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Central Agricultural University, College of Post Graduate Studies in Agricultural Sciences, Umiam
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ThesisItem Embargo Role performance of village councils in implementation of rural development programmes in Meghalaya(College of Post Graduate Studies in Agricultural Sciences, CAU-Imphal, Umiam, 2022-02) Marbaniang, Ereneus K.; Chauhan, J. K.Meghalaya state of Northeast India has a tribal population of 86.14 percent mainly dominated by the Khasi, Jaintia and Garo communities. These communities since time immemorial have been living their social life under the administration of the Village Council which is the council of village elders headed by the Village Headman. Village Headman held responsibility for maintaining law and order, peace harmony and overall, the social welfare in the village. All the government programmes and schemes meant for the village are routed through the Village Council. Owing to the importance of the Village Council in rural development, the present study was conducted with the following objectives: i) to study the knowledge level of the village councillors regarding execution of rural development programmes, ii) to examine the extent of participation of village councillors in rural development programmes, iii) to ascertain the role perception of village councillors and scheme beneficiaries towards implementation of rural development programmes, iv) to determine the role performance of the village councillors in implementation of rural development programmes. Data was collected from the 30 Village Councils of the three districts (East Khasi Hills, West Jaintia Hills and West Garo Hills) implementing MGNREGA, PDS and ICDS programmes, respectively. A total of 540 respondents consisting of 360 Village Councillors (VCs) and 180 Scheme Beneficiaries (SBs) were sampled for the study. The salient findings of the study were that the knowledge index of the village councillors was found to be higher in ICDS village councillors (75.29%) as compared to MGNREGA (56.41%) and PDS (52.08%) village councillors, respectively. About 46.67 percent had medium knowledge level about MGNREGA, majority of them (74.16%) had medium knowledge level about PDS and more than half (51.67%) had medium knowledge level about ICDS, respectively. Participation index of the village councillors was found to be 74.82%, 76.33% and 75.88% in case of MGNREGA, PDS and ICDS respectively. Majority of the MGNREGA village councillors (74.16%) belonged to the medium participation level, PDS councillors (85.00%) had medium level of participation and 55.84 percent of ICDS councillors had medium category level of participation. Role perception index of VCs and SBs for MGNREGA was 79.29% & 90.40%, whereas it was 87.84% & 84.78% for PDS, 75.23% & 80.58% for ICDS, respectively. Role performance index as perceived by the village councillors and scheme beneficiaries of MGNREGA was 80.79% & 65.01%, whereas it was 83.86% & 63.91% for PDS, 85.11% & 68.68% for ICDS, respectively with majority of them falls under medium level category of role performance for all the three programmes. It was suggested that knowledge level of the councillors involved in execution of MGNREGA could be increased through orientation programmes at the VEC level, trainings, workshops, Annual VEC Meet, VEC Mela, leadership programmes etc. Improvement in work culture of the job cards holders could be done through awareness and capacity building programmes at the village level. Knowledge level of the PDS councillors could be increased through organising of orientation programmes, trainings at the village/cluster level, participation in awareness programmes etc. Finalisation of family households for inclusion under PDS beneficiaries must be in consultation with the Village Council. For ICDS, increasing of honorarium for the AWWs/AWHs and demonstration on cooking of food items supplied need to be taught to the beneficiaries to reduce wastage of public money.ThesisItem Open Access Social simulation on assimilation of climate smart agricultural practices in North Eastern Hill Region of India(College of Post Graduate Studies in Agricultural Sciences, CAU-Imphal, Umiam, 2020-10) Devi, Mayanglambam Victoria; Singh, Rajkumar JosmeeAgriculture is in peril owing to negative impacts and consequences of Climate Change (CC) in terms of physical, contextual and societal facets. Adaptation to CC in agricultural and associated sectors is a major current and future challenge for the North Eastern Hills States (NEHS) of our country. The hill state like Meghalaya faced low in crop production owed to severe drought (Singh et al., 2013) and significantly declined in annual rainfall (Feroze et al., 2018). Despite the benefits & advantage of Climate Smart Agricultural (CSA) Practices, assimilation rate is still very low by tribal farmers of NEHS of India (Aryal et al., 2018). A scientific inquiry to cognize the assimilation of CSA Practices by farmers in NEHS of India was ordained with the following three research objectives viz.,(1) To identify and assess Climate Smart Agricultural practices with respect to climate change vulnerable districts of the Tropical, Sub-Tropical and Temperate Agro-Climatic Zones (ACZs); (2) To simulate the assimilation of identified CSA Practices by farmers of climate change vulnerable districts; and (3) To develop suitable extension strategies for assimilating identified CSA Practices by farmers. The scientific inquiry was conducted in the three states namely, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Meghalaya representing Tropical, Sub-Tropical and Temperate ACZs respectively and from these corresponding ACZs, the most CC vulnerable districts viz., the East Siang, the Bishnupur and the East Khasi Hills were selected for study. By following cluster sampling, seventeen villages were finalized for the study and consequently 257 respondents were identified through proportionate random sampling. The study uncovered that majority of the respondents belonged to low category w.r.t the following variables viz., ‘Land Holding’, ‘Annual Income’, ‘Farming Experience’, ‘Extension Contact’, ‘Access to Climate Change Adaptation & Mitigation Services’, ‘Training on CSA Practices’, ‘Climate Change Adaptation Intention’, ‘Climate Change Mitigation’, ‘Livelihood Sustainability’ and ‘Innovativeness of CSA’. However, highest percentage of respondents were lofted in medium categories apropos of variables viz., ‘Mass Media Exposure’, ‘Exposure to Long Term Stresses or Shocks’, ‘Awareness on Consequences of Climate change’, ‘Risk Perception’, ‘Knowledge on CSA’, ‘Climate Risk Management’, ‘Utilization of Credit’, ‘Scientific Orientation’ & ‘Resilience to Climate Change in Agriculture’. The research could unveil 9 Nutrient Smart, 6 Soil Smart, 7 Water Smart, 5 Energy Smart, 5 Carbon Smart, and 6 Knowledge Smart CSA Practices. In the discourse, while performing System Dynamics (SD) simulation at the best fit by considering ‘Potential Assimilators’ and ‘Assimilators’ as ‘Stocks’, ‘Assimilation Rate’ as ‘Flow’, ‘Extension Services of Extension Specialists’ as Balancing Loop Identifier and ‘Farmers to Farmers Extension’ as Reinforcing Loop Identifier with 9 parameter variables and 2 dynamic variables by keeping 5 years as span of simulation, it could be revealed that the Assimilation Gap of CSA Practices by farmers of East Siang, Bishnupur and East Khasi Hills district were 56.75%, 89.47% and 70.99%, respectively. On the administration of the SWOT-AHP hybrid analysis, it could be uncovered that ‘Crop and Livestock Diversification due to existence of different Agro-Climatic Zones’; ‘Overly long Return on Investment span of CSA technologies on adaptation and mitigation of CC consequences’; ‘Successful market-aligned supply chain infrastructure from farm to fork’; and ‘Food insecurity and unsustainable livelihood due to adverse impact of CC on agriculture and associated enterprises’ were the most principal Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats with inconsistency ratio of 0.09, 0.02, 0.03 and 0.08 respectively. By performing AHP, it could be reported that 81.30% of the experts inclined upon the CSA systems to be effectively disseminated and consequently be assimilated by farmers against 18.70% of the experts. Keeping into consideration the rationalities on the output of SWOT-AHP, strategies for assimilating identified CSA Practices by farmers in seven domains have been developed. The research concludes that assimilation gap of CSA Practices by farmers of NEHS at present is alarmingly very high despite of the availability on basket of potential CSA Practices. Thence, the identified strategies are sincerely suggested for bridging the assimilation gap.ThesisItem Open Access Modeling e-learning for climate-smart Horticulture on high value horticultural crops of Arunachal Pradesh: a quasi- experimental approach(College of Post Graduate Studies in Agricultural Sciences, CAU-Imphal, Umiam, 2020-07) Koyu, Bai; Singh, Rajkumar JosmeeIncreasing crop productivity in a climate-smart way requires continuous investment in developing human capital in agriculture and allied enterprises, through formal and informal learning and education. Learning derived through newer Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) devices and formats enables both formal and informal learning and knowledge sharing at any time, place and at any pace. E-learning can provide fresh approaches that are learner-centric, engaging producers and their communities as partners and adult learners in designing and implementing the learning experience. Horticulture, which has been considered as the backbone and future of rural economy for the state of Arunachal Pradesh, is facing the threats of climate change leading to unsustainability of horticultural activities which needs immediate controlling measure. With this susceptible and disperse issues of global climate change, innovation to its adaptation in terms of farmers’ innovations towards Climate-Smart Horticulture (CSH) practices become inexorable for the sustenance of small as well as marginal farmers. CSH is an agrarian tactic that rationally intensifies productivity, adaptation and diminishes greenhouse gases. Keeping into consideration the above essentials, the present study was undergone with the following objectives viz., (1) Develop an e-learning module on Climate-Smart Horticulture on High Value Horticultural Crops; (2) To ascertain the extent of application of e-learning on CSH on High Value Horticultural Crops; and (3) To develop a structural equation modelling on application of e-learning on CSH on High Value Horticultural Crops. Two districts namely, Lower Subansiri and West Kameng were selected purposively; further from each district two Community and Rural Development blocks (CRDB) were selected based upon horticultural importance. Subsequently, two villages were selected from each identified CRDB, thereby, a total of 200 farmers have been finalized for the study. The study developed an asynchronous e-learning module by adapting the steps viz., Analyzing, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation using Adobe Captivate software. The research revealed that intervention of e-learning module could enhanced statiscally significant learning Climate-Smart Horticulture on High Value Horticultural Crops (Apple, Kiwi and Large Cardamom by respondents. The study unfolded that highest percentage of the respondents belonged to middle age group having high school level of education. Medium categories were observed in terms of Agricultural Land Holding, Annual Income, Mass Media Exposure, Cosmopoliteness, Knowledge Acquired on CSH and Behavioural Intention to Use (BIU) of the respondents. It could be further reported that it could be reported that there was a high extent of application of e-learning on CSH on High Value Horticultural Crops by respondents through application of e-learning module. On performing SEM, it could be concluded that the endogenous variable PEU had the R2 value of 0.16, indicating the 16% contribution by exogenous variable SE. Similarly, the endogenous variable BIU having R2 value of 0.62 indicated that the exogenous variables viz., PEU, ATT and FC had jointly explained and predicted 62% of accuracy on BIU in ELAM. Likewise, the endogenous variable PU having R2 value of 0.08 had indicated that the 8% of accuracy in estimating PU was contributed by the exogenous variables viz., PEU, SN and FC. Also, ATT with R2 value of 0.01 revealed that the exogenous variable PU had explained 1% of accuracy in estimating ATT. The SE was found to have positive influence on PEU @ p=0.001. The PEU was found to have positive significant influence on BIU @ p=0.01. The PEU was found to have significant negative influence on PU @ p=0.001. The FC was found to have positive significant influence on BIU at p=0.001. The study revealed that E-learning Acceptance Model is an efficient model to be used among farmers in an educational context. Asynchronous e-learning module imparts significant increase in knowledge level of farmers. E-learning Self-Efficacy, Perceived Ease of Use, Facilitating Condition, and are the most important attributes for the e- learning module to have significant influence on Behavioural Intention to Use. The study recommends that traditional extension and advisory services on CSH to farmers should be augmented with e-learning.ThesisItem Open Access Livelihood Security of Farmers in Meghalaya under Tribal Sub-Plan: A Result-Based Evaluation(College of Post Graduate Studies in Agricultural Sciences, CAU-Imphal, Umiam, 2019-12) Thangjam, Deepa; Chauhan, J. K.Livelihood security is the access to adequate basic needs for sustaining life such as food, clothing, shelter. In order to improve the livelihood security and socio-economic status of the farmers, Central Agricultural University (CAU), Imphal has taken up Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) project in Meghalaya during the crop year 2016-17. The present study was taken up to evaluate the performance of TSP with respect to the livelihood security of the beneficiary farmers with three objectives viz., (1) To develop a result-based evaluation tool for Tribal Sub Plan project executed by CAU, Imphal in the state of Meghalaya, (2) To perform impact evaluation of Tribal Sub Plan project undertaken by CAU, Imphal in the state of Meghalaya, and (3) To explore amicable lessons and bottleneck issues associated with agricultural livelihood security of respondents under TSP. The research was carried out in two districts of Meghalaya, namely, Ri-Bhoi district and West Garo Hill district owing to the existence of two colleges under CAU(I) and from which, samples of 270 and 120 beneficiary farmers were selected following complete enumeration from Ri-Bhoi district and West Garo Hills district respectively. The Tribal Agricultural Development Index (TADI) was developed to evaluate the performance of TSP. Impact evaluation was performed by following the Before-After analysis. The research revealed that majority of the respondents were between 30 - 42 years of Age, and have ‘Marginal Farm Land.’ Based on thecommunication variables, it was found that majority of the respondents have ‘High Contact with Personal Localite’, ‘Medium Contact with Extension Personnel’, ‘Medium Cosmopoliteness’, and ‘Medium Nature of Social Participation.’ The study further observed that majority of the respondents had low ‘Annual Income (<`2,26,000/-)’, ‘Mass Media Exposure’, and ‘Usage of ICTs.’ Pertaining to the psychological characteristics, it was observed that majority of the respondents had medium level of ‘Decision Making Ability’, ‘Scientific Orientation’, and ‘Risk Orientation.’ In vehemently, the study unveiled that nearly 70% of the respondents were in the range of 0.4-0.7 apropos of TADI values which could infer that TSP had moderately benefitted the tribal beneficiary farmers. With the statistical t-values of 13.769 and 34.35 @ 0.01 pertaining to ‘Agricultural Livelihood Security Index’ and ‘Empowerment Index’, the study concluded that the TSP had significant positive changes in both securing agricultural livelihood and empowering the respondents of the study. The most outstanding problems faced by the respondents were ‘Pest and Diseases Infestation.’ThesisItem Open Access Implications of mobile phone applications in farming by tribal rural youth of Meghalaya.(College of Post Graduate Studies in Agricultural Sciences, CAU-Imphal, Umiam, 2019-12) Oinam, Termaric; Chauhan, J. K.Right information in right time at right place to right farmer is sine-quo-non for successful farming. Mobile phones being one of the vibrant and reliable Information and Communication Technology (ICT) gadgets promise to bridge the information gap of the farming population. Mobile phones have significantly reduced communication and information costs for the rural poor in developing countries. With these backdrops, the study was conducted with the following research objectives viz., (1) To ascertain agricultural information seeking behaviour of tribal rural youth, (2) To determine the extent of mobile phone application by tribal rural youth in farming, and (3) To examine factors limiting application of mobile phones in farming and advocate suggestive measures to overcome the same. The research was carried out in six districts of Meghalaya viz., Ri-bhoi, East-Khasi Hills, West-Khasi Hills, West-Jaintia Hills, West- Garo Hills and South-West Garo Hills. A total sample size of 240 respondents were finalized and from 12 villages inter alia of 2 villages from each identified district. Two indices namely ‘Standard Information Seeking Behaviour Index’ (SISBI) and ‘Standard Mobile Phone Use Index’ (SMPUI) had been developed during the study. The study unveiled that maximum percentage (29.58%) of respondent were matriculate and nearly 2/5th of respondents had medium ‘Social Participation’. Further stances on attributes of respondents could revealed that majority of them had medium level of ‘Mass Media Exposure’–(70.83%), ‘Cosmopoliteness’–(67.08%), ‘Decision Making’– (71.67%), ‘Perceived Ease of Use’–(68.75%), ‘Perceived Usefulness’–(75.42%), ‘Mobile Phone Service Reliability’–(67.08%), and ‘Annual Income’ in range of ` 33,750 – 1,44,000/- – (78.75%). Standard Information Seeking Behaviour Index (SISBI) revealed that the most viable source used by the respondents to seek agriculture related information was through friends with 84.38 SISBI, trailed very closely by neighbours with 83.44 SISBI. Standard Mobile Phone Use Index (SMPUI) revealed that mobile phone applications are being primarily used to determine the market price of agricultural goods and commodities from time to time with 57.81 SMPUI. With the Cox & Snell R2 and the Nagelkerke R2 respective values of 0.638 and 0.745, the Multinomial Logistic Regression (MLR) in the study with respect to the dependent variable namely, ‘Information Seeking Behaviour’ could revealed that between 63.8% to 74.5% of the variability was explained by set of 7 predictor variables viz., ‘Agricultural Land Holding’, ‘Mass Media Exposure’, ‘Cosmopoliteness’, ‘Social Participation’, ‘Decision Making’, ‘Perceived Usefulness’ and ‘Education’. Similarly, with the Cox & Snell R2 and the Nagelkerke R2 respective values of 0.492 and 0.571, the MLR in the study with respect to the dependent variable namely, ‘Extent of Mobile Phone Application’ could revealed that between 49.2% to 57.1% of the variability was explained by set of 9 predictor variables viz., ‘Agricultural Land Holding’, ‘Annual Income’, ‘Decision Making’, ‘Perceived Ease of Use’, ‘Mobile Phone Service Reliability’, ‘Perceived Usefulness’, ‘Money Spent on Mobile Phone’, ‘Gender’ and ‘Education.’ On performing Paired Comparison, 60.20% of the respondents expressed the most stark constraint was ‘Incomplete Information on Farming.’ The study recommends that need and evidence based agro-advisory services alongside combination of web-based ‘Internet of Things’ on agriculture and allied enterprises should be enhanced and promoted to retain rural youth in agriculture.ThesisItem Open Access Understanding the technological information networks in diffusion of improved rice varieties in Manipur(College of Post Graduate Studies in Agricultural Sciences, CAU-Imphal, Umiam, 2019-09) S. S. P., Jyothi; Devarani, LoukhamRice is the major staple food crop of India and specifically, North East India which was reported as the secondary centre of origin of rice. However as per the five year data provided by Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare for 2017-18, the entire NER contributed only 7.8 percent of the area and 6.8 percent of the production in the country which was very negligible. The food security of the region is reliant on the extent of cultivation of promising and high yielding varieties by the farmers. The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and State Agricultural Departments are exerting concerted efforts in developing and diffusing High Yielding Varieties among the farmers despite which the rate of success is very negligible. Institutes such as the ICAR-NEH, the Central Agricultural University and the respective State Departments of Agriculture have developed certain HYVs of Rice and disseminated for over a decade among the farmers. The Central Agricultural University, Imphal has developed CAU-R series varieties among which the CAUR1 (Tamphaphou) was widely disseminated since 2009 among the North Eastern States and specifically in Manipur. Studies on the varietal performance at the farm level have been done but farmers’ perception, diffusion of the variety through farmer networks and stakeholder integration has not been carried out. To better understand about the technological innovation system of the CAU-R series varieties especially CAU-R1, the study was conducted in the state of Manipur with the following objectives viz., to identify the key stakeholders and understand their roles and interrelationships, to map the social networks of the farmers and assess their degree of participation, to study the effect of the independent variables on the social network properties and to identify the constraints faced by the stakeholders and the farmers. Mixed method research design and purposive sampling technique were used and 20 stakeholder categories and 216 farmers across three districts viz., Imphal East, Thoubal and Bishnupur in Manipur were selected for the study. Descriptive statistics like frequencies, percentage, mean, standard deviation and correlation were used while for mapping the farmer networks, UCINET software was used. The Garett Ranking technique was used to identify and prioritise the constraints. The study revealed that majority of the stakeholders belonged to the public or government organizations followed by farmer cooperatives and media. 89.41 percent of the stakeholders reported CAU, Imphal as the major source of information regarding CAU-R1 followed by the Department of Agriculture, Manipur. Market demand for the CAU-R1 variety at the local and regional level was extremely low. Strong linkages were primarily between the same type of organizations across different administrative levels. Institutional stakeholders had comparatively effective linkages among themselves than with the farmers and their collectives and vice versa. The CAU, Department of Agriculture Manipur, KVK Andro, KVK Thoubal and the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare showed high interest and power in the diffusion of the variety while the farmers and their collectives in the three districts had high interest but low power. 50 percent of the farmers had replaced the variety with other local and ICAR RCM series of paddy varieties due to less taste and low market demand. The Network density across the three districts was very low indicating loose connections and was homophilous in nature with low level of cosmopoliteness of the farmers. The average in-degree and outdegree across the three districts was 5 and the network degree centralization and network betweenness centralization scores were very low indicating the dominance of very few influential actors in the network while majority of them were mere numbers. The social participation was found to be positively correlated and the time taken for adoption negatively at 1 percent LOS with the degree, closeness and centrality measures. The number of trainings attended is positively correlated with the degree centrality at 1 percent level of significance and negatively correlated with closeness at 5 percent level of significance. Major constraints reported were lack of coordination between stakeholders and inadequate knowledge on the recommended package of practices of the variety. Interventions to increase the marketability of the variety and improve linkage of farmers with institutional stakeholders are recommended.ThesisItem Open Access Organisational climate and performance of Krishi Vigyan Kendras in Meghalaya(College of Post Graduate Studies in Agricultural Sciences, CAU-Imphal, Umiam, 2019-09) Dkhar, Sao Evalwell; Devarani, LoukhamAgriculture, which is generally considered as the backbone of the nation, had seen a drastic change in recent years with respect to production and productivity. These changes have been brought about partly by the role of extension, which is a key investment in agriculture. One of the most important organisation dealing with front line extension system and functioning as knowledge resource centres at district level are the Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVK). Today more than 694 KVKs in the country play a huge part in the development of the capacity of human resources in the grass root agricultural sector through activities of OFTs, FLD and capacity building. Owing to the importance of these organisation, the current study was conducted on 5 functional KVKs of Meghalaya (KVK East Khasi Hills, KVK West Khasi Hills, KVK Ri-Bhoi, KVK West Jaintia Hills and KVK West Garo Hills), with the objectives: i)to study the aspects of organisational climate as perceived by the employees of the KVKs; ii) to measure the organisational performance of different KVKs over the years, iii) to study the clienteles’ satisfaction regarding services of the KVKs and iv)to gather suggestions for improving the services and outputs of the KVKs. Data was collected from the employees of the KVKs, the annual reports of the KVK and the client farmers served by the KVKs. The salient findings of the study were that the average age of the KVK employees was 34.64 years comprising of 21 male and 17 female workers; it was found that combined, the organizational climate of the KVKs of Meghalaya was acceptable and worth celebrating, but individually, some KVKs exhibited problems in the dimensions of career development and reward system. Using Spearman’s Correlation it was found that job autonomy and job stress had statistically significant relationships with organizational climate. The organizational performance of the KVKs of Meghalaya was relatively similar but the highest performance for the five years was recorded for the KVK of West Khasi Hills (3.796), followed by East Khasi Hills (3.552). It was observed that dissemination event was the highest performing output category amongst all the KVKs followed by on-farm testing. There was no relation between performance and organizational facilities. The average age of the clientele farmers was 43.56 years and they were composed of 83 males and 67 female farmers. Clienteles’ satisfaction was found to be relatively high amongst all the KVKs with the Clienteles’ Satisfaction Index being highest in West Khasi Hills (80.33). Clients were dissatisfied with the market assistance aspect and lack of timely provision of trainings and inputs of the KVKs. Clientele Satisfaction was highly dependent on communicational characteristics of the clients like trainings attended, social participation, information seeking behaviour etc. Diagrammatical representation indicated somewhat significant relationship between Organisational Climate, Organisational Performance and Clientele Satisfaction score of the selected KVKs. It was suggested that there should be provision of manpower, benefits and infrastructure to the KVKs and development activities should be more participatory in nature to increase involvement of farmers in them. KVKs should also give more effort toward animal technology demonstrations, professional recognition and research publications. The KVKs should also focus on timely input and marketing assistance to the farmers so that there is a shift from production oriented to entrepreneurship-oriented development.ThesisItem Open Access Jhumias of Manipur in North-East India: a livelihood analysis(College of Post Graduate Studies in Agricultural Sciences, CAU-Imphal, Umiam, 2017-09) P., Punitha; Chauhan, J. K.Shifting cultivation also known as Jhum practised predominantly by North East Indian farmers. The people who practise Jhum are called as Jhumias. Due to the ill effects of Jhum cultivation, since 1950s, various schemes were implemented by Government of India to eradicate Jhum. The latest scheme completed was Watershed Development Project in Shifting Cultivation Area (WDPSCA).This study endeavours to explore, to what extent the level of attachment the Jhumias have towards Jhum as a livelihood, to what extent the Jhumias depend on other source of livelihood, factors affecting it and their constraints in diversification of livelihood. Keeping in view the above consideration the present research had been conducted with the objectives viz., to assess the place attachment of Jhumias towards Jhum as a livelihood, to analyse the livelihood diversification of Jhumias, to prioritise the constraints in livelihood diversification. Mixed method research design and multistage sampling technique was used in this study. Out of total 240 respondents selected for the study, 80 respondents were selected from WDPSCA and 160 respondents were selected from Non - WDPSCA. Place attachment scale with eighteen statements was developed to assess the place attachment of Jhumias towards Jhum as a livelihood. Simpson Diversity of Index was used to measure the level of livelihood diversification. The chi-square, correlation and multiple regression analysis were used to analyse the factors influencing livelihood diversification. The Garrett ranking technique were used to prioritise the constraints in livelihood diversification. The study revealed that majority (57%) of the respondents were found to exhibit medium level of place attachment towards Jhum as a livelihood. Analysis of livelihood diversification revealed that majority (60%) of respondents in WDPSCA found to exhibit low level of livelihood diversification where as in Non-WDPSCA majority (49.37%) of respondents found to exhibit medium level of livelihood diversification. 86.30 per cent and 73.80 per cent of respondents in WDPSCA and Non-WDPSCA respectively had farm as a primary livelihood source. Jhum income constitute the highest income source among the farm income in WDPSCA and Non-WDPSCA. The multiple linear regression analysis on the factors affecting livelihood diversification revealed that the overall model was fit with 'f' value significant at 1 percent level with R2 value of 0.364. The number of livestocks, training attended on farm activities were negatively affected the livelihood diversification at 1 per cent and 5 percent level of significance respectively. Market distance was positively affected the livelihood diversification at 1 per cent level of significance. Distance to Jhum field, distance to district head quarter, Jhum size was negatively affected the livelihood diversification at 1 per cent level of significance. 'Lack of market access' were the foremost infrastructural constraint expressed by the respondents of WDPSCA and Non-WDPSCA. 'Primary livelihood activities not leaving enough time to pursue diversification strategies' followed by inadequate experience in expected livelihood activity were the social constraint expressed by WDPSCA and 'lack of role model entrepreneur in my village' were the social constraint expressed in Non-WDPSCA. Less high yielding varieties for Jhum land were the technological constraint expressed by both WDPSCA and Non-WDPSCA. Livestock activities in a larger scale, off-farm agribusiness activities, common market place for cluster of villages for Jhumias can be promoted. Soil health and water management measures, problems in management of fruits, vegetables and spices should be identified, prioritised and disseminated by KVK, ICAR, CAU to the Jhumias of Manipur.ThesisItem Open Access Social networks of agricultural stakeholders on climate-smart agriculture in Meghalaya: a structural equation modelling(College of Post Graduate Studies in Agricultural Sciences, CAU-Imphal, Umiam, 2017-12) Dympep, Alethea; Singh, Rajkumar JoshmeeClimate change has already significantly impacted agriculture and is expected to further impact directly and indirectly food production. Agriculture however is not just a victim of climate change; it is directly responsible for 10–12% of human-generated greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, to increase agricultural production without further increasing greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural activities, ‘climate-smart agriculture’ (CSA) has been introduced. The scaling up of CSA practices will require appropriate institutional and governance mechanisms and understanding of individual behavioral intention to adopt CSA, to disseminate information, ensure broad participation and harmonize policies. Therefore, considering the above facts, the present study was conceptualized with the following objectives: (1) To identify social networks of agricultural stakeholders on performing climate-smart agriculture. (2) To analyze the mitigative and adaptive competency of identified social networks apropos of climate-smart agriculture. (3) To develop a structural equation model fitting climate-smart hill agriculture. (4) To advocate strategies on successful implementation of the recommendations on climate-smart hill agriculture. The hill state, Meghalaya, in which the three agro-climatic zones (ACZs) of the state were, selected purposively. Out of which one most agriculturally vulnerable Community and Rural Development (C&RD) block to climate change was selected from each ACZs. Following snowball sampling, ‘n’ agricultural stakeholders were identified and a cluster of 4 villages from each classified CRDB were selected. 180 farmers were randomly selected from the respective CRDB. In the Tropical ACZ, five stakeholders involved in climate change were identified of which NGOs were found to be the key stakeholder while in Sub-tropical and Temperate ACZ, thirteen stakeholders and eleven stakeholder were identified in which ICAR(NICRA) and DoP&ED, GoM were found to be the most important stakeholder in the ACZs respectively. On analyzing the social network of the stakeholders, Farmers in Tropical ACZ, GIZ in Sub-tropical ACZ and both Farmers and GIZ in Temperate zone were found to be the central actors in the network. DoA, GoM & KVK and m4agriNEI of CoHSc, Tura & NGOs were found to be structurally equivalent in Temperate ACZ while no structural equivalence was found between the stakeholders in Sub-tropical and Temperate ACZ. The cohesive density of farmers was found to highest in Tropical ACZ followed by in Sub-tropical and Temperate ACZ. No significant difference was found on the mitigative and adaptative competency level of the identified social networks of agricultural stakeholders in all the three ACZs.Using multinomial logistic regression, independent variables- age, landholding, social cohesiveness, cosmopoliteness, communication behaviour, subjective norms, risk perception and knowledge of CSA practices were found to significantly affect competency level of the farmers. Structural equation modeling was applied and a structural path model was developed in which exogenous variables-perceived adaptive capacity and subjective norms were found to be positively influencing CSA performance of the farmers while maladaptation was observed to have a negative influence. The major constraints expressed by the farmers were the lack of profit on adapting to CSA practices and lack of government support.
