The Role of Size of Landholding and Social Participation in Shaping Farmers’ Knowledge to Competence: Evidence from ATMA Beneficiaries in Sikkim
Published by: Admin
Authors: Susmita Lama, Ravi Shekhar Vishal and B. Muthu Pandian
Abstract
India’s agricultural advancements have seen recent technological breakthroughs, accompanied with initiatives designed to assist farmers and implement modern technologies. Consequently, the Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) is one such initiative that has implemented technology extension services as a substitute for conventional methods of farming. The size of the landholding (especially marginal size) is an important concern in agricultural research because it impacts economic outcomes, environmental sustainability, technological adoption, resource utilisation, and productivity. The study intends to find the moderating effect of the size of marginal landholding between the Overall Information Seeking Behaviour (OISB) and Competency score (CS) of the beneficiaries, taking Overall Social Participation Behaviour (OSPB) as a mediator based on 403 Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) beneficiaries covering all the 31 blocks of 6 Districts of Sikkim. To achieve this study objective the researcher used a moderated mediation analytical framework by using the OISB as an independent variable, CS as dependent variable, and OSPB served as a mediator, while the size of marginal landholding acted as a moderator. The research indicates that OISB is more advantageous for Upper Marginal farm landholders; nevertheless, both OSPB and OISB are crucial for the development of CS on Lower Marginal farm landholders. However, the impact of OSPB on CS diminishes as the size of the landholding increases. The beneficiaries who actively seek information are more likely to demonstrate higher level of competence. Learning and competence-building may be explicitly supported by social participation (e.g., in community groups, cooperatives, or farmer associations) for Lower Marginal farm landholders. For Upper Marginal farm landowners, social participation may be more symbolic or status-driven, contributing minimally to actual competence. Thus, it is recommended that farmers’ competencies can be enhanced by using metrics that are tailored to the extent of the size of their landholdings.