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Open Access
Decision support system on nutrient recommendations for rice - an end - user assessment
(Department of Agricultural extension, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2011) Swafah, C; KAU; Ahamed, P
Effective transfer of technology is very crucial in agricultural development of any nation. This is a challenge particularly for countries like India where diverse farming, highly fragmented land holdings, large number of farmers, several official languages are involved in the process. As a result only a fraction of farming community is largely benefited by utilizing the new technological advancements. The information needs of agriculture at large are diverse and complicated. Reaching right information at right time is a major challenge through conventional extension methods. Thus introducing modern information and communication technology is a better option. It is an established fact that fertilisers contribute up to 50 percent to total production. However, the prevailing communication gap between scientific groups and farming communities is making the task highly difficult for practical implementation of official fertilization practices in the field. Farmers are not fully aware of nutrient doses Vs fertiliser quantities resulting in improper fertilization practices in the field. Such improper practices are leading to imbalance in nutrient use and finally leading to soil fertility degradation. The major requirement in this communication process is compilation, classified arrangement and proper management of diverse information on various fertilisers, nutrient doses for a wide range of crops and cropping systems. This has to be done in such a way that the specific information is quickly accessible and easily translated in to a practical recommendation. Realizing this, Kerala Agricultural University through a collaborative research programme with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research has come up with a decision support system entitled ‘Nutrient Recommendation Syatem for Rice’ (NRSR). The NRSR is a generic decision support system for rice capturing the selected seven rice cropping systems of Kerala, expected as an user friendly software package for choosing appropriate or available manurial and fertilizer options aiming sustainable yields and reasonable farmer’s profit. The NRSR will aid as a decision making tool for calibrating the required dose of fertilizers for a particular area of land in a specific cropping system, specific to soil test data and arriving at the total cost of each manures and fertilizers. This package supported with touch screen option, will act as an efficient extension tool for the agricultural officers, rice scientists, and other extensionists in decision making and prescribing appropriate nutrient management options (Ganesan, 2006). Developing a DSS software is a time consuming and resource intensive project. So a systematic user-participatory assessment exercise, prior to its large scale recommendation is imperative. The study was conducted to identify the gaps and to assess the technical quality, information efficiency, and userfriendliness as perceived by end- users. The research was conducted among the agricultural officers of Thrissur and Palakkad districts of Kerala as they were two leading districts in rice cultivation in the state. The respondents from both the districts agreed that it could save the time of user in getting solutions for field problems, and also it is cheaper when compared to the process of seeking human expertise. An increase in knowledge level of respondents regarding nutrient management aspects of rice cultivation also happened after giving exposure to NRSR. The main suggestions obtained for the refinement of software were as follows: 1.The fertiliser calculator provided in NRSR is capable of performing straight fertiliser calculation only, and unable to calculate fertiliser dose for complex fertilisers like Factomphose which is commonly used and easily available nitrogen source. So it should also be included in the system. 2. The fertiliser calculator in the system was designed in such a way that it is according to lowmedium- high status of soil fertility, it should be sensitive to numerical data of soil test for getting more accurate results. 3. NRSR should be developed in local language so that maximum users could benefit. 4. NRSR should be linked and updated according to weather forecast and given in the web to access by all kinds of users at any time. 5. More clear photographs should be included to diagnose the symptom easily. 6.Demo videos for seed treatment, mat nursery preparation and other operations in rice should also included in the system. 7. The latest rice varieties with specific charecteristics and photographs should also be included in NRSR.
Open Access
Environmental concerns in the development projects on rice farming under decentralized planning
(Department Of Agricultural Extension, College Of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2011) Smitha, K P; KAU; Anilkumar, A
The study entitled ‘Environmental concerns in the development projects on rice farming under decentralized planning’ was undertaken with the major objective of studying the nature and extent of environmental concerns in planning and implementation of development projects on rice farming under decentralized planning in Palakkad District. Environmental awareness and constraints perceived by stakeholders in planning and implementation of the projects were also studied. The research project was undertaken in Palakkad district, as the district accounts for about 1/3rd of the total area under rice cultivation of Kerala state. Four blocks, viz. Kollengode, Kuzhalmannam, Chittur and Alathur were selected purposively based on the highest area under rice. Thekkinchira, Nelliancaud, Manchira and Kolapadam padashekarams were randomly selected from the above four respective blocks. Ten each of beneficiary farmers, agricultural labourers, people’s representatives/social activists in the same padashekaram were selected randomly for the study. Thus a total of 40 beneficiary farmers, 40 agricultural labourers and 40 people’s representatives/social activists were selected from the study area. In addition to those included in the selected projects / padashekarams, extension functionaries from other regions of the district were also randomly selected, so as to make a sample size of 40. Thus a total of 160 respondents belonging to the four categories constituted the sample of this study. The data collected were statistically analyzed using arithmetic mean, percentage, canonical correlation analysis and principal component analysis. The study on environmental concerns and awareness of stakeholders revealed that the farmer respondents had high to medium level of environmental concerns and awareness. Most of the agricultural labourers possessed medium level of environmental concerns while all of them were in the medium awareness category. All the extension personnel and majority of people’s representatives/social activists had high awareness and concern for environment. In the nature of environmental concerns it was found that in the land and soil management dimension, most of the padashekarasamithi considered three technologies while planning viz. (1) practicing crop rotation with pulses/leguminous green manures /fringe cropping with cowpea (2) application of nitrogen and potassium in two to three split doses and (3) application of lime while all the farmer respondents adopted two technologies viz. (1) applying nitrogen and potassium in 2-3 split doses according to the duration of the variety and (2) incorporation of crop residue in the field. While majority of the samithis considered only a single water management technology in the planning stage (selection of suitable varieties based on water availability) all the respondents adopted three major water management practices viz.(1) summer ploughing, (2) land/leveling/ puddling and (3) maintaining standing water as per crop requirement. All the samithis included augmentation of parasite / predator population in the field / use of natural enemies like Pseudomonas in the planning stage. Majority of the farmers avoided poaching and killing of birds and animals in rice fields. Selection of right season was considered in the planning stage by all the samithis and all the respondent farmers ploughed the field and exposed it to sun as a part of the plant protection practices. With respect to the extent of environmental concerns in the planning stage, majority of the farmers were found to be in the lower class of adoption with regard to land and soil management, water management, biodiversity conservation and plant protection practices while most of them were in the medium category in the implementation stage of all the four dimensions. Percentage adoption of land and soil management practices, water management, biodiversity conservation and plant protection practices was very high over planning and it was the highest in case of water management dimension. The above results show the inefficient planning at padashekarasamithi level and a better adoption and environmental concerns at the farmer level. Analysis of the relationship between the dependent variables (environmental concerns, awareness and extent of environmental concerns reflected in adoption of eco-friendly technologies) and profile characteristics of farmers revealed that environmental concern is the most important dependant variable and the profile characteristics viz. perception on the importance of mitigating environmental degradation, indigenous wisdom orientation, knowledge on eco-friendly rice cultivation, experience in eco-friendly farming, sense of empowerment, risk orientation, export orientation, educational status and participation in environment related activities contributes the most in developing environmental concerns and awareness. In the case of all other respondents out of the two dependent variables viz. environmental concerns and awareness, environmental concern is the most important dependent variable than environmental awareness. The variables sense of empowerment, experience in eco-friendly farming, knowledge on eco-friendly rice cultivation, perception on the importance of mitigating environmental degradation, age and indigenous wisdom orientation play crucial role in developing concern and awareness on environment in agricultural labourers while communication effectiveness, decision making ability and participation in environmental activities have the highest influence on the dependent variables in the case of extension personnel. Perception on the importance of mitigating environmental degradation, educational status, indigenous wisdom orientation, leadership, attitude towards group management and participation in environmental activities play very important role in defining environmental concern and awareness of people’s representatives / social activists. The B-C ratio of eco-friendly rice cultivation, conventional rice cultivation and cow based minimum budget rice farming (Gō-adharitha krishi) was 1.39, 1.79 and 2.2 respectively. The major reason for this is the higher cost of cultivation incurred in the case of eco-friendly rice cultivation which is due to the high cost of organic inputs and its application. But the price in the market is the same irrespective of the methods of production, which reduce the profit for eco-friendly farmers. Cow based minimum budget rice farming (Gō-adharitha krishi) portrays the success of eco-friendly farming by way of value addition and better marketing. The mean social benefit-cost ratio for all the respondents was high, which substantiates the general perception that social benefits derived from eco-friendly rice farming was higher than the social costs. The dimensions such as non- remunerative price, higher cost of cultivation and inconvenience in handling eco-friendly inputs contributed higher magnitude of variation towards social cost and the dimensions, superior quality of rice, enrichment of biodiversity, improvement in water quality and self-development contributed to higher magnitude of variations towards social benefit. Most of the farmers considered padashekarasamithi as a supplier of inputs from krishi bhavans, which was a major constraint in the planning stage while in the implementation stage the major constraint perceived by them was the labour unavailability. The labourers professed labour unavailability, lack of knowledge on eco-friendly techniques, lack of good quality, certified organic inputs in the market and higher cost of these inputs as the major constraints in the implementation stage. The major constraints according to the extension personnel were lack of co-ordination among the members of padashekarasamithi in the planning stage and labour unavailability, lack of good quality, certified organic inputs in the market in the implementation stage. While in the case of people’s representatives/social activists the major constraint perceived in the planning stage was the farmers outlook of padashekarasamithi as a mere input supplier of krishi bhavan. This group of stakeholders felt labour unavailability and problems in marketing organic rice due to its difficulty in getting it certified as the major constraints in the implementation stage. Some of the important policy prescriptions in the light of the study which the government should undertake are (i) offer incentive price for rice produced in an eco-friendly way (ii) provide assured market and farmer-customer networking (iii) simplify procedures of organic certification (iv) develop certification procedures for eco-friendly rice (v) value addition and (vi) offer incentives for farmers practicing clean agriculture (vii) encourage and conscientize farmers for cultivation of traditional varieties and use of indigenous wisdom (viii) redefining and updating organic farming policy (ix) encourge group approach in organic rice farming (x) encourage mixed farming (xi) maintain biodiversity register for grama panchayats and (xii) ensure availability of eco-friendly inputs .
Open Access
Performance effectiveness of Mahatma Gandhi national rural employment guarantee programme in Palakkad District (MGNREGP).
(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2011) Lawrence, Prabu C; KAU; Shilaja, S
Poverty eradication is a long term goal of India. Since independence number of poverty alleviation programmes were launched. It would be incorrect to say that all the poverty alleviation programmes had shown the result much expected. In this way the ongoing programme the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme is a flagship programme of Government of India. It is launched on February 2006 with the aim of enhancing livelihood security and poverty reduction. The study entitled “Performance effectiveness of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme” is an attempt to study the performance effectiveness of the programme in terms of stakeholder participation, stakeholder satisfaction and physical and financial achievement. The study ‘Performance effectiveness of Mahatma Gandhi national Rural Employment Guarantee Programme was conducted in three Grama Panchayats of Palakkad district namely Agali, Eruthenpathy and Kannadi panchayat. The Multi stage Random sampling technique was followed in the selection of block, panchayat and beneficiaries. Two sets of respondents were selected for the study namely beneficiary respondents and beneficiary officers. Total sample size for the study was 120 which include 90 beneficiary respondents and 30 beneficiary officers. The dependent variable selected to measure the performance effectiveness of the programme were extent of stakeholder participation, stakeholder satisfaction and physical and financial achievement. Independent variables were selected which includes age, sex, caste, education, marital status, family type, family size (Socio-personal variables), annual income, expenditure pattern (Socio-economic variable), level of aspiration, economic motivation, attitude towards MGNREGP, perception about MGNREGP (Socio-psychological variable) and contact with officials, media exposure and social participation (Extension communication variables). The study revealed that 76.66 per cent of the beneficiary respondents actively participated and 7.77 per cent very actively participated in MGNREGP. With respect to beneficiary officers 22 per cent actively participated and 50 per cent were participated in MGNREGP. With regard to extent of satisfaction of beneficiary respondents, 50 per cent were very much satisfied and 50 per cent were satisfied with the MGNERGP, whereas satisfaction of officer was measured in terms of job satisfaction which indicated that above 50 per cent of the beneficiary officers were satisfied. The achievements of physical targets were measured in terms of increased employment, enhanced wage earnings, participation of marginalised group, strengthening and conservation of natural resources, enhanced purchasing power of rural household’s and poverty reduction. It is revealed from the study that an increasing trend in all these aspects. The study indicated that 67.78 per cent of the respondents belonged to middle age group of which above 90 per cent of them were women and married. Most of the respondents were having nuclear family and forty per cent were having 4 members in their family. Above 60 per cent of the respondents belonged to backward community and 54 per cent were illiterate. Regarding the annual income, 54.45 per cent of the respondents earned income ranging between Rs.30001 and Rs.45000 whereas 40 per cent of the respondents annual expenditure was less than or equal to Rs.25000 and 34.44 per cent were in the range between Rs.25001- Rs.30000. The level of aspiration was found to have 65 per cent of the respondents under low level of aspiration (past), 80 per cent of the respondents under medium level aspiration (present) and above 60 per cent of the respondents under high level (future) aspiration. Economic motivation is an important motive for a person to perform more effectively to improve his/her economic performance. The economic motivation of the respondents was found to have 55 per cent of the respondents under higher level of economic motivation and strive hard in all possible ways to raise their income. The study revealed that 88.89 per cent of the beneficiary respondents had favourable attitude towards MGNREGP of which 20 per cent were having highly favourable attitude. With respect to beneficiary officers 60 per cent had favourable attitude and 26.67 per cent had highly favourable attitude towards MGNREGP and also indicated that above 90 per cent of the respondents perceived that ‘MGNREGP helps to improve the livelihood of rural poor, empower the rural women as well as it is a blessing to women and unskilled labourers and it has resulted creation of useful assets in the village, strengthened the natural resources. It also perceived as a best programme in the era of rural development. The constraints such as delay in wage payment, not getting continuous employment, getting employment under MGNREGP at the peak time of agricultural work, getting work distant place were perceived by the beneficiary respondents as important constraints. With respect to beneficiary officers more work load, inadequate technical support, and identification of works to meet the registered households were perceived as important constraints. The major findings of the performance of MGNREGP as perceived by respondents revealed that ‘relevance and usefulness of work to the village/people, quality of the work executed, process of registration, selection of works, issue of job cards, execution of works were ranked as effectively performed. The relationship between independent and dependent variables revealed that education and social participation showed positive significant relationship with extent of participation. With regard to satisfaction, education, social participation and performance were having positive and significant relationship. The panchayat wise comparison of selected independent and dependent variables using ANOVA revealed that family size, contact with officials, perception and satisfaction were found to have significant differences between panchayats whereas rest of the variables age, education, annual income, mass media exposure, economic motivation, social participation, expenditure pattern, attitude, performance and participation were positive but not had significant differences. The results of the canonical correlation indicated that extent of social participation, caste, education, marital status, performance, mass media exposure, contact with officials, age and future level of aspiration were the key variables in deciding the performance effectiveness of MGNREGP through extent of participation and extent of satisfaction.
Open Access
Enhancing the role of informal sector in food security and poverty reduction in malawi-policy implications and recommendations
(Department of agricultural extension, College of horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2012) Aston Oliver, Mulwafu; KAU; Jayasree Krishnankutty
Malawi is a land-locked country located in the Southern Africa along the Great Rift Valley. The country has a population of approximately 14 million people, of which 51 per cent are women. Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, providing livelihood to 80 per cent of the population and generating 35 to 45 per cent of GDP. The growth of economy is fundamental through exploitation of abundant natural resources, particularly enterprise development in agriculture sector. The rural poor, largely women are the players in informal sector, as cultivators, growers, vendors and buyers of agro-based products. The sector is informal in the sense that the units involved are mostly unregistered, not recorded in official statistics, and have little or no access to formal markets for goods and credit facilities. The informal sector activities have widely been recognised for its important role in promoting food security and poverty reduction. Surplus production at household level has been the major sources for translating to rural economic activities. The sector plays central function in addressing challenges of rampant unemployment and small incomes. The study was conducted in Balaka district, which is situated in the South and Ntcheu in the Central region of Malawi. In Balaka, Mangochi turn-off and Ulongwe markets were targeted while in Ntcheu, Tsangano turn-off and Kampepuza markets. Hence, four local markets were purposively sampled due to the nature of agro-based businesses carried out. Thirty farmers involved in the informal sector were randomly selected from each of the markets as respondents, making a total sample size of 120 farmers. The main objectives of the study were analysing the internal and external factors influencing the sector, examining the supply chain dynamics of agricultural commodities and understanding the spatial distribution of the informal sector. In addition, the study determined policy suggestions for possible up-scaling of the role of informal sector in promoting food security and poverty reduction in rural Malawi. The results revealed that informal sector activities were largely carried out by females accounting 61.7 per cent of total respondents. 50 per cent of respondents had education up to the eighth standard. Almost two-third of the respondents were involved in farming and agri-business activities operating along the main roads. The majority of respondents had average monthly income between MK10,000-MK30,000 (55%) and only 6 per cent had average monthly income of more than MK50,000. The computed household commercialisation index (HCI) revealed existence of three levels of commercialisation among respondents; subsistence (38%), semi-commercial (33%) and commercial (29%). This delineation suggested bringing specific support for improving the commercialisation processes at each level with rightful policy measures. Computation of crop commercialisation index (CCI) was another important measure that determined crops amenable for commercialisation. The results indicated that vegetables were the best option for commercialisation. Ranked second, third and forth were tubers, fruit and food grains in that order. Finally, an analysis of enterprise profit as percentage of annual crop sales was done in order to understand about crop diversification potential. The results indicated that the enterprise profit as percent of sales from vegetables, fruits and tubers were higher than that of food grains. For example, in 2010-2011 growing season, percent of tubers (82%), vegetables (79%), fruits (93%) and food grain registered only 48 percent. The multinomial logistic regression revealed that credit facilities, farmer business orientation, innovativeness, commodity transportation, monthly income and information source utilization were the significant factors influencing the transition from subsistence to semi-commercial. Education and extension services were significant factors contributing to the transition from semi-commercial farming to commercial. Despite the successes registered, the informal sector continues to face problems ranging from its productivity to managerial aspects. Its productivity is constrained with inadequate infrastructures (roads, markets, water, electricity, etc), access to credit facilities, lack of processing facilities and marketing linkages. On managerial aspects, prevailing situation indicated that there is limited farmer capacity building, limited information and non farmer favouring policies regarding their growth in the sector. In conclusion, the informal sector demonstrates immense potential in bringing better wellbeing of rural communities. It holds the promise of being the target for developmental activities by different agencies, as better technologies, market information and farmer support can help increase the volume, efficiency and value share of the informal sector which will ultimately improve the rural economies to a great extent.
Open Access
Performance effectiveness of state horticulture mission - Kerala : a case study
(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2011) Chinchu, V S; KAU; Padmanabhan, V B
The National Horticulture Mission (NHM) was launched during the year 2005-06 to provide a thrust to the development of horticulture sector in the country. State Horticulture Mission- Kerala is an organization functioning in the state under the Department of Agriculture, Government of Kerala since November 2005 for the implementation of National Horticulture Mission programme. The organization envisages end to end development of the horticulture sector in the state of Kerala from production to marketing. The study was undertaken with the specific objective of studying the performance effectiveness of State Horticulture Mission-Kerala in terms of achievement of physical and financial targets, stakeholder participation and beneficiary satisfaction and to identify the constraints and formulate a strategy for increasing the effectiveness of the programme. The study was conducted in Thiruvananthapuram district among 31 numbers of implementing officers of State Horticulture Mission schemes and 100 numbers of beneficiary farmers of State Horticulture Mission-Kerala. Secondary data from State Horticulture Mission-Kerala were also depended during the study. The dependent variables in the study were achievement of physical targets, achievement of financial targets, stakeholder participation and beneficiary satisfaction. The independent variables for implementing officers were age, sex, education, rural/urban background, job experience and exposure to internet and IT and the independent variables for beneficiary farmers were age, sex, education, family type, annual income, experience, information source utilization, farm size, innovativeness and adoption. The important findings of the study are listed below. 1. With respect to the physical targets, out of the 15 components, 11 had an achievement percentage of more than 80% and only four components had an achievement percentage lesser than 80%. 2. Similarly, in case of financial targets, out of the 15 components, 11 had an achievement percentage of more than 80% and only four components had an achievement percentage lesser than 80%. 3. Implementing officers have an impressive participation in the implementation of the schemes of State Horticulture Mission-Kerala. 4. The participation of beneficiary farmers in the schemes of State Horticulture Mission-Kerala is very good. 5. Majority of the beneficiaries are satisfied with the activities of State Horticulture Mission-Kerala. 6. Difficulty in the marketing of horticultural produce under SHM-K schemes followed by absence of proper storage facility for horticultural products under SHM-K schemes were found to be the most important constraints by both implementing officers as well as beneficiaries of State Horticulture Mission-Kerala. With regard to the degree of performance effectiveness of State Horticulture Mission-Kerala, the researcher could come to the following conclusions: 1) The achievement of physical and financial targets by State Horticulture Mission-Kerala was impressive. 2) There observed a high degree of participation among both categories of stakeholders of State Horticulture Mission-Kerala, namely, implementing officers and beneficiary farmers. 3) The level of satisfaction of beneficiary farmers of State Horticulture Mission-Kerala was good. The following are the important suggestions from the part of the researcher for the improvement of State Horticulture Mission programme. 1. It would be more beneficial for the farmers if State Horticulture Mission increase their rate of assistance to 50% for the recurring agricultural expenses. 2. State Horticulture Mission-Kerala must establish a greater and direct contact with the farmers of the state. A toll-free number can serve the purpose. 3. State Horticultural Mission-Kerala can explore the idea of forming a task force under its belt. 4. The minimum requirement of land area for implementing the schemes of State Horticulture Mission-Kerala must be reduced. 5. State Horticulture Mission-Kerala must give greater thrust in the storage, value addition and marketing of horticultural produce from small and marginal farmers.
Open Access
Enhancing livelihood security and local socio economic development through Mahatma Gandhi national rural employment guarantee scheme : an analysis
(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2012) Punyavathi, Jonna; KAU; Jiju P, Alex
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) is widely appreciated as a unique attempt towards empowering rural poor through assured employment on demand. The programme guarantees at least 100days of wage employment in every fiscal year to the adult members of all households who volunteer to do unskilled manual labour at the minimum wage rate specified by the state government. MGNREGS which was initially launched in 200 districts was later extended to 130 districts. The scheme intends to use this man power for constructing productive assets and conserving natural resource with a view to facilitate agricultural production. Taking this into consideration, the study intended to find out the nature and extent of integration of MGNREGS with the agricultural development programmes implemented at the local level, the factors affecting planning, implementation and monitoring of MGNREGS as perceived by different stakeholders of the programme, demand side preference, supply side performance and assess the impact of MGNREGS on the livelihood security of beneficiaries. The study employed ex-post facto design based on the objectives. Out of twenty three districts, six districts were selected randomly. One Grama Panchayat from each district was selected randomly for the study. Five beneficiaries of MGNREGS, five implementing officers and five people’s representatives were randomly selected from each Grama Panchayat to make the sample size 90. .The final interview schedule was prepared by necessary modifications, additions and deletions based on pre-tested results. Percentages, paired ‘t’ test, Kendall’s coefficient of concordance and Mann-Whitney U Test were used for analyzing the data. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). The study showed that there is perceptible difference in the extent of integration of different agricultural development programmes and their components with MGNREGS, across the six Grama Panchayats. Among 26 developmental programmes in the state, seven schemes are commonly integrated in all the six panchayats. While the implementing officers perceived institutional factors as most important in both planning and implementing stages, people’s representatives perceived managerial factors as most important in all stages of MGNREGS. The impact of MGNREGS on the livelihood security of beneficiaries was assessed based on the indices of direct as well as indirect changes. Employment generation and income generation- which reflected direct changes in livelihood security- were found to have increased as a result of implementation of the scheme. Distribution of beneficiaries based on indirect changes measured in terms of the ‘sense of empowerment’ showed that majority of respondents belong to medium category. While demand side preferences varied significantly across the grama panchayats, supply side performance did not vary too much. However, supply side performance indices were found to be lower than the corresponding demand side preference. Out of the several socio economic characteristics observed, age and caste were found to be significantly correlated negatively to income generated by the household. The study shows that MGNREGS has significantly enhanced the livelihood security of rural poor. However, integration of the programme with agricultural development is grossly inadequate in Andhra Pradesh. This suggests major policy shifts in the implementation of MGNREGS to make the programme effective. Unless local self government institutions are given enough authority to plan their own programmes, the quantum of employment generated would not be adequate to meet the demand. More components of the state sponsored and centrally sponsored schemes will have to be integrated with MGNREGS. The rural population should also be oriented to the provisions of the scheme to demand and avail more employment.
Open Access
Efficacy of watershed development programmes in Kerala : a gender perspective
(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2012) Roshin, Varghese; KAU; Rajendran, P
Watershed development programmes were taken up under different programmes launched by GOI. As a prelude to these, a number of programmes were implemented viz. DPAP, DDP and IWDP etc with a common objective to conserve the soil and water resources for sustainable management. In 2008 GOI formulated common guidelines for watershed development projects in order to have a unified perspective by all ministries. There is a need to know the perspective about the watershed development programme, the beneficiaries’ knowledge level etc. So far no attempt has been made to such aspects. Hence the study was designed with the following objectives, to explore the gender issues involved in watershed development programmes in Kerala, to find out the dimensions of watershed development programme at various levels of formulation and implementation and the constraints from a gender perspective and to access the training needs of women stakeholders in watershed development programme. The study also intends to suggest various measures for effective gender mainstreaming in watershed development programmes in Kerala. The study was taken up in two panchayaths of Akathethara of Thrissur and Wadakkanchery of Palakkad. Random sampling procedure was adopted to select 15 each from male, female and the implementing officers to form a total sample size of 90 from both panchayath. A pretested interview schedule, observations technique as well as group discussion method were the tools used for the data collection. The knowledge level of women stakeholders was very high. There is no differences in the knowledge level of men and women. There exists no relationship between the knowledge level and the characteristics of respondents. The training needs of women and men were one and the same. There exist a negative relationship between the education and training need of the stakeholders. Regarding the dimensions perceived by the beneficiaries under the planning phase by the Wadakkanchery and Akthethara panchayath were one and the same except two dimensions additionally perceived in the Akathethara and the same was perceived by men also. Under the implementation stage also the same trend was observed in two panchayaths. Men and women perceived the same dimensions consistently. Under the withdrawal and follow up phase the perception by men and women as well as panchayaths were one and the same. The linkage study indicates the Wadakkanchery panchayath perceived soil conservation office as most essential institution where as Akathethara perceived the same as least essential. The horizontal integration results revealed that “grama sabha” and “watershed committee” having a direct linkage with the “soil conservation office” and “krishi bhavan” at Wadakkanchery. The Akathethara panchayath showed a direct and close linkage with the “krishibhavan”. The institutions like the "PHC”, “watershed development team” and the “veterinary” shows a direct linkage but less involvement, the least involvement with the research station. The following gender issues were explored viz. “The role of women in decision making are less”, “Women have no title deed of property”, “Women involvement in WDP is proxy”, “Wage differences” and “Work drudgery is more among women” The following suggestions are made out of results and experiences of researcher. The need base training should be imparted to the stakeholders. The youngsters must be encouraged to participate and should be given preference for including in the groups and committee. Vertical and horizontal linkages must be strengthened so as to ensure the participation of the institutions. Watershed development programmmes will be more effective and a successful programme if it is implemented effectively with a wholistic approach.
Open Access
Livelihood analysis of IRULA tribe of Attappady
(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2012) Shincy, N I; KAU; Anilkumar, A
Tribesfolk of Attappady are the most backward among the vulnerable groups of Kerala. Their economy is traditional in nature, depending mainly on land and forest. The valley was not open to outsiders till the 1950s. However, the land utilisation pattern of Attappady drastically changed since then owing to massive in-migration of people from the plains to these areas in search of land for cultivation and for starting plantations. Inappropriate implementation of schemes and lack of adequate technological support resulted in a drastic decline in the livelihood options of the tribespeople. This study entitled “Livelihood analysis of Irula tribe of Attappady” was an attempt to analyse the livelihood of one of the most prominent tribal group in Attappady. The study was conducted in Palakkad district of Kerala. A sample of 120 tribespeople were selected randomly from three panchayats of Attappady Tribal Developmental Block namely Agali, Pudur and Sholayur .The study indicated that most of the tribespeople belonged to the young and middle age group and seventy eight per cent were having 5-7 members in their family. Among the respondents 35 per cent had primary school level family educational status and 62.5 per cent of them are insecure with respect to food security status. 52.5 per cent of the tribespeople had high level of environmental orientation and 77.5 per cent of them were non users of alcohol. The self confidence level was medium among majority of tribespeople (92.5%) and 65 per cent of them belonged to the medium level category with respect to their political orientation. The study revealed that two third ie. 65 per cent of the tribespeople are categorized as low with respect to human capital and 60 per cent of them belongs to high social capital group. About 60 per cent of tribespeople belong to a category of low with respect to their natural capital and 55 per cent of them are categorized as low based on the physical capital. About 55 per cent of Irula tribespeople were categorised as low in the case of financial capital and 45 per cent of them were rated as high.Regarding the contribution of component capitals, financial capital is rated as the component which is contributing to the highest to the livelihood capital index ie.33.9%. The second highest contribution to the livelihood capital index is by social capital(33.6%). The third highest contributor to the livelihood capital index is physical capital (20.2%) followed by human capital (11.4%) and natural capital (0.8%). Classification of tribespeople based on livelihood capital index reveals that about 55 per cent of the tribespeople has got high livelihood capital index and 45 per cent of them is categorised as low.Greater than 50 per cent of the tribespeople were socially and economically deprived of important functionings and they are way behind general population in almost all developmental indicators.
Open Access
Impact of nutrition communication intervention on the quality of mid day meal programme
(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2012) Sheelakumary, J; KAU; Prasanna Kumari, B
The presented study entitled “Impact of nutrition communication intervention on the quality of mid day meal programme” was conducted with the objective of imparting nutrition communication as an intervention programme in order to improve the quality of mid day meals and to assess its impact. Locale of the study selected was Govt upper primary school Bhagavathinada, Thiruvananthapuram District. The survey was the criteria followed for the selection of the respondents. A checklist specially designed for the purpose was used to identify the respondents. The sample comprised of fifty students. The conduct of the midday meal programme in the selected schools was studied so as to gain an insight into the general quality of the programme’s implementation and to select the school having poor performance with regard to the conduct of midday meal programme for conducting further study. The different parameters studied regarding the implementation of the midday meal programme were as follows. Infrastructure and space available in the school for cooking and serving meals, total quantity of food cooked and served in relation to number of children partaking the meal, the menu followed for the mid day meal programme for a week, inclusion of vegetables and green leafy vegetables and fruits in the mid day meal, nutritional quality of meal per serve, hygienic practices followed in the preparation of the mid day meal, availability of drinking water in the school, waste disposal measures followed. Scores were allotted for each of the above parameters and the schools were evaluated by the investigator by observing as well as interviewing the personnel concerned with the implementation of the programme including the Headmaster/Headmistress of the schools, the concerned teachers, as well as the cooks engaged for the preparation of the meals. Assessment of social status of the respondents revealed that among the age group of 12-13 years. The majority of the respondents belonged to Hindu religion and about eighty two percent. Analysis of family structure revealed that the majority of the respondents belonged to nuclear type of families and had a small family size with four members. Regarding educational status it was found that the majority of fathers and mothers had educational up to upper primary level. The occupational status of the fathers showed that the majority of them were casual labourers and among mothers most of them were house wives. The nutritional status index of majority of the participants computed was found to be medium when the parameters like weight, height, mid upper arm circumferences and haemoglobin level were taken in to account. The classification of the respondents according to BMI based on Eliz health path for adolescents (2005) showed that 48 percent of the participants came in the chronic energy deficient category. Assessment of clinical status of the respondents revealed that the majority of had aneamic. Other symptoms like pigmentation, gums spongy bleeding, molted enamel and dental carriers were also found to among the respondents. Haemoglobin level of the respondents revealed that about forty two per cent of the respondents were non aneamic. Thirty four percent were marginally and twenty percent were mildly aneamic, while six percent were moderately aneamic. Dietary habits of the respondents indicated that all of them were habitual non vegetarians. Among the respondents cereals, sugars, milk and milk products, nuts and oil seeds, fish, beverages and other vegetables were the food items most frequently used. Meat, egg, other vegetables and green leafy vegetables were the food items used less frequently. Mean nutrient intake of the respondents showed that energy, protein and fat intake were found to be in par with Recommended Dietary Intake (RDA) where as iron intake was found to be low. The pre test on the knowledge of the participants on nutrition of the school child and mid day meal programme showed that the mean knowledge score was 10.4 out of 15and the attitude study showed the mean value as 48 out of 60. The intervention programme consisted of nutrition education with the help of visual aids like charts and leaflets. The demonstration of the specially formulated and standardized nutri meal was very acceptable to the school authorities as well as the participants. The post test conducted revealed a significant change in the knowledge and attitude of the participants. The study points out the need for continuance of the mid day meal programme since it is necessary to improve the nutritional status of school children. It also stresses the need for supplying tasty and nutritious noon meals. The scope of nutrition communication programmes for bringing about positive change in dietary patterns is also evident from this study. Hence, nutrition communication should be incorporated in the mid day meal programme for the authorities concerned with the implementation of the programme as well as the participants.

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