Agri-input Buying Behaviour of Paddy Farmers: A Study in the Context of the New Normal Due to COVID-19

Humanity has witnessed diseases and illnesses since the ancient days. These diseases and illnesses resulted in days of suffering leading to disabilities or deaths of many people within communities and are termed as epidemics. As the society progressed, widespread trade increased the interactions between human, animals and ecosystems, thereby increasing the occurrence of these epidemics, often named as pandemics. Several pandemics have afflicted the world throughout history, be it malaria, tuberculosis, leprosy, influenza, smallpox, plagues or HIV/AIDS or the recent incidence of Novel Coronavirus. Diseases affect the supply chain of farm produce and agriculture. Consequently, it may impact food security. It is assumed that pandemic affects the buying behaviour of farmers and it has the capacity to alter the buying behaviour of paddy farmers in India. In this study, an attempt is made to investigate the effect of certain factors on farmers purchase behaviour during pandemic situation among rice farmers in Chhattisgarh, India. The studied sample included 120 farmers in Dhamtari, Raipur, India, selected randomly. Narratives were collected from the farmers and were analysed using qualitative data analysis software. From the qualitative data analysis, the implication for marketers is that itinerant trainers should be sent to villages to train the farmers, especially the bigger farmers (who have secondary influence), on the new technologies in agricultural inputs. The farmers also influence each other, and some amount of training coverage may eventually reach all farmers. The local dealers and the village headmen should also be influenced. An attempt should be made to marry the new technologies with the traditional methods, as much as possible.