EXPLORING THE EXTENT OF ADOPTION OF PRECISION FARMING TECHNOLOGIES IN TOMATO CULTIVATION

The study was  aimed to assess the adoption level of tomato farmers on precision farming technology. Tamil Nadu Precision Farming Project (TNPFP) is a Tamil Nadu state sponsored turnkey project implemented by Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) at Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts in 400 ha to train the farmers in precision farming for a period of three (2004-2007) years. Krishnagiri district was purposively selected which consisted  of five taluks and from among them, three taluks viz., Denkanikottai, Krishnagiri and Hosur were selected considering the criteria of maximum beneficiaries and area covered under precision farming project. A Sample of 110 precision farming beneficiaries were  taken for the  study.  A well structured interview schedule was used for data collection and collected data were analyzed by using appropriate statistical tools. The salient findings are majority of the tomato farmers possessed medium to high level of precision farming technology adoption in tomato cultivation. Hundred per cent of the respondents completely adopted drip and fertigation system. More than 90 per cent of the respondents adopted the following technologies such as optimum seed rate, use of portrays for nursery preparation, stacking practice, sorting and grading. The adoption level was found minimum for the practices such ac use of yellow sticky trap, micro nutrient application.