Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi
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Browsing Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi by Subject "Agricultural Extension Education"
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ThesisItem Open Access ACCESS OF AGRICULTURAL INFORMATION THROUGH MOBILE IN JHARKHAND(Birsa Agricultural University, Kanke, Ranchi, Jharkhand, 2013) Ranjan, Rakesh; Jha, B.K.Mobile has emerged as important communication media in agricultural extension. A number of initiatives have been undertaken by government and non-government organizations. In Jharkhand the services of Kisan Call Centre and voice mail of IIFCO-Kisan Sanchar Nigam Limited are already going on. Birsa Agricultural University has developed guided SMS. Hence, it was thought prudent to conduct a study on “Access of agricultural information through mobile in Jharkhand” with the specific objectives viz. to study the use of different mobile applications by the farmers, to assess farmers’ preference about different types of media-text ,audio, image and video, to assess the quality of receptivity and applicability of different types of information received through different types of mobile applications, to ascertain association of mobile use ,access of agricultural information through mobile, information application and level of satisfaction in getting agricultural information through mobile with socio-personal and economic characteristics of respondents and to study the constraints associated with application of mobile in agricultural extension. The research design was ex-post facto. To make the study representative, Dumka, Palamu and E. Singhbhum districts were selected from agro climatic zone IV, V & VI respectively. One block each from these districts were selected on the criteria of number of IKSL service user and general agricultural development. Twelve respondents each from IKSL and non-IKSL category were selected. Thus sample size became 90. Fifteen independent variables viz. age, family education, social participation, extension contact, mass media and IT exposure, innovation proneness, attitude towards mobile, annual agricultural income, information needs, knowledge about mobile feature, level of aspiration about mobile, and monthly expenditure on mobile service and four dependant variables viz. mobile use, access of agricultural information through mobile, information application and level of satisfaction in getting agricultural information through mobile were selected which were measured through scales and indices already available or were developed under the study. The data were collected through pre-tested schedules. The collected data were analysed and interpreted through statistical tests like frequency, percentage, mean, correlation and regression. Result indicates that there was no significant difference between IKSL and non –IKSL categories of respondents as far as independent variables are concerned. All the respondents had knowledge and skill about call receiving feature. Nokia 1616 and Nokia 1800 were the predominant mobile sets with the respondents. Mobile use and information application were calculated to be 0.84 and 0.69 respectively. Video was the most preferred media. Most sought after, understood and applied information was disease control. Minimum loss from reception to application was reported in varieties. The selected variables could explain the variability to the extent of 25.5%, 63.0%, 41.6% and 47.4% in mobile use, access of agricultural information through mobile, information application and level of satisfaction in getting agricultural information through mobile respectively. Non-availability of mobile number of source emerged to be the most important constraint. Based on the findings of the study it could be concluded that mobile has the potential to transform the landscape of agricultural extension.ThesisItem Open Access Adoption and communication behaviour of Tribal farmers with Respect to Rock Phosphate(Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi, 1991) Prabhakar Trikey; H.S.P. SinhaTribal farmers in general do not use phosphatic fertilizer due to economic reasons besides others like poor knowledge and mythical beliefs. Some of them, however, use fertilizer as it gives visual effect immediately while others do not use it at all. The upland soil of Chotanagpur is acidic. The use of water soluble phosphatic fertilizer like super phosphate is found to be less effective in acid soils due to phosphate fixation. If phosphate fertilizer has to be made available to plants, method of preventing phosphate fixation like application of organic matters and liming have to be done,which will be prohibitive on economic consideration. Therefore, the cheap alternative phosphatic fertilizer as Rock phosphate powder for acid soils, which can release slowly and also prevent phosphate fixation in the soil is generally recommended for the tribal farmers. The government, therefore, subsidized Rock phosphate up to 75 per cent for tribal farmers in the shape of incentive. The subsidies are being given to the farmers to speed up the rate of adoption of new technology. The strategy here was to facilitate the trial use which would follow the full scale adoption, still the farmers do not use cheap Rock phosphate for fertilizer to our expectation and consequently yield of tribal farmers is poor .ThesisItem Open Access ADOPTION OF PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY OF SAFED MUSLI (Chlorophytum borivilianum) IN JHARKHAND - A CASE STUDY(Birsa Agricultural University, Kanke, Ranchi, Jharkhand, 2011) HEMROM, PRADEEP KUMAR; Bara, NivaThe findings presented in the preceding paragraphs lead to conclude that education was the strongest contributing factor for innovative Safed Musli growers to adopt improved technology and get access of credit, training and mass media. Further profit making was the prime motive of the Musli growers. Case study further indicated that agri-preneurship like cultivation of Safed Musli requires technical knowledge as well as keen sense of marketing practices, exploitation of opportunities and willingness to the environment. Safed Musli growers under the study reported a number of constraints which could be removed by appropriate measures. It can be concluded that Government and research/extension system should promote end-to-end approach covering input supply, production, post-harvest management, processing and marketing of Safed Musli at par with other commercial crops.ThesisItem Open Access CASE STUDIES ON AGRI-ENTREPRENEURSHIP AMONG TRIBALS IN JHARKHAND(Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi, 2019) Kumar, Pankaj; Jha, B.K.Entrepreneurship assumes importance in the backdrop of declining employment opportunities in organized sector. The problem of unemployment in tribal areas is rampant which can be observed through heavy migration of tribal youth to urban areas. Hence, it was decided to conduct a study on “Case Studies on Agri-entrepreneurship among Tribals in Jharkhand” with specific of objectives viz. to study the agri - entrepreneurial environment and traits of identified tribal agri-entrepreneurs, to study socio-economic profile of identified tribal agri-entrepreneurs, to analyze the adoption of technology by the identified tribal agri-entrepreneurs, to analyze the economics of enterprise/s of identified tribal agri-entrepreneurs and to study the marketing strategies adopted by the identified tribal agri-entrepreneurs. The ex-post facto cum exploratory research design was adopted. Three tribal agri- entrepreneurs each were selected from Santhal, Oraon and Munda tribal communities. Only those tribal agri-entrepreneurs were selected whose income was above per capita income of India. The variables included age, education, size of holding, irrigation potential, family size, proximity with city, extension contact, social participation and entrepreneurial traits with the indices and scale already developed or developed under the study. The findings revealed that entrepreneurial environment was created by government and non-government organizations in which the contribution of bank was found important. Majority of the tribal agri-entrepreneurs were young with graduate degree. The entrepreneurial traits like endurance, internal locus of control and tolerance to uncertainty were found significant and important. The tribal agri-entrepreneurs involved in agriculture and horticulture enterprises adopted most of the recommended technologies, but gaps were observed in drip irrigation system and primary processing. Similarly, the gaps were also observed in recommendation of changing boar every year, management of piglet anemia and needle teeth cutting in case of piggery enterprise. All the selected tribal agri-entrepreneurs had pump set and drip irrigation system but the big machine i.e. tractor was owned by tribal agri- entrepreneurs with large size of holding. The net income of selected tribal agrientrepreneurs ranged from Rs.360174/- to Rs.1831684/-. Cent per cent selected tribal agri-entrepreneurs engaged in agriculture + horticulture sold their produce through mediator. Contrarily, the tribal agri-entrepreneurs engaged in piggery enterprise sold their produce directly to the consumers. The tribal agri-entrepreneurs received price less than MSP except kharif maize and pigeon pea. Similarly, for most of vegetable crops, the agri-entrepreneurs received price less than the lower range of wholesale price and their share in consumer’s rupee was found between 0.21 to 0.71. The entrepreneurial impact on personal and social life of tribal agri-entrepreneurs has been praiseworthy and they have been able to create substantial employment in rural tribal areas. It could be concluded from the study that tribal agri-entrepreneurs are emerging and sustaining but they are also suffering due to lack of adequate technology support and weak marketing system. With encouragement and required support, there could be favorable entrepreneurial environment which will solve the problem of unemployment and bring prosperity in tribal area.ThesisItem Open Access e-NAM - A Comparative Analysis of Associated and Non-Associated Farmers in Jharkhand(Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi, 2023) Amrita Soni; B.K. JhaWith the notion of creating ‘One Nation One Market’ Electronic National Agriculture Marketing (e-NAM) was conceptualised in the year 2015 and was implemented on 14th April, 2016 by Government of India. It is a pan India e-trading portal which seeks to network the existing physical APMCs through a virtual platform to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities and electronic payment settlement directly into farmers' account. In this background, a research study entitled “e-NAM- A Comparative Analysis of Associated and Non-associated Farmers in Jharkhand” was conducted with the specific objectives namely to assess the socio-economic and psychological characteristics of associated and non-associated farmers and to find out constraints in the access of e-NAM services. The study was conducted during 2022-23 with exploratory cum ex-post facto research design. Three districts belonging to three agroclimatic zones of Jharkhand were selected. From each district 20 associated and 20 non-associated farmers with e-NAM were selected. Thus, a total of 120 farmer respondents constituted the sample. Selected variables like age, occupation, family size, farming experience, land holding, annual income, marketable surplus, awareness about e-NAM, social participation, technosavviness, mass media exposure, extension contact economic motivation and achievement motivation were measured through test/scale/indices already developed or developed under the study. Data were analysed through suitable descriptive statistics like; frequency, percentage, mean, median, standard deviation and inferential statistics as Chi-square, Discriminant Analysis and Max Min normalisation. The findings revealed that majority of the respondent farmers were middle aged, marginal farmers, had medium sized family. It is noticeable that associated farmers with e-NAM had low level of farming experience and had intermediate level of education while non associated farmers had medium level of farming experience and were educated up to high school. High level of social participation, mass media exposure, technosavviness, extension contact, economic motivation and achievement motivation had been observed among associated farmers, while low level of the same parameters had been found among non-associated farmers. Chi square values for farming experience, social participation, mass media exposure, technosavviness, economic motivation and achievement motivation were found to be significant, which indicates that that these variables play a crucial role in determining the association or non-association of farmers with e-NAM. Wilk’s Lambda tending to zero value signifies that there was a variation between the two groups with respect to various variables. Achievement motivation with discriminant coefficient of 2.00 had been found to be the most significant factor in distinguishing the population of associated and non-associated farmers. From amongst the 60 associated farmers 18.3% of them were found to have non-associated farmers type attributes while 10% from the 60 non associated farmers surveyed had associated farmers type attributes. Majority of the associated farmers accessed the portal with the help of traders. Maximum quantity of produce was sold by the farmers of Hazaribagh district. Marketable surplus of cereals in the associated category was found to be the highest whereas in the non-associated category marketable surplus of vegetables was the highest. Constraints faced by associated farmers in e-NAM service were analysed by using Gatrett Ranking method. Poor digital literacy (Rank I) succeeded by sometime not able to sell whole quantity of produce through e-NAM platform (Rank II) followed by, sometimes e-NAM price was less than mandi price (Rank III). From constraint variables point of view operational challenges in the working of e-NAM had been found to be the biggest hurdle in e-NAM services followed by socio- economic and marketing challenges. Based on the findings it could be concluded that e-NAM is yet to show its impact in the study area, hence there is a need for intervention to make the services easily accessible by maximum number of farmers.ThesisItem Open Access Farmers' Strategies to Cope With Marginal Environment in the Plateau Region of Bihar, India(Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi, 1996) Veleria Larra; Obdulia F. SisonLakra, valeria, University of the Philippines los Banos, March 1996 , Farmers’ strategies to cope with Marginal Environment in the Plateau Region of Bihar, India. Major professor : Dr. Virginia R.Cardenas. This study identified and described farming strategies as well as reason for adopting various far farming technique in responses to marginal environment in Hazaribagh, Bihar, India. Household interviews were conducted among 300 respondents using formal interview for one – half of them and structured informal interviews for the other half .Descriptive statistics was used to summarize socio economic and bio physical factors, farming system and effects of the strategies adopted, while bivariate and cannocial correlations were used to exmine the degree of relationships among the variable. Majority of the respondents were small and marginal farmers.They described their farmlands as: flat (100% of the respondents) and gently sloping (97%) less than 25% of land being drought affected (76%) more than 75% of land needing the irrigation (83%) and about 50% of land being affected by pest and diseases (63%). Farming strategies to cope with such environment were several. Farmers used cropping system, such as rotational cropping, mixed cropping and sequential cropping for varying primary reasons. During the rainy season, majority of the farmers chose to plant pulses, oil seeds, millets, rice and fiber crop in unfavourable lands with low soil fertility, while rice, maize, vegetables were planted in favourable lands. Traditional varieties of short duration crops were chosen for a good crop yield .Crop –livestock integration was a highly profitable enterprise for farm household. Farm yard manure was used in both unfavourable and favourable lands to improve the soil fertility and land productivity. Crop rotation in unbunded land rotating different varieties of a crop in bunded lands were considered the best strategies to improve soil fertily .In order to overcome water insufficiency effects during a cropping season, farmers used local varieties of crops that had tolerance to drought or those which could avoid it by maturing before drought set in. Indigenous practices as well as chemical pesticide were used to control pests and diseases. Farmers were also engaged in land-sharing. Off-farm and non- farm activities in order to increase their income. Bivariate correlation analysis showed that all the bio- physical factors were significantly related to cropping system, while socio- economic factors were significantly related to cropping systems, and income augmentation strategies. Canonical correlation showed highly significant relationship between different groups of variables, rejecting all the null hypotheses. It can be concluded that these farming strategies were need- based farming for subsistence. The strategies adopted by the respondents were found not only meeting subsistence needs but also contributing to sustainable agriculture.ThesisItem Open Access IDENTIFICATION OF VIABLE ENTREPRENEURIAL TRADES FOR FARM WOMEN IN JHARKHAND(Birsa Agricultural University, Kanke, Ranchi, Jharkhand, 2010) Hansdah, Barma; Bara, NivaThe findings of the study provide relevant information related to socio-economic and entrepreneurial characteristics of woman entrepreneurs and also general information regarding their enterprises. The study also revealed the motivational factors and perception of woman entrepreneurs about the business environment. It is evident from the study that the women were good managers and getting support from their family members and extension organizations. Based on the findings it can be concluded that entrepreneurial income of farm woman was also crucial for improving their position, self esteem, self confidence, self development and decision making power in the family, as well as giving them the means for survival when the family support system breaks down. The woman entrepreneurs under the study reported a number of constraints which could be removed by appropriate measures. It may be concluded that there is need to encourage viable entrepreneurial activities like poultry, vegetable cultivation, mushroom cultivation, dairy, goatry, tailoring and pickle making. by mitigating constraints for grater economic independence by conducting need-based training and providing initial inputs through SHGs. Intensive technical guidance and essential extension services should be rendered for entrepreneurship development apart from strengthening the institutional and infrastructural facilities.ThesisItem Open Access Job Analysis of Agricultural finance officers in Banking institution(Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi, 1991) Abhai Shanker Sinha; N.PrasadThere is clear gap in the working pattern and working environment of the Agricultural Finance Officers between actual and desired situations. This situation may be assigned as a factor in the lack of job satisfaction.ThesisItem Open Access Participation of Scheduled Caste Women in Farm and Home Activities(Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi, 1997) Ashok Kumar; R.P.Singh "Ratan"The conclusion drawn from the above finding lead to summaries that wide spread illiteracy among scheduled caste farm woman and their poor socio – economic status have compelled them to be unware and ignorant of the new developments in farming as well as their very poor input in farm related decisions. On the other hand it is evident from the finding that womens higher rates of indepentdent participant in farm and home related activities have affected their health adversely leading to a number of minor and major health hazards/problems.ThesisItem Open Access PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL OF SELECTED FARMER PRODUCER ORGANIZATIONS (FPOs) IN THE STATE OF JHARKHAND(Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi, 2023) Shilpa Rani Kujur; Niva Baraextremely small holdings, FPOs through collectivization leads to economies of scale which are supposed to address the problems and improve the bargaining power of farmers through backward and forward linkages. But all these expectations will be fulfilled when FPOs perform better. As this new extension approach is under operation in Jharkhand also, its appraisal has now become a matter of interest. On this background the present study entitled “Performance Appraisal of Selected Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) in the state of Jharkhand” has been taken up with specific objectives viz. to assess the Organisational Performance of the selected FPO and to study the contribution of FPOs towards selected socio-economic-personal characteristics of farmers. Exploratory-cum-Ex-post-facto research design was used to conduct the study in the three Agro-climatic zones of the state i.e., Zone IV, Zone V and Zone VI. Three districts, namely Hazaribagh, Garhwa and East Singhbhum were selected randomly from these three selected agro-climatic zones respectively. Further, two FPOs were chosen from each selected district those were either near to the district headquarters and another that is farther away. Twenty Respondents were selected from each selected FPO through Simple random sampling. Altogether the whole sample was consisted of 120 respondents. In order to study financial performance of selected FPOs altogether 10 variables were selected namely turn over, Share capital, profits current assets, current liability, total assets total liability, equity current ratio and debt-equity ratio and the data collected through secondary sources available with the selected FPOs. Further, to assess the contribution of FPOs towards socio-economic and personal characteristics of FPO’s farmers respondents altogether 9 variable namely, annual family income, saving, extension contact, social participation, mass media exposure, economic motivation and achievement motivation were taken in to consideration. Similarly, to study the socio-personal and economic profile with the respondent eight variable were selected, namely, Age, education, gender, family type and size, land holding, house type and farming experience. For measuring the above mention variable various scale and tests were developed and incorporated in to schedule. For collecting primary data, the respondents were personally interviewed. There was similarity in organisational structure of the selected FPOs. The selected FPOs differed significantly in terms of the indicators selected for measuring the FPOs financial performance. However, Majhiaon Farmer Producer Company performed the best. The FPOs contribution on Socio and Economic Characteristics of the farmer member were found positive for all cases. However, on Income parameter the differences among group have been found narrowed down in case of Majhiaon FPO and said to be as homogenizer for the group members. However, on the saving indicator no significant difference was observed. Further, provision of proper networking, monitoring and proper marketing channel can help in capitalizing the benefit of concept in real sense.ThesisItem Open Access PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL OF WOMAN SELF HELP GROUPS IN RANCHI DISTRICT OF JHARKHAND(Birsa Agricultural University, Kanke, Ranchi, Jharkhand, 2012) Choudhary, Sujit Kumar; Bara, NivaThe spread of self help group (SHG) can be traced back to the efforts of Md Yunus of Bangladesh. The self –help group emerged to help the rural poor particularly women in securing support like credit and other services. The formation of self-help groups has enabled the rural women to become economically independent, come out of the vicious cycle of poverty and live with dignity and confidence. The self help groups are said to have a great potential in accelerating the pace of rural development. Hence, it was considered worthwhile to study the performance of SHGs from close quarters and to suggest the strategies to overcome the constraints/problems. In this backdrop the study entitled, ‘‘Performance Appraisal of Woman Self-Help Groups in Ranchi District of Jharkhand’’ was taken up with specific objectives; to study the socio-economic characteristic of woman SHG members, to assess the nature and quality of management functions performed by the SHGs members, to analyze the performance of the SHGs in terms of organizational growth, economic achievements and institutionalization and to identify the constraints encountered by the SHGs members in promotion of the group activities. Three blocks namely Burmu, Angara and Tamar were purposively selected from Ranchi district. From each selected block two villages were randomly selected. All the members of the selected SHGs under selected villages i.e. 75 in number constituted the sample for study. The data were collected through interview schedule, observation, informal personal and focused group discussion. The finding of the study revealed that majority of the respondents were middle aged belonged to scheduled tribe community, having education up to middle school level. They reported improvements in their technical skills after becoming members of SHGs. The typical size of SHG was 10-15 members and they used saved on an average Rs. 5-10 per week per member. Conducting meetings, saving & thrift, discussion and solution of social issues, disbursement of loan through consensus were the core activities of the woman SHGs. SHGs were found to be successfully generating additional income through small income generating activities like lac cultivation, vermi compost prepration, masala packing and bamboo basket making. The result showed that most of the group members had maintained good and harmonious working relationship among themselves and created a cordial atmosphere so that they could contribute effectively. The members responded positively to socio-economic impacts of SHGs leading to improvement, in their quality of life in terms of reduction in availing loan from money lenders and increase in income, employment, infrastructure and financial management skills. However, majority of the members faced problems like low level of education, lack of knowledge about innovations, high price of inputs, irregular and ineffective training programmes, poor linkages with outside traders, inadequate marketing facilities and lack of storage facilities, which need to be solved through various extension and developmental efforts.ThesisItem Open Access Study on Major Agricultural Tribes of Ranchi District in Relation To Their Participation in Agricultural Extension Programmes(Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi, 1993) Lalit Kumar Das; Dr. N. Prasad1. A considerable percentage of oraon and Munda farmer respondents were found to be in the medium category of socio-economic status. 2. The economic motivation, risk-preference and scientific orientation of a little over 50 per cent of tribal farmers and extension participation for an appreciable percentage (69 x) of these farmers were at a medium level. 3. By and large, the tribal farmers' awareness level with the agricultural extension programmes was also medium, 4 In the opinion of majority of tribal farmer respondents,. their participation in agricultural programs, its quality and level of implementation of these programmes was neither high nor low. 5 Similar was the case with regard to the extent of use of extension methods by extension workers, as well as, farmers. Out of the extension methods, however, where the Oraon farmers considered group meeting and method demonstration to be effective, the Munda farmers preferred method demonstrations and discussion with farmers.ThesisItem Open Access Women Farmers Contribution To Sustainable Agriculture in The Tribal Region of Bihar, India(Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi, 1995) Niva Bara; Obdulia F. SisonNiva Bara, university of the Philippines at los Bahos, October, December, 1995.Women farmers contribution to sustainable Agriculture in the Tribel Region of Bihar, India. Major Professor : Dr. Blanda R Sumayao. The study examined women farmers contribution to sustainable Agriculture as influenced by certain factor namely personal characteristics (age, education, farming experience and environmental awareness) social- economic factors (farm characteristics, size of farm family labour and credit accessibility) and institutional factors( source of agriculture information, organizational affiliation, contact with change agent and extension exposure). Sustainable agriculture was studied in the context of ecological soundness, economic viability, social justice and humaneness. A total of 288 women farmers from different farming groups in the tribal villages of Bihar, India were the respondents of the study. Different survey techniques using informal and formal interviews, group discussions, meetings and audio tapes were triangulated to obtain the specific information needed. Number crunchers in statistics (NCS) and statically package of social science(SPSS) computer software were used to analyze the data. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the respondent personal characteristics and the socio-economic and institutional factors as well as their contribution to sustainable agriculture. Correlation and stepwise multiple regression analysis were used to determine the factor affecting women’s contribution to sustainable agriculture. Mean age of the respondents was 38 years and the majority (82%) had no formal education. Those with formal education had a mean eduction level of 1.42 years.Sixty-eight percent had 15-34 years farming experience and their principal occupation was crop farming. Results showed that almost all of the women (99%) contributed highly to sustainable agriculture .This could be traced to their many years of using indigenous farming practices like crop rotation, mixed cropping, use of organic farm manure ,green manuring, terracing, traditional seed varieties ,indigenous crop protection measures and traditional postharvest techniques which to scientists are ecologically and economically sound. The women perceived their indigenous farming practices as economically viable because these ensured their food fuel and fodder for the whole year while using low external inputs. Further more this farm practices in the area where socially just and women since they ensure social equinity cooperation and consideration for gender issue when the community. woman farmers in the area had equal access to natural and physical resource ed like forest product water and agriculture farm implement .They were also giving and receiving assistance from each other in the form of quality seeds, agriculture and labour, They worked as a grower while undertaking farm activity like transplanting when and harvesting farming acitivity where well synchronized and the women where able to reduce operation cost as well as minimized the pest and disease infestation. Correlation and analysis indicated that environmental awareness and organizational affiliation affected contribution to sustainable agricultural at high level of significance organizational affiliation was however inversely co related with contribution to sustainable agricultural credit accessibility and radio listing were significance and 5% level. Step wise regration analysis indicates that among the independent variable only environmental awareness. organizational affiliation and extension exposures had highly significant detect on women’s contribution to sustainable agriculture.