Year: 2025 | Month: March | Volume 70 | Issue 1
Exploring Constraints in Risk Management Practices: A Study of Apple Growers in Himachal Pradesh, India
Harshit Doda
Rashmi Chaudhary
Anupam Singh
Anshumant Sharma and Pankaj Thakur
DOI:10.46852/0424-2513.1.2025.16
Abstract:
This study investigated the socio-economic characteristics and constraints faced by apple growers during adopting risk management practice in Himachal Pradesh. Data were collected from 432 farmers across eight blocks through a multi-stage sampling technique. The demographic profile revealed that 94.2% of respondents were male with 67.5% engaged in farming as their primary occupation. Education levels varied, with 26.4% of respondents completing senior secondary education. The majority of farmers
(54.5%) had small landholdings of less than one hectare. In terms of income, 39.6% of farmers earned between ` 2 and ` 4.5 lakh yearly from apple cultivation, while 32.9% earned more than ` 4.5 lakh. The study highlighted several important constraints that limit farmers’ capacity to increase productivity while mitigating risk. Marketing difficulties were mostly caused by delayed payments in contract farming (mean score 3.67), which had a substantial impact on the financial stability of farmers with smaller
land holdings. Herbicide and plant protection expenditures were among the production obstacles, with a mean score of 4.44 reflecting farmers’ concerns about environmental implications. Additionally, limited access to technical advice and the mismatch of available guidance with local farming conditions further exacerbated the challenges faced by farmers. This study highlights the critical need for improved marketing structures, financial assistance, and targeted technical coaching to support Himachal Pradesh
apple producers in increasing resilience and optimizing farm management practices. Addressing these obstacles is crucial to increasing the region’s apple agricultural sustainability.
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