Agriculture in Odisha is characterized by diverse production systems where rice, green gram and groundnut play critical roles in food, nutrition and income security. This study assessed farmers’ perceptions and attitudes towards these three crops to identify gaps and opportunities for improving production systems. A multistage random sampling design was employed to select 320 farmers across Baragarh (rice), Sonepur (green gram) and Jajpur (groundnut) districts. Data were collected through pretested interviews in Odia and analysed using a modified Likert
scale and Chi-square tests to examine associations between perception and socioeconomic variables. Results revealed that ecological conditions, particularly soil and temperature, were generally perceived as favourable for all three crops, while rainfall variability was a recurring constraint. Input supply for fertilisers, improved seed varieties were largely satisfactory, but credit access, labour availability and irrigation emerged as major bottlenecks. Advisory services (training, demonstrations, timely guidance) and government policy support (procurement, incentives, crop insurance, remunerative pricing) were inadequate, limiting the adoption of improved practices. Socioeconomic factors such as age, education, income and market access significantly influenced perception levels. Overall, most farmers fell into the medium perception category, indicating scope for targeted interventions. The findings underscore the need to strengthen extension services, improve institutional credit and irrigation infrastructure and enhance policy implementation to bridge perception gaps. This study provides actionable insights for researchers and policymakers to enhance the productivity, resilience and sustainability of rice, pulse and oilseed systems in eastern India.
