Abstract
Ginger is an important crop for farmers in Karnataka. The area of cultivation of ginger crop has gradually increased from 7,461 hectares (ha) in 1999-2000 to 20,809 ha in 2017-18. Hence, the study examines the socio-economic characteristics of ginger crop farmers in Karnataka. In its initial stage, the study identified two districts where a high amount of ginger was grown. In the second stage, two taluks in each district where ginger crop area cultivation was high were selected. In the final stage, in each taluk, 30 samples were selected and the total sample size was 120. The objective of this paper is to investigate the socio-economic characteristics of ginger farmers in Karnataka. The major findings of the study are: Firstly, in Belur taluk, ginger farmers were younger, the average family size was lower and most of them were educated. Secondly, the ginger farmers’ main occupation was agriculture and nearly one-third of the farmers had a secondary occupation. Dairy (secondary) farming played the main role in our study area. Thirdly, the average net operated land size was higher in Shivamogga district and its taluk. Finally, the average irrigated land size was nearly two acres, and for irrigation, the main source was borewell. The main policy suggestion of the study is to find out those whose share is lower, device inclusive policies for them and provide some special incentives to people in the disadvantaged group.