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Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa
In the imperial Gazetteer of India 1878, Pusa was recorded as a government estate of about 1350 acres in Darbhanba. It was acquired by East India Company for running a stud farm to supply better breed of horses mainly for the army. Frequent incidence of glanders disease (swelling of glands), mostly affecting the valuable imported bloodstock made the civil veterinary department to shift the entire stock out of Pusa. A British tobacco concern Beg Sutherland & co. got the estate on lease but it also left in 1897 abandoning the government estate of Pusa.
Lord Mayo, The Viceroy and Governor General, had been repeatedly trying to get through his proposal for setting up a directorate general of Agriculture that would take care of the soil and its productivity, formulate newer techniques of cultivation, improve the quality of seeds and livestock and also arrange for imparting agricultural education. The government of India had invited a British expert. Dr. J. A. Voelcker who had submitted as report on the development of Indian agriculture. As a follow-up action, three experts in different fields were appointed for the first time during 1885 to 1895 namely, agricultural chemist (Dr. J. W. Leafer), cryptogamic botanist (Dr. R. A. Butler) and entomologist (Dr. H. Maxwell Lefroy) with headquarters at Dehradun (U.P.) in the forest Research Institute complex.
Surprisingly, until now Pusa, which was destined to become the centre of agricultural revolution in the country, was lying as before an abandoned government estate. In 1898. Lord Curzon took over as the viceroy. A widely traveled person and an administrator, he salvaged out the earlier proposal and got London’s approval for the appointment of the inspector General of Agriculture to which the first incumbent Mr. J. Mollison (Dy. Director of Agriculture, Bombay) joined in 1901 with headquarters at Nagpur
The then government of Bengal had mooted in 1902 a proposal to the centre for setting up a model cattle farm for improving the dilapidated condition of the livestock at Pusa estate where plenty of land, water and feed would be available, and with Mr. Mollison’s support this was accepted in principle. Around Pusa, there were many British planters and also an indigo research centre Dalsing Sarai (near Pusa). Mr. Mollison’s visits to this mini British kingdom and his strong recommendations. In favour of Pusa as the most ideal place for the Bengal government project obviously caught the attention for the viceroy.
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ThesisItem Open Access Value Chain Analysis of Tomato in Kolar district of Karnataka(Dr.RPCAU, Pusa, 2022) M, VIJAY N; KUMAR, AMALENDUThe current study aims at the value chain analysis of tomato, growth trends in area, production and productivity of tomato, actors and their activities involved in tomato value chain, to workout marketing channels, margins and marketing efficiency and constraints faced by various actors in Kolar district of Karnataka. Both primary and secondary data were used for the study. The primary data were collected from the 90 tomato growers from six randomly selected villages and secondary data were collected from India-stat, agriculture produce marketing committee, national horticultural board published yearly reports, and world processing tomato council articles. To study the marketing and value addition in tomato, 60 intermediaries’ households were also selected randomly. The growth trends of area, production and productivity of tomato in India was 1.47 per cent, 2.69 per cent and 1.22 per cent per annum respectively. The growth trends in area, production and productivity of tomato increased during the period from 2001 to 2020. The growth trends in area, production, productivity in Karnataka were -4.42 per cent, -2.40 per cent and 2.02 per cent per annum respectively. Trends in area and production were declined drastically from 2001 to 2019 and productivity shown positive trend in overall period in Karnataka. The growth trends of area, production and productivity in Kolar district were 0.90 per cent, 3.50 per cent and 2.55 per cent per annum respectively. The area, production and productivity shown positive growth during the period from 2001 to 2019. The study identified major actors and their activities in different tomato value chains. The main actors were input suppliers, producers, commission agents, wholesalers, retailers, processors, distributors and exporters, HOPCOMS and these actors were found actively engaged in supplying of inputs, marketing of produce and performed activities like grading, sorting, standardization, transportation, packing, value addition etc. in the study area. The actors were taking important part in production, marketing and value additions in the study area. Three channels were recognised in the study area namely, APMC, Supermarket and Processing Channel. The marketing efficiency per quintal of tomato was found higher in Channel-II about (1.50) compared to channel-I (0.80). Channel-II was emerging fastest growing channel in the study area. Producer’s share in consumer rupee was higher in Channel-II about (60.04 per cent) compared to channel-I (45.90 per cent). The marketing margin of market intermediaries acting on different value chains were, wholesalers (Rs.149.20 per quintal), retailers (Rs.225 per quintal) and commission agents who charges five per cent commission from farmers in channel-I and in case of channel-II only limited players i.e., organised retailers having margin Rs.158.38 per quintal. The price per quintal obtained by tomato growers under different channels were Rs.975.80 per quintal in channel-I, channel-II Rs.1099.50 per quintal and Rs.1056.00 per quintal. The major constraints were encountered by tomato growers was high cost on fertilizers, labour shortage and high wage rate, high pests and diseases at production level, among the marketing constraints, price fluctuation, a greater number of acting in tomato marketing, losses due to long supply chain, absence of storage facilities were the major difficulties faced by tomato farmers. Majority of market functionaries were facing price fluctuation, lack of storage facilities, high transportation cost, lack of grading were the key constraints in the study area.ThesisItem Open Access ECONOMICS OF PRODUCTION AND MARKETING OF FRESH WATER CULTURED FISH IN ODISHA AND BIHAR(DRPCAU, PUSA, 2022) DAS, ANKITA; SINGH, K. M.The fisheries sector plays an important role in India's economic development and contributes to national income, export, food and nutritional security and employment generation. The fisheries sector contributed about 1.24% to the nation's total gross value added (GVA) and shared about 7.28% of the GVA of the agricultural sector during 2020-21. Keeping in view the importance of this sector, the present study was conducted in the state of Odisha and Bihar to assess the comparative economics of fish production and marketing and to identify the constraints fish farmers face in the production and marketing of fish of both states. Odisha is one of the major fish-producing states in India and ranks 4th in total production. The total amount of fish produced in 2019-20 was 8.16 lakh tonnes, and the per capita fish consumption was about 16.2 kg. While Bihar has been blessed with freshwater reservoirs as a natural gift, and a notable compound annual growth of 6.38% from 2015-16 to 2019-20 was observed in fish production. During 2020-21 fish production in Bihar was recorded to be 7.62 lakh tonnes. The study was based on primary data, and the total number of respondents was 120 fish farmers. Based on analysis of the socio-economic status of the fish farmers in the study areas of both states, the study's findings reflected that in the age-wise distribution of fish farmers, most were middle-aged farmers in both states. In the case of caste-wise distribution majority of farmers were from the general category (51.67%) in the study area of Odisha. In contrast, in the study area of Bihar, it was noticed that the majority (98.33%) of fish farmers were from the OBC category, which was Shahani (A Fishermen community). The education level-wise distribution of fish farmers indicated that there was 100% literacy in the study area of Odisha, while in Bihar, it was 80%. The analysis of occupations revealed that fish farming in Odisha was the secondary occupation of most respondents, i.e. 65.00% and 11.67% of respondents were doing fish farming as their primary occupation. However, in the study area in Bihar, it was noticed that the majority of the farmers, i.e. 76.67% had fish farming as their primary occupation as most of the fish farmers belonged to the fishermen community (Shahani), and it was their ancestral occupation. Based on pond size-wise distribution, it was found that about 40.00% of respondents from Odisha had large ponds. In contrast, in the study area of Bihar, 51.67% of fish farmers had medium size ponds, and most of them leased in ponds by the government and local bodies or landlords. The cost of fish production was calculated for one hectare of the pond, and it was found that per hectare, the average cost of fish production in the study area of Odisha was estimated to be Rs. 346943.45 in which Rs. 208582.74 was variable cost and Rs.138360.71 fixed cost. In the study area of Bihar, the per hectare production of fish for an average pond size was estimated to be Rs. 318445.47, in which expenses incurred on variable cost components were Rs 188061.82 and fixed cost expenses Rs. 130383.64. On average, per hectare, fish production in the study area of Odisha from all ponds was estimated to be 45.69 quintals. Furthermore, from Bihar, it was 35.67 quintals per hectare. Regarding profitability, it was observed in the study area of Odisha that the average gross and net returns for all the ponds were computed to be Rs.717763.06 and Rs.370819.61. In Bihar's study area, the average gross and net returns for all the ponds were estimated to be Rs.540352.02 and R. 221906.55 per hectare, respectively. When the different cost components of fish production were analyzed, it revealed that in the study area of Odisha, the major cost incurred on feed was followed by human labour. In the study area of Bihar, the major cost contributor was the rent paid for leased-in ponds, then the cost of feed. The analysis further revealed that in the study area of Odisha, per hectare gross income, on average, for all ponds was worked out to be Rs. 717763.06, and in the study area of Bihar, it was Rs370819.6. The ratio measures revealed that in the study area of Odisha, the return on investment was the highest in a large pond (116.87%). The return on investment was lowest in the medium pond, 98.88% in the case of the study area of Bihar. A finding based on the marketing of fish revealed that channel-III (Producer -Wholesaler Retailer/vendor-Consumers) was the most important channel through which a comparatively high proportion (33.18%) of fish was marketed in the study area of Odisha. It was also noticed that operators of small ponds sold a sizeable amount of their produce through a shorter channel, i.e. channel-I (Channel-I: Producer- consumer). The findings of the price spread revealed that producers received Rs. 15600.00 per quintal of fish in each of the channels studied.The consumers' price was found to be comparatively high in channel-II (Rs. 21260.20/q), followed by channel-IV (Rs. 21130.97/q), channel-III (17747.00/q) and channel-I (16200.00/q). The producer's share in consumer's rupee was estimated to be comparatively high in channel-I (96.29%), followed by channel-III (87.90%), channel-IV (73.83%) and channel-II (73.38%). In the study area of Bihar, channel-IV (Producer- Wholesaler-Retailer-Consumers) was observed to be the most preferred channel, as about 36.01% of fish was disposed of through this channel. The purchase price of fish in channel-I was observed to be Rs. 17250/q, in channel-II (Rs. 19267.60/q), channel-III (Rs.17650.00/q) and channel-IV (19274.26/q). The producers' share in the consumer's rupee was estimated to be the highest in the case of channel-I (86.96%) as the least intermediaries were involved in this channel. In the study area of Odisha and Bihar, the major problem faced during the production process was the high feed cost. In the marketing process in Odisha, delayed payment was ranked first, and in Bihar, the constraint that ranked first was the high transportation cost. Based on the findings, if implemented, some of the suggestions may augment fish farming in the study area of both states, like steps to encourage youths to take fish farming as an occupation, developing different schemes for fish feeds and provision of a regulated market for fish near villages etc.ThesisItem Open Access Impact of National Rural Livelihood Mission on Women Empowerment: A Comparative study of Bihar and Tripura(DRPCAU, PUSA, 2022) Roy, Mandira; SINGH, K.M.The objective of the current study was to provide a detailed understanding of the socio-economic characteristics of the SHG beneficiaries constituted under the National Rural Livelihood Mission in the states of Bihar and Tripura. The study also compared the levels of empowerment attained by women in the states under investigation. It also tried to study the impacts of NRLM on poverty alleviation in both states and the challenges women face and explored solutions to those problems. The primary data was collected from 80 respondents from each state, constituting 160 respondents. The respondents were randomly selected from the one randomly selected village in each block which was also randomly selected. The district and the states were selected purposively. Socio economic indicators like age, marital status, caste, education, family type, family size, housing type and occupation before joining SHGs were investigated. The study's findings revealed that in Bihar, most respondents were from the young age group (20 30), whereas in Tripura, most were from the middle age (31 40) group. Many respondents were of the other backward caste group (76.25%) from Bihar, whereas, in Tripura, most of the NRLM beneficiaries were from the Scheduled caste (68.75%). In both the states majority of respondents were married (Bihar, 98.75 % and Tripura,96.25% respectively). A significant proportion of the respondents had nuclear families in the states under investigation. In Bihar, 33.75% of respondents had 5--6 family members, whereas, in Tripura, 71.25% of respondents had 3--4 numbers of family members. The educational level of respondents of Bihar (52.50%) was less than that of Tripura (67.50%), who had schooling up to secondary level. In both states, most of the respondents dwelled in kaccha houses. Before joining SHGs, most respondents in both states were housewives (Bihar, 57.50% and Tripura, 66.25%). The women of Bihar were less empowered than that of Tripura according to the Headcount ratio (Hp) for disempowered women (Bihar (0.737) and Tripura (0.675), respectively). The intensity of Disempowerment (Ap) for Women was 69.18 % in Bihar and in Tripura Intensity of Disempowerment (Ap) was 45.17%. According to the disempowerment index (Mo) for women in Bihar, the score was 0.510 i.e., 51.00 % of women in the state were found to be underpowered throughout the five domains of the empowerment index. In Tripura disempowerment index (Mo) for women was found to be 0.305, indicating that 30.50 % of women in Tripura lacked in the five domains of the empowerments index. In Bihar, the Five Domain of Empowerment Index (or 5DE) for women had a value of 0.490, indicating that 49.00% of women were considered empowered, and the 5DE index score for women in Tripura was found to be 0.695, which indicated that 69.50 % of women were empowered across the five domains. The percentage of households with no Gender Parity (HGPI) was computed as 51.25% for Bihar and 46.25% for Tripura, respectively, showing more gender disparity prevalence in Bihar. The average empowerment gap (IGPI) in Bihar was found to be 0.07 %, and in Tripura, 0.03% indicated the prevalence of a comparatively high empowerment gap in the society in Bihar. The Women Empowerment Index (WEI) of Bihar (0.540) was less than that of Tripura (0.725), respectively. In both states, the paired t-test result comparing respondents' incomes before and after joining SHGs was significant, indicating a beneficial influence on the income of SHG members working under NRLM. After joining SHGs in each state under consideration, the respondents' consumption and expenditure significantly increased as the t-test values for both the states were found to be significant at a 5% probability level for consumption and expenditure. The constraints faced by the SHGs members were also studied in different aspects. The results indicated that in the category of family and personal constraints, the women respondents from SHGs of both the states Bihar and Tripura faced an "Absence of support and cooperation from family members‖ as a major constraint. From the Financial constraints group, the respondents from Bihar faced ―Insufficient resources to launch a new business in the area" as a chief constraint, and in Tripura " The funds supplied to operate the business are very meagre‖ as a main constraint. In Bihar and Tripura, the major constraint faced by the women respondents from the Infrastructural constraint part was the "Absence of facility for marketing‖. In both states, the major constraint faced by respondents was ―Poor budgetary provisions" from the Administrative Constraints point of view. The major constraint from a technical part faced by the respondents of women in Bihar was ―Illiteracy among the respondents", and in Tripura, respondents faced ―There is an absence of technical assistance provided for starting new businesses‖ as a major constraint. In the operational constraint part, the respondents from Bihar faced ―There is a significant suspension in the flow of funds to the group members‖ and ―The amount of work produce is insufficient and inconsistent‖ both as key constraints and the respondents from Tripura suffered " There is a significant suspension in the flow of funds to the group members‖ as a key problem. In both the states of Bihar and Tripura, the respondents faced the same problem as a key constraint from the Social Constraint part, which was ―Social relationships cannot be sustained due to involvement in work of SHGs‖, given a significant rank.ThesisItem Open Access ECONOMIC IMPACT OF DROUGHT ON RICE CULTIVATION IN KOPPAL DISTRICT OF KARNATAKA(DRPCAU, PUSA, 2022) H, ANJINAPPA; ROY, ANIRUDDHAThe current study aims at the economic impact of drought on rice cultivation, the livelihood of the rice growers, and adaptation and mitigation measures adopted by the rice growing farmers to drought in the Koppal district of Karnataka. The primary data were collected from the 120 rice growers from six randomly selected villages and secondary data were collected from India-stat, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Directorate of Economic and Statistics (Bengaluru), Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) and other websites. The occurrence of drought and other extreme events has been increasing day by day. Minimum and maximum temperature increasing over the years and rainfall also decreasing over the years in the district. Tabular analysis was used to analyse the socio-economic profile of the rice growers. To estimate the impact of drought on rice yield, regression analysis was performed. The average yield of the rice has declined by 17.09 percent during drought in comparison to the normal season. In July and September minimum temperatures and the August maximum temperature has a positive and significant impact on the yield of the rice. Whereas, in July maximum temperature has a negative impact on the yield of the rice. Due to drought, the dependency of drinking water on borewell and commercial water supply units increased by 26.00 percent and 18.18 per cent respectively as compared to a normal year. In overall, 5 per cent of the farmers migrated to cities during the time of drought period. During the drought period amount of food consumption was reduced by 8.23 per cent as compared to the normal period and overall expenditure was also reduced by 7.38 per cent compared to the normal period. Maximum decline was observed in the case of small farmers compared to medium and large farmers. The cost of cultivation of rice during the drought period was high compared to the normal period. The cost of cultivation during the normal period was ₹34878.75 per acre and during the drought period it was found to be ₹36370.75 per acre. In overall, gross return in normal year was ₹45087.52 per acre and in the case of drought period ₹40012.23 per acre. Fodder production was reduced by 25.32 per cent due to drought in the study area. Maximum reduction was seen in case of medium farmers (28.01%) followed by small (26.96%) and large (23.36%). In overall level, income of the respondents reduced by 10.13 per cent during the drought period compared to normal period. The major adaptation and mitigation measures against drought adopted by the farmers in the study area were direct seeded rice followed by crop diversification, construction of farm pond and reduction in chemical usage in DSR.ThesisItem Open Access Economics of Kiwi Production and Marketing in West Kameng District of Arunachal Pradesh(DRPCAU, PUSA, 2022) TASSANG, MIHIN; Sinha, D. K.The present study “Economics of kiwi production and marketing in West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh” intends to evaluate the trends in area, production, and productivity in both the world and India, as well as the costs and returns associated with kiwifruit production, marketing efficiency, and constraints on both kiwifruit production and marketing in the study area. By employing the multistage sampling method, the primary data were collected from 120 farmers in 6 randomly chosen villages in the study area. In major kiwifruit growing countries, in terms of growth in area and production Greece had the highest growth with 12.53% and 10.56% CAGR, respectively. In terms of productivity, Italy had the highest growth with 8.81 % CAGR. In Indian context, the Organic State of Sikkim had the highest growth in area with 28.96% CAGR. Production wise, Mizoram had the growth with 10.20% CAGR. In terms of productivity, Arunachal Pradesh with 11.83% CAGR had the highest growth. It was estimated that the total establishment costs on all farms was Rs. 8,04,732.00. The cost C₂ for small, semi-medium and medium farmers were Rs. Rs.8,05,333.00, Rs.8,05,220.00, and Rs.8,04,732.00, respectively. During the bearing period of kiwifruit, the maintenance cost of the overall farm was estimated to be at Rs.1,22,852.00. At each farm level, the maintenance cost was Rs. 1,25,140.00, Rs. 1,22,043.00, and Rs. 1,21,372.00 for small, semi-medium and medium farmers, respectively. Gross profits on overall farms were estimated to be Rs. 2,32,128.33. Small farmers had the highest gross returns, which were followed by semi-medium and medium farmers, Rs. 2,52,386.40, Rs. 2,25,333.30, and Rs. 2,18,666.70, respectively. It is noted that the estimated net present value for the entire farm was Rs. 2,61,904.00/ha. Additionally, it was found that the internal rate of return was 12.69. For the farm as a whole, it was found that the benefit cost ratio was 1.15. Payback period for overall farm was estimated to be 6.82 years. In the study area, three marketing channels were found to be active. Marketing efficiency, an evaluation of each marketing channel's effectiveness, shows that Channel-C had the highest efficiency (23.66 %), followed by Channel-A (18.54 %) and Channel-B (4.61 %). The most popular channel was Channel-C. The primary constraints which were faced by kiwifruit growers were unavailability of manures, lack of quality planting material, lack of skilled laborer’s, lack of cold storage facilities in the study area.ThesisItem Open Access production dynamics of food grains in Bihar under temporal framework(DRPCAU, PUSA, 2022) KUMARI, JYOTI; ROY, ANIRUDDHAUsing secondary data from 1991–1992 to 2020–2021 and a variety of statistical methodologies, the study calculated the growth rate, instability index, and decomposition analysis of area, production, and yield of foodgrains in Bihar and India. Area under foodgrains was showing negative growth rate in every decade. Production was showing increasing growth rate in first and third decade but in second decade production of foodgrain was showing negative growth rate. Yield of foodgrains was showing positive growth rate in every decade which was the main source of growth in production. Cereals were following the similar trend as of foodgrains. For pulses scenario was somewhat different. Pulse area as well as production was showing negative growth rate in every decade but its yield was showing positive growth rate in first two decade and negative growth rate in last decade. In cereals, area of rice was showing negative growth rate in all the decade but production and yield was showing positive growth rate in first and third decade and negative growth rate in second decade. Area under maize was showing negative growth rate in every decade except in second decade where it was found positive growth rate. Production of maize was showing positive growth rate in all the decades though its yield was also showing positive growth rate in first and third decade and negative growth rate in second decade. Highest instability in area of foodgrains was observed in first decade but production and yield of foodgrains was showing highest instability in second decade. Production of food crops was showing highest instability during the overall study period. Yield effects of crops were contributing more than area effect in increasing foodgrains production. Net cropped area and gross cropped area in Bihar was following decreasing trend due to a decrease in cultivable area. Due to more intensive cultivation, the cropping intensity in Bihar has increased from 138% in2001-02 to 143% in 2018-19.From 2001–2002 to 2018–19, the yield of every crop under investigation increased. The area, production, and yield of foodgrains were predicted using the ARIMA model. The autoregressive (p) and moving average (q) parameters were identified based on significant spike in plot of (PACF) and (ACF) of various time series model. Forecasting was attempted for the years up to 2025–2026. ARIMA (2,1,1) was found the best fit model for area, production and yield of total foodgrains and cereals. This model had forecasted that area under foodgrain production would decrease in coming years but production and yield would increase. Similar pattern was observed in cereals also. For forecasting the area of pulses ARIMA (1,1,1) was found the best fit model. It was found that in the upcoming years, the area under pulses will diminish. Same ARIMA (1,1,1) was used for forecasting the production of pulses but it had revealed that pulses production would increase for a year and after that it would further decrease. For yield of pulses ARIMA (1,0,1) was found the suitable model and it had forecasted that yield of pulses would decrease in coming years. In light of the study's findings, It has been suggested that more effective production methods be used, fallow land be used for the production of pulses, short-duration varieties may be encouraged, and focused efforts from various line departments be made in order to ensure that Bihar is both food and nutritionally secure.ThesisItem Open Access Doubling Farmers Income (DFI) Strategies and Farm Income: A study of Dharwad district in Karnataka(DRPCAU, PUSA, 2022) HOSAMANI, SINDHU VIRESH; SINGH, RITAMBHARAAlthough Indian agriculture has experienced the green, yellow, and white revolutions, it is still characterized by lower productivity and low marketed surplus. In 2015-16, the average annual farm household income was merely Rs.96,703, This was nothing to fulfill the basis needs of a farm household, leave aside the savings and investments of any kind in farming and allied activities. The low investment, low savings led to a vicious cycle of poverty among the farm families, migration from rural to urban areas for work, farm suicides, farmers leaving farming and several other issues. Rising to the call of immediate attention in the farming sector, in 2016, the Government of India constituted a committee under the able leadership of Dr. Ashok Dalwai, then Additional Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. The major goal of this committee was to suggest reforms that would enable farmers' incomes to double by 2022. In September 2018, the committee submitted its report in 14 volumes to the Government of India suggesting some 500 plus recommendations across the pre-production, production, and post-production sub-systems of the Indian agricultural sector. The states were asked to formulate their specific strategies on the basis of these recommendations and march forward to double farm incomes and address the farm maladies in the best possible way. The state of Karnataka devised strategies and set a goal to emerge as the first state to achieve the goal of doubling farmers’ income by 2023-24. The state was therefore, purposely selected for the study along with the Dharwad district which is one of the most prominent agriculturally rich regions in the state. The study is first of its kind in India and was thought out very carefully and time appropriate manner to understand if the strategies are working at the ground level and if there are issues, shall be conveyed and addressed accordingly and timely. With this background, the study entitled “Doubling Farmers Income (DFI) Strategies and Farm Income: A study of Dharwad district in Karnataka” was conducted with the specific objectives viz. (i) To validate the parameters identified by the DFI committee to achieve the desired goal (ii) To study the effect of strategies on identified parameters and (iii) To identify constraints/challenges faced in the implementation of DFI strategies. The study covered 150 farm respondents from ten randomly selected villages of five randomly selected talukas of Dharwad district. Additionally, 20 government officials or those who are directly related to the task of implementation of strategies at the taluka and district level were also selected for the study. Primary data was collected through personal interview method on pre-tested structures schedule. Secondary data was collected from Government offices in the district. The data was collected for two time periods 2015-16 (as it is the base year set by the DFI committee) and 2020-21. The expert opinion method and Focussed Group Discussions were held to in order to know the parameters identified by DFI Committee and to further identify the parameters in the study area, to reach out the first objective of this study. The Chairman, Empowered Body, Doubling Farmers’ Income, Dr. Ashok Dalwai, was also consulted for the identification of parameters. To achieve the second and third objectives of the study, the collected data was tabulated, verified, and analysed using descriptive statistics, chi-square, and paired t-tests. Herfindahl index and Garett’s ranking techniques were also used. The parameters identified through expert opinion method and Focused Group Discussion method were, realisation in productivity gains, and bridging yield gaps for higher production volumes, promote sustainable production strategies, i.e., farmers training, demonstration, farmers melas, adoption of comprehensive post-harvest management practices for appropriate monetisation of Agri-produce, Adoption of new market infrastructure and promotion of online trade, Increase in farmers access to institutional credit, Achievement of higher production volumes across various sub-sectors of agriculture by adopting different approaches, Make farm inputs available at lesser costs, Water management through increase area under micro irrigation and others. However due to poor recall ability some parameters could not be studied, the study ensured that at least one parameter under each strategy has been covered to fulfil the need of the second objective. In the year 2020-21 farmers were found acquiring high-quality inputs from RSK, FPOs, and other cooperative societies rather from local markets or utilising their own inputs, as they were doing in 2015-16. Since farmers now have access to soil health cards, there has been a positive percentage change in the pre-production and production management methods they use, such as soil testing, applying the prescribed dose of nutrients to soils and fertilisers, etc. All farmer categories have seen an increase in the area under irrigation; The availability of inputs, management and production practices, area under irrigation, yield of the crops improved significantly in 2020-21 over 2015-16. The farmers having livestock inventory, organisational participation, number of farmers having extension contact improved significantly in the year 2020-21 over the year 2015-16. A greater number of farmers felt that there was improvement in the availability of farm inputs i.e., they were getting inputs at less rates compared to the base year which has helped them in reducing their cost of production, farmers have good access to resources such as high yielding verities, micro irrigation structures in the last five years, a greater number of farmers were getting benefits from different central/state government schemes. The Herfindahl Index showed that, the extent of crop diversification was more in 2020-21 compared to 2015-16. Over the last five years’ period a greater number of farmers diversified from food crops to vegetable and flower crops. The cropping intensity has increased among the farmers of all the farm groups. The Herfindahl Index showed that, the extent of occupational diversification was more in 2020-21 compared to 2015-16. The percentage change in real income received from crops was highest in large farmers 115.40% followed by medium farmers 102.45% and small farmers 91.02% and, and the variation was not too big among each of them. Hence the DFI strategies have worked on farm and it is concluded that as in Dharwad if implemented well, all over the farmers’ income can be doubled across all farm categories. However, the implementation machinery, in absence of any such assessment so far felt that five-year time period is less and thus is a constraint. The machinery also felt that lack of local post-harvest infrastructure, farmers resistance in adoption of new technology and behavioural and change management issues also act as a constraint in implementation of strategies. It was suggested that even though there is desired and significant improvement in income, it has to be sustained in the long run. Hence the strategies must evolve in the directions suggested. Non-availability of farm records was a great limitation in assessing farm incomes and other related information of year 2015-16. It is suggested that farm record keeping must be encouraged, and appropriate training should be conducted. A wide strategy like DFI also needs micro-planning. Customized planning shall be continuous and looking into the changing scenarios. That we have doubled the income in one district, cannot be generalised for the entire country. However, this shall be looked upon as a positive outcome of the much diligently plan policy ever for the farming community. Everyone felt that five years is a small time to double farm income when two abnormal covid years affected food systems. Hence the time period for implementation should be extended by at least two more years in a national level. Local post-harvest infrastructure is important to improve farm incomes. The private sector must come forward in investing in the same. Last but not the least, the behavioural issues in adoption of new technologies can only be addressed with appropriate exercises. More extension outreach is required, some nudges may also help. Altogether, it is felt that more such studies shall be undertaken.ThesisItem Open Access An Analysis of Transgender Empowerment through Self Help Groups (SHGs) with respect to Tamil Nadu(DRPCAU, PUSA, 2022) R, SHANKAR; KUMARI, TULIKAApproximately 4.9 lakh persons are under transgender category in the country. They face discrimination in public places and normal people treat them as untouchable. So, they feel excluded from cultural, economical, social, and political life. They are facing challenges in their life and least empowered as compared to other genders. As the trans people are living in backwardness, Tamil Nadu state has established the first transgender social welfare board for upliftment of overall status of transgenders. The welfare society of the state encourages transgenders to engage themselves in the activities of Self Help Groups (SHGs) in order to avoid the illegal work. Therefore, the present study aims to find out the status of transgenders through SHGs. The study has been undertaken with the objectives of estimating empowerment index, livelihood security and constraints faced by transgenders. For the present study, four districts were selected purposively from the state based on highest number of SHGs and from each districts cluster of SHGs were identified in order to take 20 members from each district. Finally, 80 members and 80 non-members were identified from the four districts for data collection. The primary data was collected with the help of pre-tested well structured schedule. The collected data was compiled, tabulated and analysed by using various tools like; construction of empowerment index, livelihood security index and Likert scale. The result of the study revealed that majority of the transgender population lives with guru/jamaat leader. Among members, maximum number of respondents were engaged in business-related activities (49%), followed by livestock & poultry rearing (26%), wage labour (10%) and cottage industry (9%). A major proportion of non-members (69%) are involved in business and labour work. One of the worst things is that 29 per cent trans people are indulge in begging activity. The result of empowerment index indicates that the index score for members is 0.69 while for non-members it is 0.48. It means SHG members are more empowered than the non-members. Livelihood security index of member is 0.63 and for non-members, it is 0.48. It shows SHG members are more secure than non-members. Major problems faced by members of SHG were domestic work was neglected and inadequate budget provisions. The result regarding perception of non-members exhibits that they are thinking that the SHG is a worthy programme. Overall, the result indicates relatively high empowerment and livelihood security among members. Therefore, it is suggested to non-members to join the SHGs in order to upgrade their social and economic status which ultimately leads to high livelihood security among them. Along with livelihood security, participation in SHGs empowering the transgender in terms of production, time, resource and income decisions. Thus, Self Help Groups (SHGs) act as an elixir for entitlement of empowering Transgender in the state of Tamil Nadu.ThesisItem Open Access Profitability and Value Addition by SHGs in Jute Diversified Products (JDPs) in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal(DRPCAU, PUSA, 2022) SEN, IPSITA; Sinha, D. K.The present study deals with the socio- economic aspects, basic information related to manufacturing of selected JDPs by SHGs, profitability analysis of the selected JDPs (Jute jewellery, Handbags, Handicrafts/ Gift items/Showpieces, Decorative fabrics, Conference/ Seminar files), the value addition done on these products as well as the various constraints faced while making them. The study was conducted in N. 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. It was based on primary data collected from 9 SHGs and 120 SHG member respondents. Age wise classification indicated that 58.33% of the members belonged to the age group of 30-40 years. Most of them (45%) belonged to Scheduled caste category. Around 45.83 % of the member respondents were educated up to higher secondary level. Larger proportion of the members were housewives before joining SHG (79.17%). Majority of them were married. About 58.33% of the member respondents were having nuclear family, while 60.83% of them had 3-5 members in their family. As much as 56.67% of the sample members lived in semi- pucca type of houses. About 43.33% of the women cited financial problems as the reason for joining SHG. On an average, it takes 1.94 hours to finish one piece of Jute jewellery by one member of an SHG. It takes 1.11 hours to make a Hand bags. For Handicrafts/ Gift items/ Show pieces one member takes on an average 2.56 hours and it takes 20 hours of hard work to finish one Decorative fabric. Similarly, for Conference/ Seminar files, the time taken to finish one piece is 1.83 hrs. Also, the average number of working hours of a member was found to be 4.56 hours in a day. The average number of days required by the SHG members to finish the given number of JDPs pointed out that it varies from product to product. It was 38.57 days for Jute jewellery. It took 25.03 days to complete the production of Hand and Shopping Bags, whereas it took 64.37 days to make the Handicrafts/ Gift Items/ Show pieces. Decorative fabrics took 43.53 days for completion and for Conference/ Seminar files it took 19.9 days to finish making the products. It took total 191.4 days to complete all the products. The making charge received by one member for making Jute jewellery was found to be ₹36.54. The making charge for one Handbag was ₹59.21. Similarly, for making Handicrafts/ Gift Items/ Show pieces, it was ₹79.18. In case of Decorative fabrics and Conference/ Seminar files the making charges were ₹206.54 and ₹34.92. The total wages of the members for making Jute jewellery was ₹47,790.93. The wages for making Hand and Shopping Bags was ₹83,823.47. Similarly, for making Handicrafts/ Gift Items/ Show pieces, the wages of the members were ₹1,32,160.62. The total wages of the members for making Decorative fabrics and Conference/ Seminar files were ₹31,091.30 and ₹24,717.79. The cost incurred in asset creation for manufacturing JDPs was ₹47.916.56. Rent of the building was the most important item which accounted for 42.63 percent of the total fixed cost. The total fixed cost incurred in the process of production of all JDPs under study was estimated to be ₹24,542.34. The total variable cost incurred in production of Jute jewellery, Hand bags, Handicrafts/ Gift items/ Show pieces, Decorative fabric and Conference/ Seminar files were ₹64870.64, ₹1,78,872.74, ₹2,05,665.79, ₹51.047.82 and ₹57313.47 respectively. The analysis of profitability for the selected JDPs were giving positive returns. The B:C was found to be 2.92:1 for Jute jewellery, 2.02:1 for Hand bags and 2.91:1 for Handicrafts/ Gift items/ Show pieces. It was 3.34:1 for Decorative fabrics while for Conference/ Seminar files, it was 2.54:1. The actors involved in the value chain of JDPs in channel I & II were- Input supplier, SHG, Retailer and Consumer and Input supplier, SHG and Consumer. Most of the value addition activities such as cutting, pattern making, designing, including packaging in case of JDPs were done by SHGs. Hence, in these channels, it is the SHG who added maximum value by transforming the raw materials into a product. Input suppliers were the first actor in this chain. They were the shopkeepers present in Barabazar. They sold the raw materials such as Jute yarn and various other accessories such as beads, tassels, jewellery making wires, boards, glue etc. These raw materials were purchased by the SHGs. Next in the chain were SHGs. They were the main actor that transformed the raw materials such as Jute yarn and various other accessories into different kind of JDPs. The entire task of processing such as cutting, pattern making, designing, including packaging was done by them. These SHGs got training from various government agencies and institutes such as DRDC, NINFET, NJB etc. on making JDPs. These institutes and agencies also provided information about different melas, exhibitions etc. that were conducted across the district, state and country. The next in the chain were retailers who were generally the shopkeepers. They buy the JDPs from SHGs to sell it to the consumers in the market. Consumers were the last actor in this chain, who purchased the JDPs from the retailers. In channel I, the value addition made by SHGs in case of Jute jewellery (33 nos.) was 69.26% (₹4564.99), for Handbags (3 nos.) was 74.72% (₹539.69) and for Handicrafts/ Gift items/ Showpieces (50 nos.) was 60.77% (₹16918.56). Meanwhile it was 67.72% (₹841.49) for Decorative fabrics (1 no.) and 65.05% (₹599.84) for Conference/ Seminar files (4 nos.) and in channel II, the value addition done by SHGs in case of Jute jewellery (33 nos.) was 96.52% (₹5351.05), for Handbags (3 nos.) was 90.57% (₹614.12) and for Handicrafts/ Gift items/ Showpieces (50 nos.) was 96.17% (₹18142.56). Meanwhile it was 94.95% (₹1052.12) for Decorative fabrics (1 no.) and 91.99% (₹762.48) for Conference/ Seminar files (4 nos.) in the channel. Irregular orders of JDPs and unavailability of coloured yarn were some of the major problems faced during production process. In case of marketing, lack of exposure to international markets was the major constraint, while other major problem was loss of livelihood due to Covid-19.
