The Study of Profile Characteristics of Agro- Input Dealers Towards Agro Services in Junagadh District of Gujarat State

Aim: To study the selected characteristics of the input dealers.

Study Design: Ex-post facto research design.

Place and Duration of Study: The present investigation was undertaken in Junagadh district of Gujarat state.

Methodology: Junagadh district comprises of nine talukas out of which five talukas viz, Junagadh, Keshod, Mendarda, Vanthali and Maliya-hatina were randomly selected for the study. From each taluka thirty input dealers were selected randomly for the study. Thus, total 150 input dealers were selected randomly from five talukas.

Results: With regard to characteristics, approximately half (49.34%) of input dealers were in the middle age group, while nearly half (46.00%) had attained a graduation/post-graduation level of education. Around half (48.67 %) of input dealers had moderate social participation, and a majority (69.34 %) reported a high to very high annual income. Approximately 60.00%% of input dealers utilized sources of information at a moderate level, while 51.34%% had a medium level of mass media exposure. Only 16.64%% of input dealers had received training, and a majority (61.34 %%) had moderate extension contact. Additionally, 58.67 % of input dealers exhibited a moderate level of risk orientation, while 62.00%% displayed a medium level of management orientation. Approximately 75.34%% of agro-input dealers had a medium level of economic motivation, and slightly over half (58.67 %) demonstrated a medium level of progressivism.

Conclusion: It can be concluded that the majority of the respondents were from the middle age group with a graduation/post-graduation level of education. Additionally, more than half of the input dealers had medium social participation and belonged to the high to very high annual income bracket. Similarly, over half of the input dealers utilized sources of information and had mass media exposure at a moderate level. However, the data indicates that only a few input dealers received training from various institutes, while most had moderate extension contact and exhibited a medium level of risk and management orientation. Moreover, a significant proportion of agro-input dealers demonstrated a medium level of economic motivation and progressivism.