Suggestions for Overcoming Obstacles in Betelvine Cultivation of Davanagere District, Karnataka

Like every other occupation, agriculture has its own constraints. In such a way, this article portrays the various constraints/ barriers experienced by the Davanagere district betelvine growers involved in betelvine cultivation. Harihara and Honnali taluks of the Davanagere district were purposively selected as it holds the highest area under betelvine cultivation. Twenty-five betelvine growers were selected from each of the six selected villages of two taluks of the Davanagere district of Karnataka. The selected betelvine growers were enquired about the difficulties experienced in betelvine cultivation using a three-point continuum and analyzed using Constraint Faced Index (CFI). Based on the study, it was found that yield loss due to inconsistent climatic conditions, high cost of labour, high cost of chemicals and fluctuation in market price were the prominent technical, labour, economic and marketing constraints experienced by the betelvine growers of Davanagere district respectively. Encouraging value-added products was the highly suggested measure followed by a provision of good quality inputs and providing credit facilities were the key suggestions put forward by the betelvine growers to overcome the constraints.