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Open Access
A study on employment vulnerability of rural youth in the hills of Uttarakhand
(G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263145 (Uttarakhand), 2018-01) Gangwar, Renu; Kashyap, S.K.
Youth are the most important segment of the population as they play quite a significant role in every country of the world. Youth population in India is 460 million, out of which 333 million (72 per cent) are literate. Youth unemployment has risen dramatically; around 40 per cent of youth population is vulnerable regarding employment. It includes 11 per cent of working poor, four per cent of unemployed and 25 per cent of not actively seeking jobs. Vulnerability increases even more in agriculture sector due to disguised employment and they have less skill for the prevailing opportunities. The realistic causes of employment vulnerability may be social, economic, psychological, administrative etc. which needs to be indentified to generate proper strategy of unemployment mitigation. Existing youth policies often do not cater for poor rural youth. Institutions and organizations that permit opportunities and possibilities of all kinds are not available to everyone. International Labour Organization (2014) is taking action to tackle the youth employment crisis through a multi-pronged approach for employment growth and decent job creation. Hence, it is important to understand the employment vulnerabilities among rural youth. Thus, to have an insight into these issues the present study was undertaken to find out the socio-economic, communication and psychological characteristics of rural youth along with employment vulnerability among them. Relationship between socio-economic, communication and psychological characteristics and employment vulnerability of rural youth as well as strategies to tackle the problem of employment vulnerability were also studied. The present study was conducted in Almora and Pauri Garhwal districts of Uttarakhand state. From the Almora district, Hawalbagh block and from Pauri Garhwal district Khirsu block were selected by using simple random sampling. Five villages from each block were selected purposively as they have large number of households. Whole youth population (male and female) between the age group of 15-24 years were selected who are permanently residing in the village at the time of data collection. Detailed pre-tested interview schedule was administered to 210 respondents for collection of data and statistical methods such as mean, frequency, percentage, standard deviation; correlation coefficient and t-test were used to treat the data for meaningful interpretation. Findings of study revealed that 51.43 per cent of the respondents belonged to young age group and majority were female (58.10 per cent). It was found that majority (78 per cent) of youth had educational qualification up to secondary level and majority was studying in Hindi medium. 38.57 per cent of the respondents belonged to small family size and majority from nuclear family (52.86 per cent). In terms of marital status of the respondents, 94.29 per cent youth were unmarried. Further, it was found that most of the youth (41.43 per cent) had agriculture and allied activities as main occupation of the head of the household and owned cultivable land. Data revealed that 54.76 per cent respondents belonged to APL category. It was also found that majority of respondents had medium level of media ownership (69.52 per cent), mass media exposure (67.62 per cent), cosmopoliteness (65.24 per cent), change proneness (64.29 per cent) and achievement motivation. Further, it was found that majority of the youth had low level of extension agency contact (74.29 per cent), social participation (60 per cent), occupational aspiration (53.33 per cent) and risk preference (45.72 per cent). This indicates that very few youth in the study area were contacted outside environment and developmental issues. However, they are enthusiastic to accept change and new practices. Data regarding human capital reveals that 46.47 per cent respondents were moderately vulnerable followed by 31.90 per cent of the respondents who were highly vulnerable and 21.43 per cent respondents were less vulnerable. Data regarding financial capital shows that 66.19 per cent respondents were highly vulnerable whereas 27.14 per cent of the respondents who were moderately vulnerable and only 6.67 per cent respondents who were less vulnerable. Data regarding social capital reveals that 51.91 per cent respondents were moderately vulnerable followed by 29.52 per cent of the respondents who were highly vulnerable and only 18.57 per cent respondents who were less vulnerable. Data regarding physical capital reveals that 69.04 per cent respondents were highly vulnerable followed by 17.62 per cent of the respondents who were moderately vulnerable and only 13.33 per cent respondents who were less vulnerable. Data regarding natural capital reveals that 56.67 per cent respondents were less vulnerable followed by 32.38 per cent of the respondents who were moderately vulnerable and only 10.95 per cent respondents who were highly vulnerable. Data reveals that most of the respondents (50.48 per cent) were highly vulnerable towards employment followed by 37.14 per cent of the respondents were moderately vulnerable towards employment and only 12.38 per cent respondents were less vulnerable towards employment. Regarding relationship of selected variables, it was found that age, gender, caste, medium of education, family size, family type, marital status, occupation of head of the household, total family income, mass media exposure, extension contact, social participation, cosmopoliteness, occupational aspiration, achievement motivation and risk preference had significant relationship with employment vulnerability of rural youth. Other variables; viz; education, size of land holding, media ownership and change proneness had non significant relationship with employment vulnerability of rural youth. It was also found that 32 per cent of the variation in the dependent variable was due to all independent variables included under present study. Vocational education, skills and training, roles and responsibilities of government, role of local leader and local institutions, resources and physical facilities, small scale enterprises, social protection and gender equality were the major strategies to reduce employment vulnerabilities among rural youth. This study will help the planners and extension policy makers to frame policies for youth.
Open Access
Assessing climate change vulnerability of farmers in Himalayan region of Uttarakhand
(G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263145 (Uttarakhand), 2018-10) Raghuvanshi, Rupan; Ansari, M.A.
Climate change has emerged as a critical component in global development dialogue. It is of concern to the governments of developed countries as well as that of developing/ under-developed countries as it presents a major threat to sustainable development. Changes in climatic parameters will also have adverse impact on global food security. India being an agriculture dependent country, climate change directly affects agriculture productivity. However, agriculture sector is inherently sensitive to climatic conditions and is one of the most vulnerable sectors to the risk and impact of global climate change. Agriculture is dependent on a proper combination of weather and associated factors, and is thus highly vulnerable to climate change. Agriculture in Uttarakhand is largely rain-fed, irrigation facilities being minimal, and land holdings are small and fragmented. The region also suffers on account of heavy soil erosion and significantly lower yields as compared to the national average. Hence, Uttarakhand is most vulnerable to climate-mediated risks. So, climate change impact and vulnerability assessment at regional levels is necessary to develop adaptation and mitigation strategies for farmers in the Himalayan region. Thus, to have an insight into these issues a study was undertaken to find out the socio-personal, economic, psychological and communication characteristics of farmers along with their risk perception about climate change and vulnerability to climate change. Relationship between Socio-personal, economic, psychological and communication characteristics of farmers and their risk perception about climate change; vulnerability to climate change was also studied. The study was conducted in four block, chamba, chinyarisaur, garur, bhimtal, selected from four randomly selected districts of, Tehri Garhwal, Uttarkashi, Bageshwar and Nainital respectively of Uttarakhand. Eight villages, two from from each of four blocks were selected and total 200 respondents were selected through simple random sampling procedure. The analytical and descriptive research deign was used. Pre-tested structured interview schedule was used for data collection and relevant statistical methods such as frequency, percentage, t-test correlation of coefficient and principal component analysis were used to analyze and interpretation of the data. Findings of the study reveals that majority of the respondents (54.5%) were from middle age group and were female (50.5%), having marginal land holding (96%), owned mixed house(20.5%), had less than 5 livestock’s (87.5%), have no vehicle(57%) educated up to high school level(31.5%), engaged in agriculture(25.5%) and monthly family income between of 5001 to 9999 (29.5 %), had Drinking water available with community source with drainage (23.5%), had Individual sanitary toilet with water facility (50.5%). Majority of the respondents (51.5%) do not have any official position in the society, belongs to lower class (88%), had low farming experience (43 %) and low information seeking behavior (47.5%). Results revealed that majority of respondents (94.5%) used mobile regularly, had medium level of mass media exposure (85.5%), displayed neutral attitude towards improved farm practices (66%), and research station (67.5%). It was found that majority of the respondents (66.5%) had medium level of change proneness, had medium level of economic motivation (60%), scientific orientation (55.5%) and production orientation (60.5%). It was found that majority of the respondents (52.5%) had medium level of risk perception about climate change. Further it was found that majority of the respondents (71.5%) had medium level of awareness about climate change, displayed favorable attitude towards climate change (50%), adopt drought/frost tolerant variety(92.5%), had medium level of fatalism( 66%), social cohesiveness(80%) and level of dependence of natural and social capital (63%). It was also found that majority of the respondents (64%) were moderately vulnerable to climate change. It was also found that farming experience, education, size of landholding, socio-economic status, information seeking behav
Open Access
A study on the impact of Krishinet portal on farmers of Madhya Pradesh
(G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263145 (Uttarakhand), 2018-08) Singh, Vinod; Kameswari, V. L. V.
Agriculture has been the mainstay of Indian economy since independence. Currently, it contributes 23 percent to national GDP, accounts for 11 percent of exports and more than 50 percent of population is dependent on it directly or indirectly for livelihood. In agriculture sector, constant application of latest ideas and better technologies is essential to enhance economic well being of the farmers. The bane of Indian agriculture is not lack of technology, research and development efforts but inadequacy and inefficiencies in the dissemination of relevant information to the farming community. The application of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) in agriculture is being increasingly seen as important. It is an emerging field focusing on agricultural and rural development through improved information dissemination and communication processes. Heeks and Molla (2009) noted that ICTs are not fully utilised in agriculture. Scaling up of delivery, monitoring and evaluation still remains at experimental stage. There is much scope for sustainable impact arising from developmental-oriented ICT interventions, especially in the field of agriculture. Krishinet portal is one among the many ICT for agriculture initiatives started in India by the government of Madhya Pradesh. This study entitled, “A study on the impact of Krishinet portal on farmers of Madhya Pradesh” was undertaken to study the characteristics of farmers, analyse the content of Krishinet portal, find out the perception of farmers towards Krishinet portal, study the impact of Krishinet portal on farmers, to find out the relationship between characteristics of farmers and impact of Krishinet portal and constraints faced by farmers in using Krishinet portal. The study was conducted in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh state. Total 280 respondents were selected through simple random sampling procedure and descriptive research design was used for the study.Content analysis and pre tested interview schedule were used for data collection and appropriate statistical methods were used to analyse and interpretation of data. The findings of the study revealed that most of the respondents were of middle aged group (48.57 %), male (87.50%), belonged to Other Backward Caste (60.35%), educated upto high school (33.93%), had small size land holding (43.57%) and living in semi-pakka house (54.64%).It was also found that most of them belonged to medium size (51.80%) and joint families (51.78%), and had annual income was less than Rs 55000 (53.93%). It was found that majority of the respondents (98.92%) cultivated paddy followed by wheat (96.42%), chickpea (79.29%), soyabean (65.75%) and pigeonpea (48.92%), had approached KVK/KGK (66.78%) for seeking agricultural information and hadmedium level of economic motivation (62.50%), medium level information seeking behavior (58.21%), medium level of innovativeness (52.14%) andhad positive attitude towards ICTs (69.29%) and KGK (61.78%). It was found that the content of Krishinet portal was mainly divided into 12 major parts viz: agriculture, district offices and institutes, organic farming, departmental activities, agriculture planning, availability of seed/fertilizer, RTI, rule and regulation, Directorate of Kisan Kalyan and Krishi Vikas, Contact, Login, important activities. Results also revealed that majority of the farmers (37.14%) felt that content of the Krishinet portal was good. It was also found that majority of the respondents (61.42%) had positive perception towards Krishinet portal. The results revealed that the production of paddy, wheat, pigeonpea, mustard and green gram showed significant increase after implementation of the project. Quantity of paddy, wheat, pigeonpea, mustard and green gram sold also per household was increased significantly after implementation of the project. It was also found that family income, earning from agriculture and allied sectors, training received, extension contacts, storage facility and meetings attended had significantly increased after implementation of the project. It was also found that there was significant increase in respondents accessibility in crop insurance, Kisan Credit Card, market information, subsidy, insurance claim, agri enterprises, pakka houses, storage facility, hybrid seeds, filing online complaints, grievance redressal and membership to community organization after implementation of the project.The results revealed that education, annual income,operational land holding, information seeking behavior, attitude towards Krishi Gyan Kendra and attitude towards ICTs were significantly related to impact of Krishinet portal. Major constraints faced by respondents in using Krishinet portal were lack of accessibility to Krishinet portal, slow internet speed, lack of training, lack of experienced trainers, lack of technical support and obsolete content of Krishinet portal.
Open Access
Gender mainstreaming in integrated watershed management project: a study in hill region of Uttarakhand
(G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263145 (Uttarakhand), 2018-08) Singh, Shikha; Bhardwaj, Neelam
Natural resources are the prime source of livelihood for hill people. Growing population and technological advancement are continuously putting a strain on the natural resources. Hence, it is of utmost important to conserve and promote the natural resources and environment. Women play a vital role in conservation of natural resources due to their direct contact with natural resources like fuel, fodder and food, forest, water and land etc. Women share major responsibility in conservation of natural resources through their participation in watershed management activities. Although they are actively engaged in watershed management activities, but quantifying their role and participation in Integrated Watershed Management Project activities remains a challenge at all levels. So there is a need to fill this gap and to identify their active role in IWMP activities. Keeping this in view, the policy makers and project staff give specific attention to women and their needs, concern, time, opinion and various constraints. IWMP activities and responsibilities are shared by both men and women. So, there is an urgent need to analyze the roles of both men and women in Integrated Watershed Management Project activities. Therefore, the present study was carried out on Gender Mainstreaming in Integrated Watershed Management Project (IWMP): A Study in Hill Region of Uttarakhand. The descriptive research design was used to meet the objectives of the study. The study has been carried out in Uttarakhand. Uttarkashi and Bageshwar districts were selected purposively. Naugaon block from Uttrakashi and Garud from Bageshwar district were selected through simple random sampling. Six villages were selected by simple random sampling without replacement and beneficiaries were selected from each village by using probability proportionate to size method. The sample size was comprised of 300 beneficiaries. Equal number of men and women beneficiaries was selected purposively. The data collection techniques such as semi-structured interview schedule, focus group discussion, observation, case study were used in the study. The study revealed that majority of the respondents belonged to middle age, general caste, married, were illiterate with small family size (less than 5 members) and living in nuclear family. The main occupation was farming with small land holding (less than 34 nali). Majority of the respondents had low level of extension agency contact and medium level of information seeking behaviour. Respondents considered Watershed Committees, SHGs, NGOs, Gram Panchayats and Mahila Mandals were important institutions for the effective inclusion of women in watershed management activities. Majority of the watershed management activities were performed by women except construction of stone barrier, mulching and tree planting. The total time spent by men was 6.58 hours per day whereas women spent 10 hours per day on watershed management activities. In the activity terracing, broad beds, slopping land and nursery raising, majority of decisions were jointly taken. Pooled data of men and women responses revealed cent per cent control of men on land and credit. There was total control of men over agricultural produce, inputs, agricultural tools, marketing of farm produce and livestock. On the other hand, women had very little control over marketing of farm produce and livestock. The findings revealed that highest gender gap (74.08 per cent) was found in the field of ownership and minimum gap (18.92 per cent) was found between men and women in participation related to watershed management activities. Majority of the respondents reported that women were involved by government through reservation policy. The study found out that socio-cultural factors like reproductive role, lack of property right, migration of men, attitude of society and men supremacy affected women’s participation. More than half (54 per cent) of the respondents showed neutral perception on gender sensitive indicators. The functionaries reported that lack of time, interest, information, gender stereotypes in communication and irregular contact with women beneficiaries’ were identified as major constraints in the implementation of gender mainstreaming policies. Some important suggestions given by project functionaries in the study were providing specialized training for women groups, creating gender awareness among men and women and involvement of gender experts in IWMP to enhance the women participation in watershed management. IWMP considered participation of women at all levels as the most effective tool of achieving gender equity and sensitivity. It can be concluded on the basis of findings that women actively carried out major activities in IWMP but still their contribution is being unrecognized. IWMP can be more effective and successful by integrating gender perspective into project activities. It will help to bring up women at equal position as men in the decision making process.
Open Access
Effectiveness of a ‘protected cultivation video’ on farmers of Bhimtal and Kotabagh blocks of district Nainital
(G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263145 (Uttarakhand), 2018-07) Dhyani, Vijay Prakash; Sharma, Gyanendra
Video is a powerful medium that can be produced at low cost and yet has the potential to reach mass audience. Video can touch viewers’ feelings, evoke emotions and provoke reactions beyond a simple intellectual understanding of a technical innovation. Video may help to overcome the challenges of disseminating information to farmers and reaching the poor, marginalized, women and young people. Some uses of video in agriculture include raising awareness, stimulating demand for support, farmer-to-farmer extension, training on agriculture innovations etc. The researcher conducted an experimental study to study the effectiveness of video. The off-season vegetable production involves scientific practices which are required to be followed for improved yields. In view of the severe damages which occur to the vegetable crops cultivated in the field, there is a need to identify alternative means of producing off-season vegetables. The reason that we have decided to work on this research problem is that, video as an educational medium and tool for motivating farmers to change their attitude. The present study was conducted in Nainital district of Uttarakhand based on the following objectives : to study the socio-economic, psychological and communication characteristics of the respondents and to test the effectiveness of video in terms of gain in knowledge as well as to find out relationship between socio-economic, psychological and communication characteristics with gain in knowledge. Four villages Bhaluty, Sariyatal, Sonjala Narsingh and Sonjala Naya Aabad were selected through simple random sampling method. In all, 80 respondents were selected from four villages in proportion to their population using probability proportionate to size. Interview schedule and knowledge test were used for data collection. Statistical technique such as mean, percentage, frequency, standard deviation, paired t-test and correlation coefficient were used to analyze the data for meaningful interpretation. After analyzing socio-economic, communication and psychological characteristics, it was found that 37.50% of the respondents belonged to middle age group, general caste (65.00%), joint families (67.55%) and were literate up to high school (30.00%). 43.75% respondents had low annual income. Majority of the respondents (90.00%) had small size of land holding, 68.75 per cent respondents did not participate in any social organization as member. Majority of the respondents (86.25%) had low level of mass media exposure. Around 53.75 per cent respondents had medium level of achievement motivation. Effectiveness was measured in terms of gain in knowledge using pre-test and post-test methodology. It was found that, at 5 per cent level of significance, post test scores of respondents were significantly higher than the pre-test scores. Thus, it can be concluded that video had significant effect on gain in knowledge. Respondents’ knowledge increased after video exposure. The findings revealed that age, caste, family type, social participation, annual income, land holding, achievement motivation had no relationship with the knowledge gain, whereas family size, education and mass media exposure had positive and significant relationship with knowledge gain, at 5 per cent level of significance.
Open Access
A study on farmers’ perception about extension services of KVKs in Uttarakhand
(G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263145 (Uttarakhand), 2018-06) Saklani, Tanya; Ansari, M.A.
KVKs have emerged as a focal point of technology transfer through their diverse activities like OFT, FLD, capacity building, updating knowledge & skills of extension personnel and farmers. Studies have indicated limited success of KVKs in terms of impact on the intended beneficiaries. As the number of KVKs continues to grow, the quality of performance becomes the prime concern to understand factors which contribute to the success or failure of KVKs. In order to fulfil the objectives of all the activities performed by a KVK, it is very important to find out how the farmers actually perceive the services offered by KVK, their level of satisfaction with them and whether or not the services are useful for them. Moreover, it is also essential to find out which services and methodologies are perceived to be more effective by the farmers. Thus, keeping the above in view, the present study was taken up to find out the socio-economic and communication characteristics of the farmers along with their perception about the extension services of KVKs. Relationship between the socio-economic, communication and psychological characteristics of the farmers with their perception about the services offered by KVKs were studied along with constraints faced by them in availing those services. The study was conducted in Uttarakhand. With Two KVKs (KVK Bharsar and KVK Jeolikote), four villages were selected (two from each KVK) following Simple Random Sampling. A total of 120 respondents were selected through PPS method. Analytical research design was used for the study. A pre-tested interview schedule was used to collect data. Appropriate statistical techniques were used to analyze the data for meaningful interpretation. Findings of the study revealed that the majority of the respondents were female (55%), middle aged (74.16%), had secondary level of education (38%), belonged to medium sized family (46.66%), had marginal land holdings (55.83%), belonged to medium income group (66.66%), had medium level of media exposure (60%), had low social participation (50%), possessed medium level of information seeking behaviour, had medium level of risk orientation (54.16%), had medium level of economic motivation (85%) and had medium level of innovativeness (76.66%). The overall perception of the farmers about extension services of KVKs was found to be favourable (77.50%) as most of the respondents had favourable perception about trainings, Front line demonstrations (FLDs), instructional facilities and advisory services. However, majority of the farmers had an unfavourable perception regarding On-farm trials (OFTs). Variables like mass media exposure and information seeking behaviour had a positive and significant relationship with farmers’ perception while land holding had a negative and significant relationship with the same at one percent level of significance. Other variables like age, education, family size, annual income, social participation, risk orientation and economic motivation had a positive but non-significant relationship while innovativeness had a negative and non-significant relationship with the perception of the farmers. The major constraints faced by the respondents in utilization of KVK services were small-sized land holdings, lack of transport, lack of finances, lack of follow-up activities by KVK staff, non assessment of needs, lack of sincerity among the farmers, inability of womenfolk to go for on-campus trainings, lack of proper publicity by KVK and improper working of SHGs and women’s clubs in the village. The findings of the study shall help the extension administrators, planners and extension personnel to design and develop effective strategies which are need based and are actually gainful for the farmers in true sense.
Open Access
Adoption of soil and water conservation technologies by the farming community in hills of Uttarakhand: A study in Dehradun district
(G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263145 (Uttarakhand), 2018-06) Chauhan, Pramila; Amardeep
Technology is a boon of science on mankind. It plays an important role in economic development of a nation too. In agriculture too, many technologies and improved practices had been developed in the course of time. These technologies in many cases were found to be confined to the research stations only because of lack of appreciable adoption. Although the whole country is facing a lot of problems in terms of its land and soil due to intensive agricultural practices, the conditions in hills is more severe as soil is prone to erosion, landslides, runoff and land is mostly undulated which also prevents efficient use of water. Scarcity of water resources in these areas is also a big challenge for successful farming as most of the land is rain fed and even in irrigated lands sources of irrigation are limited. Thus the need was felt to study adoption of soil and water conservation technologies by the farming communities in hills of Uttarakhand to help them in proper utilization of water resources in farming alongside conserving the soil.The present study was designed to intervene into the socio economic, psychological and communication characteristics of the farmers along with the extent of awareness about selected soil and water conservation technologies and their extent of adoption. Constraints faced by the farmers and relationship among socio-economic, psychological and communication characteristics of the farmers with the extent of adoption of the technologies were also studied. The present study was conducted in Dehradun district of Uttarakhand. The villages Doha and Hayou from Kalsi block and Buraswa and Rawana from Chakrata block were selected purposively for this study. Analytical research design was used for the present study. A sample of total 120 respondents were selected through PPS method. The head of the households who were actively engaged in agriculture was chosen as respondents from the selected households of each village. Pre- tested interview schedule and open ended questions were used for data collection. Statistical techniques such as frequency, percentage, arithmetic mean, standard deviation, coefficient of correlation and t-test were used to analyze the data for meaning interpretation. The findings of the present study revealed that majority of the respondents (73.33%) belonged to middle age group, had education upto primary level (40.83%), were small farmers (73.33 %), practiced mixed farming, had membership in one organisation (78.33%), medium annual income (83.33%), belonged to joint family, had medium risk orientation (74.16%), neutral attitude towards research station (67.50%), and medium cosmo-politeness (67.50%). Maximum number of the respondents had medium information seeking behaviour (48.33%), medium innovativeness (76.66%), and medium extent of overall awareness about the soil and water conservation technologies (64.16%). More than half of the respondents (55.00%) had low extent of adoption about soil and water conservation technologies. The major constraints faced by the respondents in adopting the technologies were lack of face to face contact with extension agency, lack of information about extension activities, lack of adequate information about the newly introduced technology, high cost of technology, lack of supply of technology, perceived superiority of the old technology to the newly introduced technology, lack of awareness about the technology, lack of compatibility with new technology and complexity of the technology. Variables like land holding, family income, information seeking behaviour, innovativeness were found to have positive and significant relationship with extent of adoption at (1%) level of significance and social participation had positive and significant relationship with the e tent of adoption at 5 per cent level of significance. Age had negative and non significant relationship with extent of adoption. Variables like, education, attitude towards research station, cosmopoliteness had positive but non significant relationship with extent of adoption at (5%) level of significance. On the other hand, risk orientation had negative but significant relationship with extent of adoption at (1%) level of significance. The findings of the study will be useful to extension workers, research workers and the administrators as it will provide them the sufficient knowledge about the existing adoption gap of selected soil and water conservation technologies used by the farmers and will enable them to improve their approach of working with the farmers
Open Access
Designing and testing of need-based community radio programme on integrated pest management in Nainital district of Uttarakhand
(G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263145 (Uttarakhand), 2018-06) Goswamy, Pragya; Kashyap, S.K.
Agricultural extension has an important role in agricultural development, but over the years, extension services have been criticized both for failing to reach the majority of farmers and to communicate successfully with those that fall within the range. Efforts to strengthen agricultural extension have focused on innovations in communication to improve the points of interaction between researchers, extension agents and farmers to promote a greater sharing of information. In this context, community radio offers both the reach and the relevance to its listeners when the programmes are designed in a community-based and participatory manner. The strength of community radio as an extension tool is widely regarded to lie in its ability to reach illiterate farmers and provide them with information relating to all aspects of agricultural technologies in a language they understand. Present study was conducted in Nainital district of Uttarakhand. Four villages Dina, Parma, Jairam and Shantinagar were selected through simple random sampling. Total 120 respondents were selected from four villages in proportion to their population using probability proportionate to size sampling. Interview schedule, questionnaire, focused group discussion and knowledge test were used for data collection. Statistical technique such as frequency, percentage, mean, weighted mean score, standard deviation, t-test and correlation coefficient were used to analyze the data for meaningful interpretation. The findings of the study revealed that majority of respondents (64.17 %) were of middle age group. None of the respondent was illiterate and maximum (36.67 %) were educated up to high school level. It was found that almost all the respondents (95%) were having marginal landholding yet majority of them (62.5 %) had medium annual income might be because most of them (62.15 %) were engaged in agriculture & other subsidiary occupation. Majority of respondents (62.5 % and 79.17 %) had medium achievement motivation and scientific orientation respectively. It was also found that majority of respondents (80 %) had medium mass-media exposure and 73.33 per cent had medium information seeking behaviour. Among various information sources, personal localite sources were mostly preferred by most of the respondents and more than half of the respondents had no membership in any social organization. Through need assessment of respondents various topics were selected based on their level of awareness regarding three broad issues viz., concept of IPM, Non-Chemical methods of pest management and Chemical method of pest-control. Community radio programmes were then designed according to the need of the respondents and by seeking their participation. It was found that at 0.01 level of significance post-test score of respondents was significantly higher than pre-test score following which it was concluded that community radio programme is significantly effective in terms of gain in knowledge. Education, achievement motivation, scientific orientation, information seeking behaviour and social participation were found to have positive and significant relationship with gain in knowledge. The study elaborates the role of community radio in agricultural development by disseminating need-based information and bringing significant change in the awareness and knowledge of farmers.
Open Access
Information seeking and processing behaviour of members of self help groups: a study in district Udham Singh Nagar
(G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263145 (Uttarakhand), 2018-06) Gayatri; Bhardwaj, Neelam
Information seeking and processing behaviour of members of Self Help Groups provide learning opportunities to members by sharing scientific and technology based information. SHGs to succeed in developing world require information and knowledge support. The problem in Indian context is not lack of technology, R&D efforts but the inadequacy and inefficiencies in dissemination of relevant information. For this purpose there is a need of effective information flow which is a key to development. SHGs efficiency can be enhanced by understanding the information flow among members. Therefore, there is a need to look into how the members seek information, share and process it. Thus, it was felt necessary to assess the information seeking and processing behaviour of members of Self Help Groups. The present study was undertaken to find out socio-economic, psychological characteristics of members of Self Help Groups and their information seeking and processing behavior. The study also explored the relationship between socio-economic, psychological characteristics and information seeking and processing behaviour of members of Self Help Groups as well as the perceived constraints in accessing the information by members of Self Help Groups. The study was conducted in Udham Singh Nagar district. Lalpur, Dhyannagar, Basai Majhara and Kaasampur villages were selected from Jaspur block. Karghatiya, Balkheda, Malpura and Nakuliya villages were selected from Sitarganj block. The blocks and villages were selected by simple random sampling method. A sample of eighty respondents was selected through census method from the selected SHGs. Analytical research design was used for the present study. Interview schedule was used for data collection. Statistical tools such as frequency, percentage, arithmetic mean, standard deviation, coefficient correlation, weighted mean score and ‘t’ test were used to analyze the data for meaningful interpretation. The findings of the study revealed that majority of the respondents (71.50%) belonged to middle age group, were female (90%), belonged to joint family (51.25%) and belonged to OBC (52.50%). Most of the respondents (27.50%) had education up to primary level, majority of the respondents (80%) were engaged in agriculture along with subsidiary occupation. Around 41.25 per cent of the respondents were marginal farmers, majority of the respondents (76.25%) had medium income level. Results showed that majority of the respondents (58.75%) had medium level of scientific orientation, risk orientation (73.75%), economic motivation (68.75%) and cosmopoliteness (77.50%). Most of the respondents (46.25%) had low social participation. Regarding information seeking and processing behaviour of the respondents, majority of the respondents (67.5%) had medium level of information seeking behaviour, medium level of information processing behaviour (75%) and medium level of information sharing behaviour (77.5%). Majority of the respondents (92.5%) utilized television followed by group leaders (90%) as major information sources. The results showed that education, cosmopoliteness, land holding, income, scientific orientation and social participation had positive and significant relationship with information seeking behaviour. On the other hand risk orientation and economic motivation had positive but non-significant relationship. Age had negative and significant relationship with information seeking behaviour. Education, land holding, income, cosmopoliteness, social participation and scientific orientation had positive and significant relationship with information processing behaviour. Age had negative and significant relationship with information processing behaviour. Majority of the respondents (91.25%) stated lack of development related programmes were telecast on TV and poor communication facilities (86.25%) as major constraints faced by the members of Self Help Groups. The findings will be useful to the extension administrators, planners, extension personnels to facilitate a better communication of information to the members of Self Help Groups.

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