UNRAVELLING THE CONSTRAINTS OF RAINFED GROUNDNUT PRODUCTION: AN EXPLORATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS AMONG FARMERS IN VELLORE DISTRICT, TAMIL NADU

Abstract

Rainfed groundnut cultivation is an important agricultural activity in semi-arid and drought-prone regions, where farm production is influenced by rainfall variability, resource limitations, input costs, financial access, market conditions and institutional support. Understanding the interrelated nature of these constraints is essential for developing location specific interventions. The purpose of the current investigation was to determine and classify the underlying constraints encountered by rainfed groundnut growers in the Vellore district of Tamil Nadu. The 120 rainfed groundnut growers were randomly selected. A five-point Likert-type scale, ranging from 1 (not a constraint) to 5 (very severe constraint), was employed in order to evaluate twenty constraint statements. Factors with eigenvalues greater than one were kept after SPSS Varimax rotation exploratory factor analysis. The data's eligibility for factor analysis was validated by the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy of 0.776, along with the significance of Bartlett's test of sphericity (χ² =1090.616, df =190, p <0.001). Together, these five factors accounted for 68.661% of the variance. Financial constraints, climate and water constraints, marketing constraints, input and production constraints, and institutional constraints were the aspects examined. The range of factor loadings was 0.672 to 0.873. Inadequate technical assistance (0.847), insufficient water supply (0.839), and limited awareness of superior rainfed technology (0.873) had the largest loading. The findings demonstrate that the constraints of rainfed groundnut growers are multidimensional and interconnected, requiring integrated interventions covering water management, affordable inputs, institutional finance, market support and strengthened agricultural extension.