India is an agriculture based country. Imbalance between demand and supply of agricultural production is a major concern to feed the ever-increasing population of our country. To enhance agricultural production, there are several ways. Out of various ways, plant protection occupies prime position. Insect-pests and diseases cause enormous damage to agricultural crops, forests as well as stored agricultural commodities. Almost every economically important plant is attacked by a variety of insect-pests and diseases. Therefore, the study was concentrated on the objective- to portray the plant protection chemicals use bahaviour in cauliflower cultivation in controlling insect-pests and diseases. The study was conducted in Nadia district of West Bengal. For the selection of area and respondents of the present study, multi-stage random sampling technique and universe method were followed. The study reveals that (1) at the most 47 percent of respondents had secondary level of education (2) at the most 32 percent of respondents had 1.1 to 2.0 bigha of own cultivable land (3) Nearly half of respondents (45%) had upto 5 katha of non-cultivable land (4) at the most 32 percent of respondents had 1.1 to 2 bigha (20 katha=1 bigha, 3 bihga= 1 acre, 2.5 acre=1 ha=7.5 bigha=150 katha) of land for vegetable cultivation (5) at the most 35 percent of respondents had 21-30 years of experience in vegetable cultivation (6) at the most 20 percent each of respondents had 11-15 years, 16-20 years and above 25 years of experience in pesticides application (7) All the respondents (100%) cultivated cauliflower crop in rabi season mainly (8) majority of the respondents (53%) applied pesticides on 4-7 days interval (9) all the respondents (100%) adopted spraying method for application of pesticides (10) all the respondents’ (100%) main personal source of information on pesticides use was agricultural input retailers (11) nearly half of respondents (48%) main impersonal source of information on pesticides use was radio (12) At the most 56 percent of respondents used 30-40 litres of water per bigha for spraying chemicals at seedling stage (13) at the most 66 percent of respondents used 40-80 litres of water per bigha for spraying chemicals at mature stage of the crop (14) at the most 19 percent of respondents used phorate 10G for soil treatment (15) at the most 22 percent of respondents used Mancozeb (Dithane M-45) for seed treatment (16) all the respondents (100%) reported that insect-pests and diseases mainly infested the crop at mature stage (17) according to the report of cauliflower growers (100%), diamond back moth was the most harmful insect-pest of cauliflower crop (18) majority of respondents (51%) reported, downy mildew disease was the most harmful disease of cauliflower crop (19) to control the insect-pests and diseases, respondents used various pesticides with their various brands and in various doses (20) generally, farmers used more amount of chemicals than the recommended amount (dose) for controlling insect-pests and diseases (21) the study also indicated that nowadays the mixed agro-chemicals are coming in market for controlling insect-pests and diseases. (22) the study also revealed that farmers are not following various precautions properly in applying pesticides. Therefore, the various public extension agencies, pesticide companies and non-government organizations should re-orient their extension programmes on the basis of the findings of the present investigation.
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