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Open Access
CAPACITY BUILDING OF RURAL WOMEN IN HOMESTEAD GARDEN FOR SUSTAINABLE HORTICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT
(AAU, Jorhat, 2017-07) Gogoi, Pritimoni; Dutta Das, Manju
The present investigation on capacity building of rural women in homestead garden for sustainable horticultural development was carried out in two agro-climatic zones of Assam. A multi stage purposive cum simple random sampling design was followed for selection of sample. One district from each zone namely Sivasagar district of Upper Brahmaputra Valley Zone and Kamrup (R) district of Lower Brahmaputra Valley Zone were selected randomly. Total 300 rural women from 12 villages of the selected zones and who were mostly engaged in fruits and vegetable cultivation were selected as respondents for the present study. Data collection was done by using structured interview schedules. The study revealed that majority of the rural women (54.00 %) were of middle aged group, married (87.67%), educated upto middle school level(54.32%), had farming as their main occupation (67.25%), had less than 1 hectares of cultivable land (70.33 %), had more membership in group organizations (65.81 %), had poor contact with extension personnel (87.33%) , took agricultural advice from friends and neighbours (58.10%), had not attended any intervention programme (57.62%). Among the rural women who had attended intervention programme earlier, majority 85.03 percent attended on the aspect piggery. Majority of the rural women had independent participation in selected farm and non-farm activities such as transplanting and weeding (79.02%), weeding (66.00%), cooking (65.66%) and weaving (69.67%). Majority (74.67 %) of rural women took independent decision on amount of food to be kept for consumption, preservation of fruits and vegetables (41.00 %) and weaving (73.64%). Majority of rural women had low level of knowledge in aspects like nursery raising (76.30%), land preparation (67.00%), production practices (80.00%) and plant protection (52.70%). The problems faced by rural women in participating in different horticultural activities which got first ranks in their respective categories of problem were lack of irrigation facility, growth retardation of plants due to higher weed growth, high cost of labour, lack of proper training, household workload and natural calamities. The outcome of the intervention programmes indicated that there were changes in knowledge gain and retention in rural women and technology adoption behavior. The knowledge retention by rural women in three aspects of production technologies of fruit and vegetable crops namely plant protection, nutritional management and land preparation were given first, second and third ranks after analysis. In case technology adoption, aspects plant protection measures, nutrient management and nursery raising practices got the first, second and third ranks respectively.
Open Access
AN ANALYSIS OF WORK EDUCATION PROGRAMME UNDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CURRICULUM OF ASSAM
(AAU, Jorhat, 2016-07) Saikia, Bisnupriya; Hazarika, Daisy
Work Education is the pedagogic medium which integrates different need based productive cum economic activities and community service programmes in school curriculum from preschool to senior secondary stage. The goal of education is to bring all-round development of human being which is best possible by inclusion of work education programme in school curriculum. But work education is considered as extracurricular and being neglected in majority of the schools in Assam. Hence the present study was undertaken to explore systematically the existing status of implementation of work education curriculum and various factors affecting proper functioning of work education programme in elementary schools of Assam and also planned to develop a model for effective implementation of work education programme in elementary schools. The present study was carried out in three district of Assam namely: Dibrugarh, Jorhat and Marigaon. Three blocks from each district were selected randomly and from three educational block of each district, fifty (50) upper primary schools were selected. Two respondents (the head master and the teacher concerned) from each fifty selected schools from each district comprised of 100 respondents and finally the total of 300 respondents from the three districts of Assam constitute the sampled respondents of the study. Findings of the study revealed that majority of the schools (99.30%) were fulfilled the minimum norms of ‘Right to children for free and compulsory education Act’ 2009 (RTE, 2009) in terms of numbers of teachers (one teacher for each class i.e. 3) and teacher pupil ratio (1:35) for upper primary school (96.00%).The percentage of professionally trained teachers in the sampled schools were only 36.78 percent . The study highlighted that the highest percentage (44.15%) of students were from the family having daily wage earning as a means of livelihood and 54.97 per cent students in the sampled schools were girls. About 83.30 per cent schools have pucca building, and on the other hand, permanent boundary wall was found in 26.00 percent only. It is revealed from the study that the schools did not posses any equipment necessary for productive activities other than cleaning equipment (jharu, barhoni kor, Pasi) and cooking utensils for mid day meal. It is noted that a large majority of the teachers (73.30%) used to collect different products at the time of examination for work education which violets the principles of work education. A large majority of the schools (86.00%) had separate periods for work education in their class routine and the rest (14.00%) did not have the provision of work education period in their class routine. Another important aspects observed in the responses of the teachers that all the activities (Total=73) under different areas of work education covered by the study were found to be important for the student of upper primary classes with programme important score (PIS ≥1). But the percentage of implementation was found very low. Lack of fund, lack of proper guide book on work education, lack of necessary equipment, lack of boundary wall, lack of laboratory, lack of awareness among parents were the major problems as expressed by the teacher for which the work education was not being implemented in the schools. While considering the knowledge and attitude of teachers it was found that high level of knowledge was found only in 9.70 per cent and a large percentage (59.00%) of the teachers were found to have unfavourable attitude towards work education programme. The study revealed that the training of teacher and level of importance showed highly significant relationship (r=0.202), which indicate that the teachers with professional training found to have high level of importance in comparison to untrained teachers. Teaching experience and problems of teachers was found to have a negative and highly significant correlation with (r= ─0.142), which means that teachers with longer period of teaching experience have faced less problems in implementing work education programme in their school. Again, teachers’ knowledge and implementation of work education programme have shown positive and highly significant correlation (r=0.206). This relationship indicates that teachers’ knowledge has a pronounced influence on implementation of work education programme. The model of Work Education showed effective and proved that special training and exposure is essential for developing knowledge, skill and attitude of teachers which builds confidence to carry out any innovative programme in schools.
Open Access
ENVIRONMENTAL SANITATION IN ASSAM- AN ANALYSIS FOR RURAL HEALTH UPLIFTMENT
(AAU, Jorhat, 2017-07) Borgohain, Shyamalima; Sarmah, Juliana
The study entitled “Environmental Sanitation in Assam- An Analysis for rural health upliftment” was undertaken with the objectives: i) To explore the institutional arrangement of government on environmental sanitation, ii) To assess existing knowledge and practices of rural women regarding environmental sanitation, iii) To identify the problems faced by the rural women in adopting different governmental measures for environmental sanitation, iv) To explore the problems faced by the field functionaries in proper implementation of the governmental measures for environmental sanitation and v) To find out suggestions from the field functionaries for proper functioning and improvement of the environmental sanitation programme. The present study was conducted in Jorhat and Sivasagar district of Assam. Purposive cum simple random sampling method was adopted for selecting the sample of 360 rural women as respondents. Field functionaries of Public Health Engineering Dept. (PHED) and also contractual functionaries of Swachh Bharat Mission- Gramin (SBM-G) of both Jorhat and Sivasagar district were selected as another set of respondents for the present study to explore theproblems faced by the field functionaries in proper implementation of the governmental measures for environmental sanitation. Both primary and secondary data were collected for the present study. Secondary data was collected to explore the institutional arrangement of government on environmental sanitation. Primary data was collected through scale developed by the researcher, interview schedule and questionnaire. The study revealed that the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS) is the nodal ministry for the overall policy, planning, funding and coordination of programs of environmental sanitation in the country. The key programs of the Ministry providing thrust to the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (RWSS) sector are the National Rural Drinking Water Program (NRDWP) and the Swachh Bharat Mission- Gramin (SBM-G) which were implemented in Assam by the nodal department Public Health and Engineering Department (PHED). Both National Rural Drinking Water Program (NRDWP) and Swach Bharat Mission –G has a 5-tier structure at the National, State level, District level, Block level and Gram Panchayat (GP) level with definite roles and responsibilities at each level. The study also revealed that majority of the rural women (48.10%) belonged to the middle age group, 88.90 per cent were married and majority of the respondents (65.80%) had marginal land holding. Majority of the respondents had education up to high school level (34.16%). Only 2.5% rural women had pucca house and cent per cent of rural women had low cost latrine at their houses. Source of drinking water of majority of the respondents (41.11%) was piped water supply from a public source. Farming was the main occupation of head of the family for 47.50 per cent of rural women. Majority of the rural women (75.3%) were from nuclear family and 33.61 per cent rural women had no membership in any organization. The findings also highlighted that majority of the rural women belonged to medium socio-economic status (65.84%). Data also revealed that the majority of the rural women (70.00%) had medium level of knowledge and also majority of the rural women (64.44%) had moderate level of practice regarding environmental sanitation. Lack of systematic approach to the family was ranked as I problem by the rural women in adopting low cost latrine as a governmental measure for environmental sanitation. Field functionaries under environmental sanitation programme namely Assistant Engineer, Junior Engineer of PHED and District consultants, Block resource coordinators, cluster resource coordinators faced different problems while implementing the programme for the beneficiaries among which the problems related to finance were found as moderate and severe by both permanent and contractual functionaries respectively. ‘Less involvement of PRI members’ was expressed as moderate problem by both permanent and contractual functionaries under problems related to management. ‘Lack of proper vehicle’ under Infrastructure Problems was also expressed as moderate problem by both permanent and contractual functionaries. ‘Awareness generation and demand creation at community level for access to safe drinking water and sanitary toilet through use of mass media’ and ‘Behavioural change among community through motivational programme should get first priority than mere construction of toilet’ was suggested by all the functionaries for proper functioning and improvement of the environmental sanitation programme.
Open Access
Level of capacity and competitiveness building of farm women in Assam through extension services and its impact on their empowerment
(AAU, 2015) Saikia, Poree; Dr Manju Dutta Das
Agricultural development is a complex process and a challenging one as well. To work in harmony for bringing about stable and sustainable growth in agriculture, four sub systems such as research, extension, support and client of the agricultural development process have been recognized. So far client system is concerned, it encompasses both men and women as equal partners. Unquestionably women play a significant and crucial role throughout the Third World. In addition to farm work, in which they are actively involved with men, the burdens of almost all the household chores fall on them. But despite the global consensus as to their vital role both on the farm and in the household, their importance in and contribution to agriculture are not adequately reflected in the available statistics which perhaps obscure more than they reveal. Moreover it is found that agricultural extension networks do not provide them with satisfactory services and hence there is an urgent need for a better understanding in this regard for developing effective extension and training programmes to reach farm women. The present investigation was undertaken to assess the “Level of capacity and competitiveness building of farm women in Assam through extension services and its impact on their empowerment”, with the following objectives, i) To study the status of farm women as clientele of the agricultural extension services, ii) To find out the capacity of the agricultural extension services to provide advisory services to farm women, iii) To analyze agricultural extension programmes and the extent of farm women participation, iv) To assess the impact of agricultural extension services on empowerment of farm women and v) To determine the constraints of the agricultural extension services in reaching farm women and make suggestions thereon. The study was conducted in three agro-climatic Zones of Assam. A multistage purposive cum random sampling design was followed. Altogether 1200 farm women were included as sample of respondents. In addition to this one hundred twenty five (125) government officials were also selected. Thus total respondents for the study were one thousand three hundred twenty five farm women. Data were collected with the help of structured interview schedule and questionnaire. The findings revealed that majority 55.08 per cent of farm women of the study areas belonged to middle age group i.e. 30-40 yrs. Large majority (91.66%) of farm women were married, 44.75 per cent belonged to general caste, 41.33 per cent were marginal farmer, 38.50 per cent had education upto middle school, 46.42 per cent farm women had mixed type of house. 46.50 per cent of the farm women’s family occupation was farming. Majority (77.89%) of farm women belonged to nuclear family, 63.95 per cent belonged to small family. Cent per cent of farm families possessed hoe and hand tools. 60.91 per cent of farm families possess two wheelers. Majority (87.08%) of farm families possess mobile followed by television (70.42%). Large majority (95.42%) of farm families possess traditional chullah. 64.09 per cent were member of one organization. 52.60 per cent of farm women belonged to low socio-economic status. More than fifty percent of farm women contributed labour independently in cleaning (55.17%), transplanting (55.08%), harvesting (54.75%) and winnowing (51.08 %). Joint participation were observed in retention of grain for consumption (68.66%) and storage of grain (64.75%). Majority of farm women independently participated in weaving (87.50%) and cooking (85.83%). 55.81 per cent had medium level of participation. On an average women spent 13-15 hours a day in farm and domestic activities. 41.67 per cent of farm women had attended training on fruits and vegetables preservation. Lack of awareness of the extension programme and lack of suitable venue for extension training /meetings were the first two most importance problems faced by farm women for attending extension training and ranked as I and II. Management of pest and diseases and production of vermin compost were the first two most important training need areas of farm women and ranked as I and II. Lack of knowledge on plant protection and lack of irrigation facility were the first two most important problems faced by farm women in cultivation of rice and ranked as I and II. Majority (61.17%) of farm women had low level knowledge on rice production technology. 53.34 per cent of farm women had medium level of attitude towards improved agricultural technology. 62.17 per cent of farm women had low level of skill on rice production technology. 51.92 per cent had medium level of achievement motivation, 54.75 per cent had medium level of economic motivation, 55.17 per cent had medium level of innovation proneness, 48.25 per cent had medium level of self-confident and 49.33 per cent had medium level of risk bearing ability. The main objectives of state agriculture policy have not addressed women farmers as clientele of extension services. From the written document of annual report of Department of Agriculture, Assam 2012-13, reflected that women farmers were not explicitly targeted in agricultural extension. No specific gender guidelines were followed by the Department of Agriculture, Assam in operation of agricultural extension programmes. Target was not specified in organizational structure at grass root level. 44.80 per cent of the extension personnel had favourable attitude towards farm women. It was reported by the extension personnel that the farm women were mainly contacted through the group approach. There was no linkage between research and extension on gender specific problems. No special preferences were given to farm women to know whether women were receiving the extension services or not or to know their needs. Data reveals that no female administrator/supervisors were there in the Department of Agriculture, Assam. There was no fixed ratio between Senior Agricultural Development Officer (SADO) and field extension agents. Village level extension worker were in- charge of one elaka, each comprising of 8 to 10 villages. The accurate calculation of coverage of farmers on gender basis by an extension agent could not be obtained from the extension services in the study areas. Majority of field extension agents (72.22%) had attended training on improved agricultural technology. Office accommodation was available for field extension agents at block level. There was no vehicles for the extension agents for visiting the villages. From the secondary data it was observed that Rs. 250.00 lakh was allocated for Women Welfare as Gender Responsive Budget. Majority of the agricultural topics under extension programmes targeted directly to clientele groups named as farmers. There were only three extension programmes namely food processing, fruits and vegetable preservation and capacity building of SHG were planned specifically for farm women. Majority (64.00%) of farm women of Upper Brahmaputra Valley Zone, 52.00 per cent of Central Brahmaputra Valley Zone and 50.00 per cent of North Bank Plain Zone participated in meetings. Very negligible percentage of farm women (2.50%) were entitled to have land ownership. Only 0.17 per cent farm women possessed farm implements in their own name. Majority 57.42 per cent of farm women had milch animal of their own. Large majority of the farm women (92.83%) borrowed money from their group account in SHG with nominal interest. Large majority of farm women (81.75%) saved money in between Rs. 1000 to 5000. Majority (66.50%) of farm women spend their income on buying household items. A large majority (90.75%) of farm women had poor access to farm publication followed by educational film (80.33%) and news paper (76.08%). 54.50 per cent of the farm women got farm information regularly through various sources predominately from husband. Majority (65.92%) of farm women had low level of leadership ability. Farm women moved from their houses for social visit, attending bank, post office and block which were rank as I, II and III. Less than fifty per cent of farm women took independent decision in crop harvesting and transporting (33.75%) followed by as maintenance of house (35.25%) and buying food items for family consumption (34.17%). 48.91 per cent farm women had medium level of participation in decision making. Coverage of too many target groups by one agent was the first major constraint faced by the village level extension workers and agriculture development officers. Constraints faced by administrator and Senior Agriculture Development Officer were lack of technology suitable for women farmers, lack of knowledge in understanding problems and needs of farm women, lack of essential teaching and communication equipment. Majority of respondents (86.40%) suggested for increasing research works to produce suitable technologies that would improve the farming operations normally done by women.
Open Access
Economic Empowerment of Rural Women of Assam through Agro-based Enterprises
(AAU, 2016) Bharali, Rulima; Dr Manju Dutta Das
The present investigation on economic empowerment of rural women of Assam through agro-based enterprises was carried out in three agro climatic zones. A multi stage purposive cum simple random sampling design was followed for sample selection. Two districts from each zone, namely Jorhat and Dibrugarh of Upper Brahmaputra Valley Zone, Udalguri and Darrang from North Bank Plain Zone and Kamrup (M) and Kamrup (R) of Lower Brahmaputra Valley Zone were selected randomly. All total 240 rural women from 24 villages of selected zones and who were mostly engaged in both vegetable cultivation and livestock rearing were included as respondents for the present study. Data collection was done by using structured interview schedule. The study revealed that majority of the rural women (52.92%) were of middle aged group, married (70.83%) and belonged to middle socio economic status (54.17%) group. Most of the rural women were involved independently in post harvest activities like cleaning and grading of harvested crop (88.33%), collection of seed from harvested crop (83.33%), transplanting, planting and sowing of seeds (74.76%) and application of manure (64.16%). Further they participated independently in different livestock activities such as providing daily feed (82.08%), cleaning of shed (79.16%), care of sick animal (74.58%) and taking care in vaccination of livestock (70.83%). Majority of the rural women had low level of knowledge in vegetable cultivation (44.32%) whereas 40.45% and 15.23% had medium and high level of knowledge respectively. In rearing of livestock majority of the rural women (42.77%) had medium level of knowledge followed by 39.49% and 17.74% had low and high level of knowledge. The major inhibiting factors which hampered in carrying out the agrobased enterprises were lack of technical person for immediate help and solution(2.56), weak marketing linkage(2.55) and sudden outbreak of diseases(2.53). Study also revealed that the agricultural projects planned and working on PPP mode for benefit of rural women increased their economic standard gradually. The five strategic options were drawn by introducing SWOC matrix analysis, namely i) provide specific training on the demand of the entrepreneurs on selected enterprises. ii) continuous assistance from extension personnel about production process and production management iii) develop linkages with input suppliers and markets iv) access to current and reliable market information and v) ensuring easy availability of low cost high yielding breed/variety.

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