Identification of factors that influence farmers’ buying behavior towards tomato seed through factor analysis: a case study in Chittoor District of Andhra Pradesh

Considering the increasing market space among the all vegetable crops and its profitability nature, farmers used to cultivate tomato crop in their major portion of their available land when comparison to other crops. The study was undertaken in Chittoor district to identify the reasons for farmers to buy specific seed or brand of tomato crop.  Through factor analysis, it was found that the majority of farmers consider the buying factors is the product value factor with highest mean score (3.89), second factor is product image with mean score (3.83) followed by product convenience with mean score of  (3.81), social influence and experiences (3.50). While location and accessibility (3.29) of seed availability, it was also noticed that, after using the brand and once he satisfied from specific brand, farmer will purchase the same brand repeatedly over the years even though its cost is high, anticipating that good returns will cover the cost of cultivation.