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Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar
After independence, development of the rural sector was considered the primary concern of the Government of India. In 1949, with the appointment of the Radhakrishnan University Education Commission, imparting of agricultural education through the setting up of rural universities became the focal point. Later, in 1954 an Indo-American team led by Dr. K.R. Damle, the Vice-President of ICAR, was constituted that arrived at the idea of establishing a Rural University on the land-grant pattern of USA. As a consequence a contract between the Government of India, the Technical Cooperation Mission and some land-grant universities of USA, was signed to promote agricultural education in the country. The US universities included the universities of Tennessee, the Ohio State University, the Kansas State University, The University of Illinois, the Pennsylvania State University and the University of Missouri. The task of assisting Uttar Pradesh in establishing an agricultural university was assigned to the University of Illinois which signed a contract in 1959 to establish an agricultural University in the State. Dean, H.W. Hannah, of the University of Illinois prepared a blueprint for a Rural University to be set up at the Tarai State Farm in the district Nainital, UP. In the initial stage the University of Illinois also offered the services of its scientists and teachers. Thus, in 1960, the first agricultural university of India, UP Agricultural University, came into being by an Act of legislation, UP Act XI-V of 1958. The Act was later amended under UP Universities Re-enactment and Amendment Act 1972 and the University was rechristened as Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology keeping in view the contributions of Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant, the then Chief Minister of UP. The University was dedicated to the Nation by the first Prime Minister of India Pt Jawaharlal Nehru on 17 November 1960.
The G.B. Pant University is a symbol of successful partnership between India and the United States. The establishment of this university brought about a revolution in agricultural education, research and extension. It paved the way for setting up of 31 other agricultural universities in the country.
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ThesisItem 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, GyanendraIn 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.ThesisItem 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.ThesisItem 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; AmardepVillage 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.ThesisItem 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, GyanendraThe 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.ThesisItem Open Access Climate smart agriculture interventions for rural livelihoods: An exploratory study in Odisha(G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263145 (Uttarakhand), 2021-07) Das, Usha; Ansari, M.A.The global climate targets like Paris Agreement are set to argue that transformations are required for the survival of humans with the onset of climate change in a sustainable manner on this planet. Here, climate change adaptations and climate smart agriculture (CSA) interventions will act as a shield against such changes. And a systematic evolution in the production, resilience and mitigation pillars are required as a mark of such transformations. CSA in any agro- ecosystem is one such protean approach. It revolves around re-routing the farm livelihoods to new directions, de-risk these livelihoods by secured early warning systems & adaptive safety nets and climate informed advisories and finally restructure, realign and reform the policies through social, financial and innovation movements to build more resilient and sustainable rural livelihoods. With a rising emissions of methane, mostly from agricultural production, falling groundwater levels, rise in tropical cyclones, concurrent floods, post monsoon droughts, India in general and Odisha in particular is under constant climatic distress. To address such climatic issues in India, ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research) introduced National Innovations on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) project. Odisha, being the third most vulnerable state to climate change with a vulnerable coastal as well as non-coastal ecosystem inclusive of NICRA adopted study districts was the locale of this study. Three dominant livelihood groups considered for the study were crop farmers, livestock farmers and crop+livestock farmers. Following an exploratory and descriptive research design, the study was conducted in two purposively selected districts, i.e. coastal district of Kendrapara and the non-coastal district of Dhenkanal. The study sample comprised of 200 famers from three distinct livelihood groups that were selected through purposive sampling with proportional allocation. The study concluded that the two climatically vulnerable districts differed with respect to attributes of farmers, asset holdings, climate knowledge level, vulnerability & resiliency to climate change and perceived effectiveness of various CSA interventions unique to their settings. The overall livelihood status of farmers of both districts was below average, and of all the five assets, natural assets were lowest contributing to the overall livelihood status of the farmers due to its lengthy time lapse for recreation in post climate malady. The crop+livestock farmers’ livelihood group had better performance in every attribute thus indicating that livelihood diversification is a key for survival during climatic hazards. Those CSA interventions given by NICRA which were need based and location specific were perceived to be effective along with various institutional & organizational push factors. The study also revealed that involvement of KVKs in implementation of NICRA had better impact on the farmers. An output framework for prioritizing and up-scaling CSA interventions was also inferred from the study. A number of inferential/relational statistical analyses like correlation, regression, path analysis, factor analysis, structural equation modeling were carried out to reveal various drivers of adoption of CSA interventions. The barriers like inefficient governance, lack of timely information, lack of market and credit support etc. were ranked highest. Some plausible solutions to these barriers were also documented in this study. Thus, the study outcomes suggest that climate smart agriculture policy should consider the differential, location-specific, demand-driven and need-based prioritization of CSA interventions so that they are a part of sustainable development for rural livelihoods. Thus, the study entitled “Climate Smart Agriculture Interventions for Rural Livelihoods: An Exploratory Study in Odisha” will enable the policy makers in developing a strategic framework to address such aforementioned needs.ThesisItem Open Access A study on the performance of self-help groups (SHGs) under Deendayal Antyaodaya Yojana- National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM) in Uttarakhand state(G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263145 (Uttarakhand), 2021-02) Rana, Pratima; Bhardwaj, NeelamSustainability and improvement in the life of rural people is the main agenda of all developmental programmes. The Government of India since independence has implemented various programme to alleviate poverty. Schemes like Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWACRA), Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP), Supply of Improved Toolkits for Rural Artisans (SITRA) and Training of Rural Youth for Self employment (TRYSEM) were implemented in a row after Community Development Programme (CDP) in 1952. After lots of thinking and introspection of previous schemes, a new philosophy and approach saw the light of the day and Swarn Jayanati Grameen Swarojgar Yojna (SGSY) was restructured as National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) in 2011, the strategy is to encourage women in rural households to be part of Self- Help Groups. The three pillars on which Deendayal Antyaodaya Yojana- National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM) stands were universal social mobilization, financial inclusion and livelihood enhancement. The present study is an attempt to explore the extent to which SHGs under NRLM are enabling women to be self-sufficient. As there was limited literature available regarding the performance of SHGs established under DAY-NRLM in Uttarakhand state, so this study has been taken up to give an idea about the immediate outcomes of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) established under DAY-NRLM. The focus of the present study was to study the socio-economic, communication and psychological characteristics of the women members, measures the group factors, assessing the performance of the SHGs formed under NRLM, to find the relationship among independent variables and the performance of SHGs and to identify the constraints faced by SHGs beneficiaries and the implementing agency. Uttarakhand constitutes the universe for the present study. Simple random sampling without replacement was adopted for the present study. Out of the thirteen districts in the Uttarakhand state, only two districts Udham Singh Nagar and Dehradun were selected purposively for having higher number of SHGs under Uttarakhand State Rural Livelihood Mission (USRLM). Subsequently two blocks from each district were selected purposively for the study purpose which had maximum number of SHGs in their respective areas. The lists of SHGs were collected from the Block Development Office of each block. Out of which, total twenty eight SHGs were selected randomly using random number generator for the study purpose i.e. Seven SHGs from each block. Those Self-Help Groups were selected which had been working from more than three years and not having less than ten members in the group. For the study purpose 280 women member were interviewed. On the basis of the findings related to socio-economic, communication and psychological characteristics of the women members of SHGs it was concluded that majority of the respondents were middle-aged, belonged to upper caste, married, had nuclear family with medium size, and have medium socio-economic status. The women members were high in risk taking ability, achievement motivation, information seeking behaviour, decision making ability and leadership ability followed by medium level of self-confidence. It was also found that the majority of the SHGs were under medium level of performance. The women members performance were high in group process, task function and maintaining group atmosphere and it was medium in participation, maintenance function and interpersonal trust. The various group variables were combined to conclude that groups had medium level of performance on the basis of group process, participation, task function, maintenance function, interpersonal trust and group atmosphere. The age, education, socio-economic status, achievement motivation, leadership ability, information seeking behaviour, family size, self-confidence, decision making ability, risk taking ability, group process, participation, maintenance function, group atmosphere and interpersonal trust did not had statistically significant relationship with the performance of the SHGs formed under DAY-NRLM and only task function had a significant relationship with the performance of SHGs formed under DAY-NRLM. The major constraints perceived by the SHGs were reluctance of members to take leadership role, economically poor family background, lack of freedom to take decisions, unequal treatment by male family member, insufficient amount of financial assistance as per the activity chosen, lack of space for working, transportation problems, infrastructure problem, lack of consensus by the SHG members, improper use of loans and lack of interpersonal trust. While some major administrative constraints faced by implementing agency i.e. NRLM were insufficient staff, irregular fund flow, hesitant to take up leadership role and lack of awareness of people about programme and irregular maintenance of register. The NRLM programme in Uttarakhand state is working very efficiently covering poor women in rural areas and providing them with livelihood opportunities, capacity building and financial assistance. The NRLM provided necessary support in form of human and social capital and institutions to the rural poor households and gave space, voice and resources to the women to make them self-dependent. So it can be concluded that the performance of SHGs formed under NRLM was satisfactory and rural women were empowered.ThesisItem Open Access A study on stubble burning behaviour of farmers in Punjab(G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263145 (Uttarakhand), 2021-03) Huria, Arpit; Bhardwaj, NeelamRice-wheat cropping system is the most widely followed cropping systems in India. In northern states of India specifically Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, majority of the farmers harvest these crops using combine harvesters. The mechanized harvesting of paddy leaves a large quantity of stubble which takes a lot of time to decompose in the soil. Despite knowing alternative methods of stubble management, farmers burn a significant portion of the stubble on-farm. Stubble burning not only causes environmental pollution but also harms the soil and human health. Over the years, the stubble burning has become a major issue, threatening the air quality with numerous other ill effects. Despite this, it seems that the problem of stubble burning is difficult to be solved by technical or legal interventions alone. Research studies suggest that there is a need to identify the determinants of certain behaviours to change them. In order to understand and change behaviour, scientists rely heavily on appropriate behavioural theories to identify determinants of a particular behaviour. The present study has utilized the Theory of Planned Behaviour for understanding the determinants of stubble burning behaviour of the farmers. This may further prove helpful in designing appropriate and suitable interventions to bring change in this behaviour. Keeping this in mind, “A study on Stubble Burning Behaviour of farmers in Punjab” was undertaken. The study was carried out in Malwa region of Punjab as it recorded the maximum number of stubble burning incidents in the state. For selecting the respondents, multi stage sampling procedure was adopted. The selection of districts, blocks and villages were conducted using simple random sampling without replacement. From Malwa region, three districts, viz. Bathinda, Sangrur and Ludhiana were selected respectively. One block from each selected district, i.e. Bathinda, Sunam and Khanna were selected at random. The villages namely Khialiwala and Amargarh from Bathinda block; Goh and Lalheri from Khanna block; and Lakhmirwala and Kharial villages from Sunam block were selected for the study. The selection of a total of 246 respondents from these villages was made on proportional allocation method. Descriptive research design was followed to meet the objectives of the study. The quantitative information was collected through pre-tested and modified semi-structured interview schedule. The data collected were coded, tabulated, analysed and interpreted with the help of SPSS and AMOS software programmes. The profile characteristics of the respondents revealed that most of the respondents were middle-aged (65.46%) between 26-50 years, male (91.06%), had formal education up to intermediate level (21.95%) and possessed semi-medium land holding (27.24%), i.e. between 5-10 acres. Majority of the farmers (51.46%) belonged to low annual income category i.e. between Rs. 50,000- Rs. 4,50,000 per annum, and were practising specialized farming (45.93%). Overall, 51.63 per cent of the farmers were categorized under medium information seeking behaviour. It was also found that most of the farmers possessed medium level of innovativeness (49.19%), risk orientation (47.15%) and scientific orientation (57.32%) while high levels of ecological consciousness (45.53%) and economic motivation (42.28%). The findings also revealed that most of the farmer respondents (45.93%) showed medium level of awareness towards various stubble management measures and had medium cropping intensity (67.48%). It was found that maximum number of respondents showed positive attitude towards stubble burning (51.63%), strong subjective norms associated with stubble burning (42.68%), high perceived behavioural control (58.54%) and medium level of behavioural intention regarding stubble burning (41.06%). Majority of the farmers (58.13%) have been burning the paddy stubble on their field since last five or more years. Also, most of the farmer respondents (49.19%) burnt more than 80 per cent of the total stubble produced and manages the rest by other measures such as incorporation using Super Seeder etc. It was also found that the majority of farmer respondents (53.66%) showed ‘high’ performance of the overall stubble behaviour. The findings of Structural Equation Modeling revealed that attitude, perceived behavioural control and subjective norms were in a positive and significant relationship with behavioural intention Among profile characteristics, economic motivation had a positive and significant relationship with stubble burning behaviour of the farmers. The social marketing plan for the study was proposed on the basis of BEHAVE framework. The plan consisted of two components; the first focussing on the attitude change while the other considering the overall behaviour change. It was concluded that the findings of the present study may help and provide guidance to the extension personnel, the planners, policy makers and agencies which are working towards putting a halt at stubble burning in northern states.ThesisItem Open Access A study on communication networks and marketing behaviour of vegetable growers in kumaon region of Uttarakhand(G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263145 (Uttarakhand), 2021-02) Shah, Priyanka; Ansari, M.A.Vegetable cultivation in the state of Uttarakhand has emerged as financially rewarding practice and could replace subsistence farming in the rain-fed hill agriculture. The state government has also undertaken many special initiatives for promoting vegetable cultivation and up scaling the marketing infrastructure & strategy in the state by designing various policies and programmes. Despite many government policies and initiatives, the problem of marketing the vegetables remain a key issue. Besides, the vegetable growers are not as well served by the agriculture extension system as the farmers growing fruit crops and food grains; and due to this, productivity and production efficiency remains quite low. Public and private extension agents can play the role of key communicators in the promotion of vegetable cultivation. The information flow can be improved, and this can help in the marketing process. There is need to assist farmers to develop their understanding of relationship between the market information and communication source. The flow of information in communication networks is a major concern in agricultural extension services as they help farmers in timely decision making, better farming and improved livelihood. Also, there is a need to analyze the communication network for effective use of information sources in marketing of vegetable production. If the right networks are identified for information exchange about improved agriculture and marketing practices within the community, it may help in promoting agricultural innovations through extension services and other programmes. Keeping this in view, the study entitled “Communication Networks and Marketing Behaviour of Vegetable Growers in Kumaon Region of Uttarakhand” was undertaken. The study was conducted in Kumaon region of Uttarakhand. Out of thirteen districts of Uttarakhand, two districts from the Kumaon region i.e. Nainital and Udhamsingh Nagar were selected purposely based on highest vegetable production as the locale for the study. Further, two blocks i.e. Dhari and Haldwani from Nainital district and Gadarpur and Rudrapur from Udhamsingh Nagar district were selected through simple random sampling without replacement. Later, two villages from each block i.e. Sharana and Khuni Gaon from Dhari, Gualapar and Khera from Haldwani, Barirai and Girdharnagar from Gadarpur and lastly, Fauji Matkota and Narayanpur from Rudrapur block were selected through simple random sampling without replacement. Thus, eight villages were selected and 25 respondents from each village (200 total respondents) were selected through snowball sampling. The data was collected through a pre-tested structured interview schedule and descriptive and analytical research design was used. The data, thus collected, was coded, tabulated, analyzed and interpreted with the help of Excel, SPSS and UCINET software programmes. From the findings, it can be concluded that majority of the vegetable growers belonged to middle age (34 to 58 years), were male, having education up to high school, had nuclear family with family size between 5 to 8 members. Almost all the vegetable growers were small and marginal farmers having land less than one hectare with secondary occupation as animal husbandry and agricultural labourers. It was also found that majority of the respondent had annual income between Rs 36985- Rs 258310. As regarding farming experience, majority of respondents had medium level (12-35 years) of experience. A large majority of respondents had no training exposure regarding marketing of vegetables and majority of them were neither connected to any organization or enterprise related to marketing. An equal number of vegetable growers belonged to middle and low socio-economic status. With respect to psychological variables majority of the vegetable growers had medium level of economic motivation, innovativeness, risk preference and market orientation. Almost half of the respondents had medium level of mass-media exposure and majority of them belonged to medium level of information sharing behaviour and information seeking behaviour. The descriptive analysis of communication networks of all the eight villages regarding marketing and production about network centrality was done. It was found that Naraynpur village had highest density, with highest average degree. Also, Gualapar village had the highest connectedness, with lowest component ratio and fragmentation. Further, Sharana village had highest in-degree and out-degree. Khuni Gaon had highest in-closeness as well as out-closeness whereas Girdharnagar village had highest betweenness. Majority of the vegetable growers displayed medium level of marketing behaviour. It can therefore be concluded that the marketing behaviour of vegetable growers varies from person to person and is influenced by many factors such as area under vegetable cultivation, annual income, training, SES, mass media exposure, information seeking behaviour and information sharing behaviour. Major constraints regarding marketing as reported by vegetable growers were long chain of intermediaries, inadequate transport facility, high transportation charges, inadequate storage facility and lack of remunerative prices whereas in respect to production, major constraints were high cost of seed/fertilizers, lack of information, lack of knowledge about grading and standardization and non availability of labour. The study outcomes are important for delineating individuals in the communication networks providing effective backward-forward linkages and facilitate marketing information flow. This will help in the promotion of vegetable cultivation in the state.
