International Journal of Agriculture Extension and Social Development

author(s)
Chitra Das and SB Patil

abstract
Farm mechanization is a growing imperative for sustaining agricultural growth. Farm mechanization (the use of high-capacity and energy-efficient farm implements) is important in changing the climate scenario. But the cost of such machines becomes increasingly unaffordable for small farmers in many cases. Custom hiring centers (CHC) are a reliable source for bringing a considerable change in the farming situation across the country by availing hiring services of farm implements at affordable rates to the farmers. CHCs are capable to realize the labor shortage, efficient and timely operations, and increased yields. With respect to the results revealed regarding the attitude of farmers towards the objective of a custom hiring service center along with its post-pandemic scenario observation, 61.43 percent of the farmers belonged to a high attitude level towards a custom hiring service center, while 26.43 percent and 12.14 percent of farmers belonged to a low or medium attitude level towards a custom hiring service center. Later a synoptic study in 2022, of the post pandemic scenario, showed changes in the attitude of farmers towards custom hiring in farm mechanization in Vijayapur district which indicated that after a substantial decline in mechanized agricultural practices during pandemic, which resulted in reduced access to farm implements, and by the end of 2022, there has been an improvement in the availability and use of CHSCs by farmers for increasing their farm productivity.