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Open Access
A STUDY ON COMMUNICATION NETWORK ANALYSIS OF DAIRY FARMERS IN KUMAON DIVISION OF UTTARAKHAND
(G. B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar-263145, 2024-02-01) Karki, Pooja; Ansari, M. A.
Dairy contributes significantly towards socioeconomic development of rural households in the country as it is closely integrated with farming systems of rural India. In Uttarakhand, availability of abundant grazing land and forests makes it all the more important as it provides gainful employment to family members of rural households. Information about scientific dairy farming practices needs to be communicated to the dairy farmers so that they can enhance the productivity as well as production efficiency. Communication Networks play an important role in disseminating information about appropriate feeding, breeding, and disease management practices through relevant communication networks, as well as in improving animal health and yielding higher milk production. Thus, the knowledge of communication networks and the information flow will be useful in upscaling the knowledge and skills of the dairy farmers. Thus, there is an urgent need to analyze communication network and information flow between network members in dairy sector for effectively addressing the diverse and varied information needs of dairy farmers. If, the right communication networks are identified for information exchange about improved dairy farming practices within the community, it may help in promoting innovations through extension services and other livestock programme, schemes, projects. Keeping this in view a study entitled “A study on Communication Network Analysis of Dairy Farmers in Kumaon Division of Uttrakhand” was undertaken. The present study was conducted in Kumaon division of Uttarakhand. The study followed descriptive research design to meet the objectives of the study. Two districts were selected purposively on the basis of maximum number of organized milk societies and highest number of memberships (dairy farmers). The two blocks from each district were then selected purposively on the basis of maximum number of dairy cooperative societies. Later, two villages were selected from each block through random sampling without replacement. Thirty dairy farmers from each of the eight selected village (sample size 240) were selected for the study through purposive sampling. The data was collected through pre-tested interview schedule and collected data was coded, tabulated, analyzed and interpreted with the help of Excel, SPSS and UCINET software. From the study findings, it can be concluded that majority of the respondents were male, middle aged, married, educated up to high school, belonged to upper caste, belonged to nuclear family with family size (<7 members), respectively. As regards dairy farming experience majority of the respondents had medium level (23- 41years) of dairy farming experience, having land less than 1 hectare with primary occupation agriculture along with dairy farming and secondary occupation as agriculture labour. It was also found that majority of the respondents had less than 4 herd size, less than 15 liter milk production, earned monthly income from dairy farming between Rs.10,000 to Rs.19,000 and earned an annual income between Rs.173,333- Rs. 556,667. It was found that all of the respondents possessed television, displayed medium information seeking and sharing behaviour. Further, it was observed that majority of the respondents had medium level of economic motivation, scientific orientation, risk orientation and management orientation. Study of communication network among the dairy farmers seeking dairy related information showed that total 29 respondents occupied the central position in the communication network as the holder of influence with respect to dissemination of dairy information. These dairy farmers can serve as Key Communicators in the village(s) for the promotion of dairy farming. Further, majority of the respondents displayed medium level of knowledge of improved dairy farming practices. Also, it was found that selected profile characteristics of dairy farmers such as education, experience, herd size, daily milk production, monthly income from dairy farming, total annual income, economic motivation, scientific orientation, management orientation, decision making ability, risk taking ability, information seeking behaviour and information sharing behaviour were found to have had positively and significant relationship with their knowledge of improved dairy farming practices. Age and land holding of the respondents had non-significant relationship with their knowledge of improved dairy farming practices. Major constraints as reported by the dairy farmers were unavailability of vaccines, low price of milk offered, lack of training facilities in dairy sector, inadequate or lack of information about government schemes. The identified opinion leaders as well as the type of communication networks among the dairy farmers will revitalize and reinvigorate the dairy sector in Uttarakhand. The study outcomes are important as it will help dairy professionals, researchers, policy makers in advancing the cause of dairy farming in the state.
Open Access
Information utilization pattern of mobile-based agro advisory services of KVKs by farmers in Uttar Pradesh
(G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263145 (Uttarakhand), 2022-03) Verma, Tanuja; Sharma, Gyanendra
In rural India majority of people relied on agriculture and allied sectors for their livelihood. Indian agriculture is the home of 80 per cent small and marginal farmers, still Indian farmers are poor because of huge technology gap and they also face new challenges on integration of value chains, globalization and liberalization effects, market volatility and vulnerability to climate change, etc. Despite the improved interest and investment in agricultural extension in India, such services fail to meet diverse information need of the stakeholders. Given the challenges, it has been observed that the information communication technology (ICT) can provide timely accurate and quality information to the farmers, which facilitate increased agricultural output. There are many information and communication technology (ICT) projects in Indian agriculture have emerged, either supporting or substituting the extension services by providing farmers with access to agricultural information. It has been also observed that mobile based agro-advisory services can prove to be very beneficial by reducing the information gap between farmers and scientists, also the mobile phone based services enhances the availability to knowledge and information and will further help in improving awareness, education, better adoption of technology, better health and efficiency, reduced transaction costs, better market. Government is also putting a lot of emphasis on improving the mobile based agricultural advisory services. Thus, it was felt necessary to study the information utilization pattern of mobile based agro-advisory services of KVKs by farmers in Uttar Pradesh. The present study was undertaken to study the socio-economic, communication and psychological characteristics of the farmers along with their utilization pattern, relationship between socio-economic, communication and psychological characteristics and their information utilization pattern as well as the constraints faced by them was also studied. The study was conducted in eight randomly selected villages; viz.; Garhi Hansram and Narkhi Talukra of Narkhi block, Alai and Basai of Tundla block, Awagarh Dehat and Barai Kalyan Pur of Awagarh block, Berni and Akbarpur Satha of Jalesar block in Uttar Pradesh state. Descriptive research design was used to meet the objectives of the study. Detailed pre-tested interview schedule was administered to 180 respondents for collection of data. 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 all of them were male. Further; about half of the respondents (54.44%) belonged to the middle age group, had educational qualification up to higher secondary level (25%). All of them relied on agriculture as a primary means of livelihood and majority (50.6%) had land up to four hectare and majority (98.90%) of farmers’ contacted fellow farmers to get agricultural information. Most of the respondents had medium level of mass media ownership (67.78%), mass media exposure (62.22%), it was also found that 43.9 percent respondents had low level of extension agency contact, less than half of the respondents (42.8%) had high level of economic motivation whereas 38.9 percent of respondents had medium level of achievement motivation and decision making ability (40.6%). Regarding information utilization pattern of mobile based agro-advisory services, it was found that most of the respondents (60%) belonged to the medium category. Data related to content analysis revealed that maximum number of messages (40.38%) and (40.90%) delivered by KVK Etah and Firozabad were related to agriculture, appropriateness of language stated that majority of messages (27.08%) were easy to read by farmers, 98.07 percent and 93.18 percent new messages were sent by KVK Etah, Firozabad respectively. Further it was found that 92.30 percent text messages were delivered by KVK Etah similarly 97.72 percent text messages were delivered by KVK Firozabad. Data regarding opinion of respondents about messages majority (77.77%) respondents reported that the messages were delivered on time coinciding with the crop growth, 69.44 percent respondents reported that content of the messages were relevant, 58.88 percent respondents found the content adequate, 52.22 percent respondents found the messages very useful. It was found that age, education, mass media ownership and decision making ability had significant and positive relationship with the information utilization pattern of mobile agro-advisory services. Occupation of the head of the household, main source of income, size of landholding, extension contact, economic motivation and achievement motivation had positive but nonsignificant relationship with the information utilization pattern of mobile agro-advisory services by farmers, only mass media exposure had significant but negative relationship with the information utilization pattern of mobile agro-advisory services. It was also found lack of institutional support, fear about technology, lack of readiness in adopting new technology, and high cost of telecommunication network services were main constraints faced by farmers in using mobile agro-advisory services.
Open Access
A study on swarm intelligence in group decision making of farmers’ self help groups in Uttarakhand
(G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263145 (Uttarakhand), 2022-03) Goswamy, Pragya; Kashyap, S.K.
The concept and utility of SHGs is a proven fact and it has contributed significantly in group-led extension activities on a large scale. However, these SHGs play instrumental role in empowering its members and in many core aspects of farming, but these groups also face various challenges among which ineffective group decision making is prominent. Therefore, it is crucial and critical to strengthen the self help groups through resolving the issues of stability for strengthening the extension system in light of agriculture and rural development at national level. In this context, it is important to critically analyze the natural mapping of group decision making which is observed in various forms in the nature, especially in the swarms with distinction of swarm-intelligence. Looking into the parallel world of honey-bees, swarm-intelligence is a phenomenon through which the swarm of bees perform various group tasks and take crucial group decisions effectively and efficiently without any central control of the leader utilizing their collective intelligence. Therefore, the study was intended to map the group decision processes among honey bee swarms and its inbuilt influences to relate it with the decision making processes among SHGs to study its impact so that the speed and accuracy of group decision making in SHGs could be enhanced and the conflicts in decision making could be constructively utilized. The study was conducted on swarm intelligence in group decision making of farmers’ self-help groups of Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar districts of Uttarakhand. Total 12 SHGs and 120 respondents (10 from each SHG) were selected. Frequency, percentage, arithmetic mean, standard deviation, co-efficient of correlation, significance of correlation coefficient, multiple linear regression analysis and Analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to analyze the data for meaningful interpretation. Profile characteristics of the members of selected SHGs revealed that majority of the members were middle aged, married females, marginal farmers, educated up to intermediate level and were engaged in agriculture with other subsidiary occupation. Maximum of the respondents belonged to medium category in terms of annual income, achievement motivation, ease of use of android phones, duration (between 3 to 5years) of membership in SHGs, task function and maintenance function. They had favourable attitude towards collectivisation and group decision making. Regarding results obtained through group decision making index, it was inferred that majority of the members of SHGs’ scored at medium level on group decision making index (GDMI). With respect to the ten indicators of group decision making it was observed that the respondents scored at medium level for each indicator. It was also reported that there was significant variation in group decision making among the selected SHGs. It was inferred from the correlation analysis, that all the ten indicators of Group Decision Making were significantly and positively related to Group Decision Making Index. It was also concluded that 90.60 per cent of variation in the dependent variable i.e., Group-decision making was explained by the ten indicators of group decision making index. Thus, it was inferred that the ten indicators play a significant role in shaping Group decision making. In relation to the effectiveness of Swarm A.I. based group decision making, it was inferred that seven key factors i.e., Decision impulse, Conviction of the decision, Engagement in Decision, Decision duration, Decision Alignment, Extent of Participation and Real-time physical negotiation contributed to the effectiveness of Swarm A.I. software. Swarm AI was found aligned to the swarm intelligence mechanism in honey bee swarms wherein honey bees hold an open and free competition of ideas to reach to a particular decision. Optimal decision-making framework developed in the present study highlighted that groups must reach a decision not based on individual responses of the members, but based on the changing dynamics of the entire system to reach upto the most agreeable option. The framework was formulated by integrating the seven factors of Swarm A.I. based decision making with the ten indicators of Group decision making index. The study concluded that the elements and components of swarm-intelligence could be effectively mapped to generate an effective system or software to ignite the group decision making capability of SHGs and to extend it across the SHGs throughout country. It was also inferred that through the mapping the conflicts in decision making process could be effectively translated into universally accepted and effective group decisions to lead into sustained and impactful structures of SHGs.
Open Access
Students’ perception of online education in an agricultural university during covid-19 pandemic
(G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263145 (Uttarakhand), 2022-04) Beri, Gaurav; Sharma, Gyanendra
Covid-19 pandemic has adversely affected the educational institutions across the world resulting in the closure of these institutions. There were irregular academic sessions affecting the completion of the students’ degree programmes and also their career prospects. Enforced isolation and consequent lockdowns tremendously affected personal interaction of teachers and students, and all other educational activities. In the absence of traditional classroom education and one-to-one interaction, online education has emerged as an alternative for off-line education. Educational institutions worldwide shifted to online education to overcome anticipated academic loss. Online education became the main method of instruction during the pandemic. The common online platforms used were Zoom, Google Classroom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams which offered online interactive classes; and WhatsApp to communicate with students outside the class. The purpose of this study was to find socio-personal, psychological and communication characteristics, to assess the students’ perception of online education and constraints faced by them during the sudden transition from traditional face-to-face education to an online education due to the pandemic. The crisis-response of university students, challenges and suggestions has also been discussed in this study. The study was undertaken in the Uttarakhand state. G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Udham Singh Nagar was selected purposively as locale of the study since it had the maximum number of undergraduate students and also due to the lockdown situation. A total sample of 150 respondents was selected through PPS method. Descriptive research design was used for this study. The data collection was done using a self developed, pre-tested online survey through Google Form. The data were classified, tabulated, analyzed and interpreted using appropriate analytical and descriptive statistical techniques like frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, correlation and t-test. The findings revealed that 54.00 per cent of the students were pursuing BTech and 24.67 per cent BSc Agriculture, 10.00 per cent BVSc, 8.67 per cent BHSc and only 2.67 per cent were of BSc Fisheries. There were 55.33 per cent male, majority (61.33 per cent) of them belonged to urban areas and mostly (92.67 per cent) had English medium of basic education. Majority (64.67 per cent) of them had mediocre academic performance, majority (62.00 per cent) had medium level of mass media exposure and most (99.33 per cent) of them owned internet. Majority (83.00 per cent) of the students had not attended any online course prior to the conduct of online education during this pandemic and 97.00 per cent of them agreed that university had begun online classes in the wake of COVID-19. Most (89.33 per cent) of the students suggested traditional classes could be managed with online classes and majority (86.00 per cent) of the students had medium level of basic information regarding online education. Majority (54.67 per cent) of the students felt less confident. Mostly (94.67 per cent) they got updates and activities through WhatsApp, preferred device for 50.00 per cent of the students was smartphone and most (96.00 per cent) of them had mobile data pack as the source of internet for attending online classes. Most (95.33 per cent) of the students preferred nature of course material in the form of video content supplemented with reading material, majority (66.00 per cent) of them preferred nature of video content as per the convenience and requirement of the course under study by the instructor and most (92.67 per cent) of them preferred live online classes as suitable format for classes. Most (93.33 per cent) of the students preferred the course instructor to conduct online classes as per the schedule, for majority (71.33 per cent) 45 minutes was the suitable duration of online classes, majority (76.67 per cent) of them liked to spend 2-4 hours for online classes and most (90.67 per cent) of them preferred 15 minutes of break in between two consecutive classes. Students (58.67 per cent) preferred both WhatsApp and other platform for posting queries as a way for clarifying queries with an expected time for clarifying within next class for majority (72.00 per cent) of students. Most (96.00 per cent) of the students felt 5-10 minutes of quiz during each class is necessary to achieve better. Majority (88.00 per cent) of the students did not feel assignments at end of every class to be necessary to achieve effective learning and most (93.00 per cent) of them wanted one week as the deadline for submitting assignments. Majority (71.00 per cent) of the students liked to attend online examination and most (89.33 per cent) of them preferred both objective and subjective nature of online examination. Majority (84.67 per cent) of the students had ‘Neutral’ perception towards online education. Majority (71.00 per cent) of the students had medium level of benefit and most (96.00 per cent) of them felt ease and quick share of educational material, and ability to record a meeting or lecture to be most beneficial. The findings regarding relationship between selected socio-personal, psychological and communication characteristics with students’ perception of online education revealed that academic performance and self confidence has a non significant negative and mass media exposure has a significant negative relationship with students’ perception of online education. There was a non significant positive relationship between basic information regarding online education and students’ perception of online education. A non significant negative relationship of mass media exposure and a significant positive relationship of self confidence were found with students’ preferences for online education. There was a non significant positive relationship of academic performance and basic information regarding online education with students’ preferences for online education. The findings regarding some constraints, attributes, their expectations and suggestion from the students point of view were, most (98.67 per cent) of students felt data limit, data speed (98.00 per cent) and lack of connectivity (97.33 per cent) as the major constraints during online education. For most (96.67 per cent) of the students, attributes that affected their learning effectiveness was lack of interaction between students-teachers and student-student and most (99.33 per cent) of them expected theory classes from instructors during online education. To improve online education experience, most (76.00 per cent) students’ suggested availability of notes, ppts, pdfs, handouts etc. Majority (68.00 per cent) of students thought that online education experience should continue even if the regular offline classes begin.
Open Access
Role performance of village agricultural workers (VAWs) in Odisha: An analytical study
(G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263145 (Uttarakhand), 2022-01) Panda, Anmol; Amardep
Village Agricultural Workers (VAWs) are the grass root level extension functionaries in the public sector extension system of Odisha who govern the basic yet most important dynamics of rural development in state which still thrive on agriculture. The state of Odisha facing the number of challenges like variable climatic conditions as well as frequent natural calamities, poor irrigation facilities, low productivity, lower farmer’s income, that demands the efficiency of VAWs in fulfilling their assigned roles. The state’s latest agricultural policy SAMRADHI-2020 has been dedicated to harness the potential of Odisha’s agricultural sector in a sustainable manner with an in-built objective of Human Resource Development. So, the analysis and evaluation of the role performance of VAWs of Odisha, who are the bridge between farmers and change agencies, becomes a timely demand for the smooth functioning of the extension machinery in the state. This study entitled “Role Performance of Village Agricultural Workers (VAWs) in Odisha: An Analytical Study” was undertaken to find out the profile characteristics of the VAWs, their role performance, the constraints faced by them in performing their roles, assessing their training needs, finding the relationship between the profile characteristics and role performance & training needs of VAWs and finally tailoring a training module on the basis of identified training needs. Following an analytical research design, the study was conducted in a total of nine districts of Odisha state, three districts selected randomly from each of its three administrative divisions. The study sample comprised a total of 292 VAWs chosen randomly from the selected nine districts following proportional allocation. The study concluded that around three fourths of the respondent VAWs were middle-aged between 31-40 years (73.63%) and educated up to intermediate level (72.94%). A majority of VAWs had 6-14 years of service experience (79.80%), medium level of training exposure (74.32%), 9-36 villages under jurisdiction (57.19%) and neutral perceived organizational climate (74.32%). Majority of respondents also possessed high level orientation towards extension profession (74.32%), used to have 3-4 visits per week (87.67%), had medium levels of organizational commitment (64.38%), selfconfidence (66.78%), leadership ability (79.11%), job satisfaction (64.38%) and communication competence (64.38%). The finding shows that majority (70.55%) of VAWs has medium level of role performance and majority (70.21%) of them has medium level of training needs. The findings of the study also revealed that the VAWs rated their performance highly on input supply & quality control roles, followed by management roles, extension & training roles and lastly, technical roles. The calculated Training Need Index showed that most prominent training needs were in the order as communication & human relation needs, programme planning & evaluation needs, subject matter needs and managerial needs. The multifarious roles and lack of technical information were identified to be the topmost constraints faced by VAWs in performing their roles. Inferential/relational statistical analyses like correlation is carried out to find out the relationship between the profile characteristic variables of VAWs and their role performance & training needs. The findings revealed that variables like education, service experience, training exposure, organizational climate, orientation towards extension profession, frequency of visits, organizational commitment, self-confidence, leadership ability and communication competence showed positive correlation with the role performance. On the other hand, in case of training needs, age, education, service experience, training exposure, organizational climate, organizational commitment, self-confidence, leadership ability, job satisfaction and communication competence of VAWs showed positive and significant correlation. The training module was made on the basis of identified training needs, constraints faced and factors affecting the role performance of VAWs. Thus, the findings of the study will help the think tank to utilize them in planning and organizing training programmes in future for VAWs of the state.
Open Access
Listeners’ perception of content of Pantnagar Janvani community radio broadcast
(G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263145 (Uttarakhand), 2022-02) Umriyal, Himanshu; Kashyap, S.K.
Communication is one of the important tools that help us to connect with people. It is the process by which a message or information is exchanged between sender and receiver. We are living in a world which is totally networked with communication. Effective communication is not only about conveying your messages to other people clearly and unambiguously, but also about receiving the information that others send to you, with as little distortion as possible. People want adequate and authentic information as early as possible. There are varieties of mass media like television, mobile phones, telephones, radio, etc which are catering to this important need of the people. Radio plays a pivotal role and function as an effective medium among them. It not only informs and educate people but also provide them with healthy entertainment. Radio also broadcast agricultural programs, to disseminate information on current trends in agricultural technology, use of improved seeds, pesticides, fertilizers, implements, information about crop pests and diseases, weather report, crop cultivation practices, etc. for the benefit of farmers. Consequently, a research study was undertaken with the objectives: to study the socio-economic, communication, and psychological characteristics of listeners’ of Pantnagar Janvani, to find out the listeners’ perception of content of Pantnagar Janvani, to elicit suggestions of listeners’ of Pantnagar Janvani for improving the content of the radio broadcast. The descriptive research design was used to meet the objectives of the study. The study was purposively carried out in Pantnagar Janvani Community Radio station, Udham Singh Nagar District of Uttarakhand. The selection of respondents was based on their active participation and active listening behaviour through simple randomsampling. Eight programmes were selected purposively on which listeners bring out their suggestions for improving the content of the radio programmes. The data was classified, tabulated, analysed and interpreted with the help of appropriate statistical procedure and techniques like arithmetic mean, frequency, percentage and standard deviation. The findings of the study revealed that majority (53.34%) of the listeners were in the age group of 28-53 years with higher proportion of male listeners (73.33%). Majority of the respondents were married (80.00%) and had education up to intermediate level (38.89%), knew Hindi and Kumauni dialect (57.78%), had medium size of the family (82.22%) and their family income (80.00%) belong to medium category. Majority of the respondents had medium mass media exposure (68.89%), had medium scientific orientation (75.56%) and had medium information seeking behaviour (74.44%). Majority of respondents found listeners’ perception of content of Pantnagar Janvani community radio programmes i.e., time and duration, title, characteristics of speakers, language of broadcast, relevance of broadcast, structure of programme, type of information broadcast in programme as appropriate.
Open Access
Empowerment of women gram pradhan through panchayati raj institutions: a study in Garhwal region of Uttarakhand
(G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263145 (Uttarakhand), 2021-11) Sawan, Vishaka; Rana, Kiran
Women constitute half part of the society, with equal rights, women in India are victims of a multiple of socio-economic, political, and cultural factors. Women with disabilities have been largely neglected. Also due to many societal rules and regulations, they never are a part of the decision-making process. When we talk about the status of women in the Indian society, the most important aspect that comes to mind is patriarchy. Though at present women enjoy equal status with men as per the constitution and legal provisions but still, they have a long way to go. It is correct that “a country flourish if its women flourish”. So, women’s empowerment is vital towards the development of the society. ‘Empowerment’ means ‘to authorize’. In the context of the people, they have to be authorized to have control over their own lives. Women empowerment means to give women the opportunity to fulfil their creative capabilities and desires and take decisions independently. It has social, political, economic, cultural dimensions. Though many laws have been enacted not only at the national level but also at the international level, women could not occupy an equal role in the decision-making processes across the world. Even in the post 73rd Amendment of the Constitution of India, the role of women in its democratic decision-making is not satisfactory. On March 12th, 2008, the Uttarakhand Panchayat Law (Amendment) Bill was passed, establishing a 50% reservation for women in Panchayati raj institutions. For two consecutive administrations, the Act called for a 50 percent quota for women in the Panchayat Raj System. In Uttarakhand, the provisions of the Uttarakhand Panchayati Raj Amendment Act 2008 have been in effect for more than ten years. However, their administrative role is minimal; they work according to their husbands and in-laws and do not make decisions on their own; they are not so aware of their powers and responsibilities; and they have a low political status. It is necessary to comprehend the constraints that women experience under the PRI in the state of Uttarakhand, specifically in the Dehradun District. The present study entitled “Empowerment of Women Gram Pradhan through Panchayati Raj Institutions: A Study in Garhwal Region of Uttarakhand” Four blocks were chosen randomly from the Dehradun district. A total of 170 Gram Panchayats are present in these four blocks, and from these Gram Panchayats, 80 women Gram Pradhans were selected for the study. A semi structured interview schedule was used to collect the data from the respondents. In the present study Interview schedule, Knowledge test by Dak (2008), Empowerment scale by Tyade (2006) was used. The statistical techniques such as percentage, mean, frequency and standard deviation were used to analyse the data for meaningful interpretation. The findings of the study reported that the majority of the respondents were middle aged, there was not a single respondent who was illiterate. All the respondents were married, belonged to the nuclear family type and had a medium family size. Maximum respondents belonged to the general caste, had agricultural background and possessed land of less than one hectare. Majority of them had a political contact with the block pramukh, had a medium level of annual family income, extension agency contact, mass media exposure, cosmopoliteness and decision-making ability. The findings reflect that majority of the respondents possessed medium level of knowledge about Panchayati raj institutions and had a medium level of empowerment (social, economic and political). The results of the study showed that women Gram Pradhans viewed the lack of funds from the government for development work as the major constraint. The findings of the study will help the government and NGOs designing strategies to enhance the knowledge level and empowerment level of the respondents and will also assist them in reducing the constraints face by women gram Pradhans in PRIs.
Open Access
A study of factors affecting community participation and sustainability of community radio stations in northern India
(G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263145 (Uttarakhand), 2020-02) Arya, Neha; Kashyap, S.K.
Community radio is considered as a communication intervention strategy of choice for deepening participation and community ownership. Community radio involves community organization, joint thinking and decision-making, all of which entail great potential for empowering communities and building a democratic society. However, the community radio stations has been facing various social, infrastructural, organizational, programming, technical and financial constraints in its functioning. These constraints have raised the concern of community radio practitioners regarding the issue of community radio sustainability. Many community radio stations are struggling for maintaining good quality broadcasting services while ensuring high level of community participation. Thus, to have an insight into these issues, a study was undertaken to find out the social, economic, psychological and communication characteristics of community radio listeners along with their participation in community radio functioning and sustainability of community radio stations. The study was carried out in northern Indian states and union territories. Stratified random sampling was employed to select sixteen community radio stations (8 from NGO operated community radios and 8 from educational institute operated community radios) for the study. Total 16 community radio staff and 240 community radio listeners (15 listeners from each community radio) were selected through simple random sampling process. 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, multiple linear regression and principal component analysis were used for analysis and interpretation of the data. Findings of the study revealed that maximum number of respondents (49.16%) belonged to the middle age group and were female (51.67%), married (62.92%) having high level of information seeking behavior (45.42%) and medium level of mass media exposure (42.91%). Maximum number of respondents were graduated (17.91%), unemployed (46.68%), carried official position in one organization (33.75%) having medium level of mass media utilization (45%), high achievement motivation (37.50%), low economic motivation (42.08%) and medium level of listening behaviour (43.75%). Majority of the respondents displayed favourable attitude towards community radio stations (65.00%) and medium level of perception about community radio programmes (53.33%) having medium level of communication skills (57.92%) and medium level of change proneness (40.84%). Further it was found that more than half of the respondents (53.75%) had medium level of participation in CRS functioning. It was also found that maximum number of the community radio stations (43.75%) were moderately sustainable. Among independent variables, age, information seeking behaviour, mass media utilization, social participation, listening behaviour, attitude towards community radio station, perception about community radio programmes and communication skills had significant positive relationship with the community participation in community radio functioning. Further educational qualification and mass media exposure had significant negative relationship with the community participation in community radio functioning. The study also indicated that community participation in community radio functioning had significant positive relationship with sustainability of community radio stations. Further it was found that programming constraints were ranked first as the major constraint faced by community radio stations followed by social, financial, technological, organizational, policy related and infrastructural constraints. Strategic planning of community radio stations, government support, intensive awareness campaigns, scrutinizing skilled human resources and improving their professionalism, improving programming and listenership, boosting community participation, regular capacity building programmes, abating dependency on parent organization, searching for new financial avenues, periodic monitoring and evaluation and pooled efforts are some of the strategies to ensure the community radio sustainability.
Open Access
Scientisation of indigenous technical knowledge of tribal farmers in Ranchi district of Jharkhand
(G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263145 (Uttarakhand), 2021-12) Singh, Smriti; Sharma, Gyanendra
The basic component of any country’s knowledge system is its Indigenous Technical Knowledge (ITK). It is a cumulative body of knowledge and techniques handed down through generations by cultural transmission of the relationship of living beings including humans with one another and their environment. ITK practices in agriculture are farmer-friendly, socially-accepted, economically-feasible and environmentally-sound and suited to the specific bio-physical and socio-economic conditions. This knowledge has tremendous potential to address the current concerns of conventional agriculture like depletion and degradation of the natural resource base, poor productivity and pest and disease problems. Assessment of ITKs for their scientific rationality could be a step towards their integration in the formal research system for knowledge management for sustainable agricultural development. Keeping this in view a study entitled, "Scientisation of Indigenous Technical Knowledge of Tribal Farmers in Ranchi district of Jharkhand" was undertaken with the objectives: i. To identify the process of systematic documentation and scientisation of Indigenous Technical Knowledge, ii. To study the process of scientisation of Indigenous Technical Knowledge about pest and disease management among tribal farmers, iii. To delineate the constraints encountered in utilisation of Indigenous Technical Knowledge by tribal farmers and 4. To develop a framework for systematic documentation and scientisation of Indigenous Technical Knowledge. Ranchi district of Jharkhand was selected purposively keeping in view substantial tribal population in the district. Two blocks namely, Angara and Tamar were selected purposively, being the tribal dominated blocks in the district. From each selected block two villages namely, Dhurleta and Jaspur from Angara and Amhesa and Uludih from Tamar were selected randomly from among the tribal dominated villages. Selection of tribal farmers was done through snowball sampling. Descriptive research design was used for this study. Three categories of respondents i.e. 55 ITK experts spread across the country, 30 plant protection scientists belonging to State Agricultural University and ICAR system located at Ranchi and 45 tribal farmers who acted as key informants from selected villages constituted the sample for the study. ITK experts and plant protection scientists were randomly selected from the list and multistage sampling procedure was followed for selection of tribal farmers. Delphi technique was employed to identify ideal steps in the processes of systematic documentation and scientisation of ITKs by the experts. Scientisation process was conceptualised in three sequential steps of particularisation, validation and generalisation. For particularisation, rationality analysis of selected ITKs was done by the plant protection scientists. For this, three types of rating scales were used. Validation was done through Quantification of Indigenous Knowledge (QuIK) method by the tribal key informants and Mean Perceived Effectiveness Methodology (MPEM) by the scientists. For generalisation, scientists were asked to indicate whether ITKs can be disseminated directly or require certain modifications/ blending with corresponding scientific technologies (CSTs). For better utilisation of selected ITKs the tribal farmers were asked to indicate their preferences of mode of dissemination. For the constraints encountered in utilisation of ITKs, tribal farmers were asked to indicate degree of importance of constraints on a 3-point continuum. Based on the findings of the referred aspects, a process framework was developed for systematic documentation and scientisation of ITKs. The findings led to conclude that majority of the tribal farmers were females of old age belonging to Oraon communityhaving education up to middle school level and marginal size of holdings with long farming experience, lower level of risk orientation, social participation and innovativeness and majority of the ITK experts were males of age group of 51-65 years, holding senior positions in SAUs and ICAR institutes with experience between 10-15 years involved in extension and ITKrelated work to a greater extent. The ITK experts suggested that a combination of suitable methods should be used for documentation of ITKs. The most preferred scale to assess the scientific rationality of ITKs was reported to be 3-point scale of Dhaliwal and Singh (2010) followed by 5- point scale of Hiranand (1979). QuIK was found to be more preferred method for validation followed by MPEM. For generalisation of ITKs, a consensus emerged that if ITKs are at par with their CSTs in efficacy and effectiveness may be disseminated directly to the farmers as well as through their Ready to Use (RTU) products. Otherwise, further experimentation should be done by blending of both the knowledge systems. ITKs which were considered for QuIK analysis i.e. control of Rice hispa (Parsu leaves or Mahua leaves are applied), Rice caseworm (Solution of tender bamboo shoot extract with water or Parsu leaves). Bihar hairy caterpillar (Mixture of Ash and Kerosene oil or Sinduwar leaves + Sand + Kerosene oil), Rice gall fly (Parsu leaves or Sinduwar leaves) and Banki disease (Bamboo rhizome pieces mixed with water or leaves of Neem) were found to be superior to their CSTs in terms of cost-effectiveness, environment-friendliness and farming system compatibility whereas CSTs were preferred more in terms of effectiveness in controlling pests/diseases, quickness in problem solving and ease in preparation. Farmer to farmer extension was suggested by the tribal farmers for generalisation of ITKs followed by maintenance of ITK register and creating awareness through different extension methods including publication of extension literature and use of information communication technology. In order to increase the accessibility of ITKs, a process framework has been developed with the main partners of research, extension and user systems to facilitate sustainable agricultural development.

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