact of on-farm trials on integrated pest management in rainfed rice on the knowledge level of farmers

A study was undertaken to assess the impact of on-farm trials on Integrated Pest Management Techniques on the knowledge level of farmers under rainfed conditions in Dhenkanal district of Orissa. The knowledge level of the farmers have been measured by involving three major aspects of Integrated Pest Management viz., i)improved crop management techniques, ii) pest management and iii) weed management. The results revealed that there was a remarkable change in knowledge level of the farmers in all the three aspects of IPM after exposure to on-farm trials. The pre-exposure mean knowledge level was increased from 24.55% to 92.69% indicating a change of 68.4% in the overall knowledge level of the farmers.