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Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat
Assam Agricultural University is the first institution of its kind in the whole of North-Eastern Region of India. The main goal of this institution is to produce globally competitive human resources in farm sectorand to carry out research in both conventional and frontier areas for production optimization as well as to disseminate the generated technologies as public good for benefitting the food growers/produces and traders involved in the sector while emphasizing on sustainability, equity and overall food security at household level.
Genesis of AAU -
The embryo of the agricultural research in the state of Assam was formed as early as 1897 with the establishment of the Upper Shillong Experimental Farm (now in Meghalaya) just after about a decade of creation of the agricultural department in 1882. However, the seeds of agricultural research in today’s Assam were sown in the dawn of the twentieth century with the establishment of two Rice Experimental Stations, one at Karimganj in Barak valley in 1913 and the other at Titabor in Brahmaputra valley in 1923. Subsequent to these research stations, a number of research stations were established to conduct research on important crops, more specifically, jute, pulses, oilseeds etc. The Assam Agricultural University was established on April 1, 1969 under The Assam Agricultural University Act, 1968’ with the mandate of imparting farm education, conduct research in agriculture and allied sciences and to effectively disseminate technologies so generated. Before establishment of the University, there were altogether 17 research schemes/projects in the state under the Department of Agriculture. By July 1973, all the research projects and 10 experimental farms were transferred by the Government of Assam to the AAU which already inherited the College of Agriculture and its farm at Barbheta, Jorhat and College of Veterinary Sciences at Khanapara, Guwahati.
Subsequently, College of Community Science at Jorhat (1969), College of Fisheries at Raha (1988), Biswanath College of Agriculture at Biswanath Chariali (1988) and Lakhimpur College of Veterinary Science at Joyhing, North Lakhimpur (1988) were established. Presently, the University has three more colleges under its jurisdiction, viz., Sarat Chandra Singha College of Agriculture, Chapar, College of Horticulture, Nalbari & College of Sericulture, Titabar. Similarly, few more regional research stations at Shillongani, Diphu, Gossaigaon, Lakhimpur; and commodity research stations at Kahikuchi, Buralikson, Tinsukia, Kharua, Burnihat and Mandira were added to generate location and crop specific agricultural production packages.
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ThesisItem Open Access AN ASSESSMENT OF FOOD SECURITY CONDITION AMONG SELECTED TRIBALS OF BODOLAND TERRITORIAL REGION OF ASSAM(2023) Rabha, Lohita; Barman, UtpalFood and nutrition security remain the world's biggest issues for human welfare and economic development. In the 21st century, many lack nutritious meals despite food security in many countries. India produces food, but food insecurity slows progress. The "triple effect of malnutrition" hurts India, which grows the most food grains. Despite many welfare programmes, Scheduled Tribe groups are the most disadvantaged. Most go hungry. Many ethnic tribes live in Assam. Assam faces food security issues due to poverty, food grain shortages, and nutritional ignorance. This study examined tribal food security in Assam's Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR). Food security of tribal’s of BTR has been compared. Food security in selected BTR tribes was examined. Food insecurity was also assessed by gender. Finally, government food security programmes for BTR tribal communities were evaluated. This study randomly sampled respondents. BTR randomly selected Udalguri and Baksa. Each section randomly selected two blocks. Ten villages per district were randomly selected from five tribe-dominated villages per block. Tribal respondents numbered 400. 204 Bodo and 196 Rabha responded. However, in case of objective 3, to evaluate the impact of food insecurity on gender, wives of the respondents were also selected as respondent. In this case, data related to female members were needed and for only that purpose wives of respondents (400 in numbers) were considered. As a result total number of respondents for objective 3 was increased to 800. Interviews with the researcher's interview guide collected data. The analysis included frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, class interval, food security index, shortfall/surplus index, head count index, Karl Pearson’s coefficient of correlation, multiple linear regression, and z-test. The analysis of profile characteristics revealed that, average age of Bodo and Rabha respondents was 46.46 years and 45.54 years respectively. Majority of respondent belonging to Bodo (35.78%) and Rabha (32.14%) tribes were illiterate. The average family size of Bodo respondents was five persons and 5.12 persons for Rabha respondents. Most Bodo (87.75%) and Rabha respondents (78.06%) had nuclear families. About (46.56%) of Bodo and (50.51%) of Rabha respondents depended on farming and labour as primary occupation. For (88.23%) of Bodo and (86.22%) of Rabha respondents, none of the family members were employed. The average land holding of Bodo and Rabha respondents was 1.18 ha and 0.98 ha respectively. For Bodo respondents, average annual income was ` 1,85,616.51 and crops provided their larger share of income (` 61,820.1). In case of Rabha respondent, average annual income was ` 1,86,526.63 and the highest portion of their income (` 49,662.47) was contributed by off-farm income. For both Bodo and Rabha respondent maximum expenditure was spent on farm operation (59.14% for Bodo and 53.16% for Rabha). Perceived food availability revealed that (77.45%) of Bodo and (72.96%) of Rabha respondents had food available in the household. The majority (57.84%) of Bodo and (65.30%) of Rabha respondents held debt. About (38.73%) of Bodo and (32.65%) of Rabha respondents were accessed to credit. Most Bodo (88.73%) and Rabha (95.92%) respondents had drinking water facilities within their households. For (50.49%) of Bodo and (50.00%) of Rabha respondent, government hand pump/well was the source of drinking water. Most of the Bodo (80.88%) and Rabha respondent (81.63%) were access to PDS, about (57.35%) of Bodo and (54.08%) of Rabha respondents lost their cultivable land. Majority (58.82%) of the Bodo and (58.16%) of Rabha respondents used food grain to prepare alcoholic beverages. In case of both Bodo and Rabha respondents, (100.00%) of them consumed cereal daily as a staple food but its consumption was only (57.69%) and (58.35%) of the recommendation by Bodo and Rabha tribe respectively. Total calorie obtained by Bodo and Rabha respondents from the consumption of different food items was 994.64 kcal/AE/day and (985.50 kcal/AE/day) respectively. Overall Bodo and Rabha respondents were food insecure, with respective index values of 0.415 and 0.411. The z test result revealed no significant difference between overall Bodo and Rabha respondents in food security condition. In contrast, analysis of the food security situation from among the respondents revealed that (19.60%) of Bodo and (19.88%) of Rabha respondents were food secure. Majority (80.39%) of Bodo respondents were food insecure, with an index value of 0.27. The average per capita calorie intake of food-insecure households was 653.89 kcal and fell short by (72.75%) of the calorie requirement. The remaining (19.60%) of respondents had adequate food supplies. Food secure household consumed average 2401.23 kcal per day and had a food security index of 1. They exceeded the calorie requirement by (0.05%). In case of Rabha respondents, (19.88%) were food secure with an index value of 1, while the majority (82.14%) was food insecure with an index value of 0.28. The average daily calorie intake per person in the food-secure Rabha respondent was 2,401.01 kcal and exceeded the calorie requirement by (0.04%). Average daily calorie intake per capita for food insecure Rabha respondents was 679.99 kcal and was fell short by (71.66%) of calorie requirement. Education of household head, employed members in the respondent’s household, annual income, operational landholding, food expenditure, access to credit, perceived food availability, drinking water facility at home were positively and significantly correlated with food security status among Bodo respondents, as determined by correlation analysis. However, the variables like age of household head, family size, family type, loss of cultivable land, indebtedness, foodgrain used for liquor preparation were negatively and significantly correlated with food security status. In case of Rabha respondent, education of household head, employed members in the respondent’s household, annual income, operational landholding, food expenditure, access to credit, perceived food availability were positively and significantly correlated with food security status. But, variables like age of household head, family size, loss of cultivable land, foodgrain used for liquor preparation were negatively and significantly correlated with food security status. A Multiple Linear Regression analysis showed that Co-efficient of determination (R2) for Bodo respondent was 0.737 and 0.806 for Rabha respondents depicting about model's explanatory variables explained (73.70%) and (80.60%) of variation in the food security status of Bodo and Rabha respondent respectively. Variables such as age of household head, family size, employed members in the respondent’s household, annual income, access to credit, loss of cultivable land, indebtedness and access to Public Distribution System were significant in explaining the variation in food security status among Bodo respondents. In the case of Rabha respondents, however, age of household head, family size, employed members in the respondent’s household, annual income and operational landholding were significant indicators of food security. In case of Bodo respondent, among the different impact of food insecurity significant difference was observed between male and female concerning migration (z value=15.64**), chronic energy deficiency (z value= -12.10**) and thinness (z value= -1.81***). Similarly, Rabha respondents showed significant differences between males and females in migration (z value= 15.50**) and chronic energy deficiency (z value= -12.36**). Concerning the different government initiatives considered under study, the respondents received benefits less than their entitlements in case of Antodaya Anna Yojana, Priority household, Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, PM-KISAN, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojna, Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin, etc. Moreover, in case of MGNREGA, the highest proportion (99.06%) of the respondent received an average of 22 days of employment per year instead of 100 days of employment in a year as was guaranteed in the scheme. Therefore, the study suggested that people should be educated on the importance of consuming various foods to meet their calorie requirements. To ensure that food is available and accessible to all, the government must take both immediate and long-term measures. Policies in multiple sectors (agricultural, credit, and labour markets) must acknowledge women as equal workers and contributors to household food security and the overall household economy by ensuring equal access to resources, services, and labour returns. Implementation issues with various schemes can be resolved by employing interventions that are scheme specific. Key areas that require attention are identifying target homes, modernization of the delivery system, and efficient monitoring of the food security programme.ThesisItem Open Access A Study on Management Orientation and Productivity of the Members of Farmers Producer Company with reference to Potato Production in Assam(2023) Hussain, Irshad; Das, P. K.The present study entitled “A Study on Management Orientation and Productivity of the Members of Farmers Producer Company with reference to Potato Production in Assam” was carried out with the following objectives: 1) To study the personal, socio-economic, psychological and communication characteristics of the members of Farmer Producer Company 2) To assess the level of management orientation of the members of Farmer Producer Company 3) To assess the level of productivity of potato by the members of Farmer Producer Company 4) To identify the factors which influence management orientation and productivity of the members of Farmer Producer Company 5) To determine the direct and indirect effects of selected factors on the level of management orientation and potato productivity of the members of Farmer Producer Company 6) To identify the constraints as perceived by the members of Farmer Producer Company in production and marketing of potato The study was undertaken in Sonitpur and Nagaon districts of Assam which were selected purposively, as two Farmer Producer Companies dealing with commercial potato production were operating in these two districts. Two FPCs namely, Satbhani Potato Producer Company limited of Sonitpur district and Sankar Azan Agro Producer Company limited of Nagaon district were selected purposively for the study. Six villages were selected from each of the FPCs therefore all together twelve villages were selected for the study randomly by using the equal allocation method to get a sample size of 300 farmer members. The primary data for the study were collected by the personal interview method with the help of a structured research schedule. The primary data for the study were collected during the month of February, March and April of 2022. Management orientation and productivity of potato were the dependent variables in the study. A standard scale was developed in the present study to assess the level of management orientation of the members of Farmer Producer Company following the procedure followed by Sharma et al. (2012). A total of 21 independent variables were selected for the study. The independent variable included in the study were Age, Education level, Family size, Family type, Potato farming experience, Occupational status, Size of operational land holding, Area under potato cultivation, Net annual income from potato, Social participation, Farm Mechanization, Scientific orientation, Leadership ability, Decision making ability, Risk orientation, Achievement motivation, Economic motivation, Degree of information exposure, Exposure to training on potato cultivation, Adoption of improved potato production technology and Knowledge on potato production practices. The statistical techniques and tests used in the study for analysis and interpretation of the data were frequency, percentage, arithmetic mean, standard deviation, co-efficient of variation, multiple correlations, multiple regression, t-test for testing the significance of the coefficients for correlation and regression analysis and path analysis. The findings of the study revealed that majority of the respondents (56.34%) were belonged to middle aged category and middle school level of education (46.34%). Majority of the respondents (61.33%) belonged to the nuclear family with small family size (51.57%) upto 5 members. Majority of the respondents (59.33%) had medium term potato farming experience with (70.00%) of respondents used to follow cultivation as their occupation. Most of the respondents (38.66%) belonged to the marginal farmer category and (56.33%) of the respondents were having a land area up to 0.8 ha under potato cultivation. Majority of the respondents (52.00%) had high net annual income from potato above Rs. 173543. In case of social participation majority of the respondents (85.33%) were member of one organization. Majority of the respondents had medium level of farm mechanization (71.66%), medium level of scientific orientation (69.66%) and medium level of leadership ability (63.66%). Majority of the respondents had medium level of decision making ability (60.34%), medium level of risk orientation (67.66%), medium level of achievement motivation (65.33%) and medium level of economic motivation (64.33%). Among the personal cosmopolite sources of information, majority (54.33%) respondents used to get the information by Input dealers in regular basis. And through personal localite sources of information, friends/ relatives/ neighbors or fellow farmers majority (41.66%) of the respondents used to get the information regularly. Among the mass-media sources, farm publications were used regularly by majority (24.00%) of the respondents and overall majority of the respondents (55.00%) had medium level of information exposure. It was found that majority of the respondents (51.67%) had no exposure to training. Majority of the respondents (64.00%) were found in the medium level of adoption in case of adoption of improved potato production technology and majority of the respondents (71.34%) had medium level of knowledge on potato production technology. Majority of the respondents (64.34%) belongs to medium management orientation of the members of the farmers producer company, whereas 19.33 per cent of the respondents belongs to the category of low management orientation. The remaining 16.33 per cent of the respondents had high management orientation. It was observed that the majority of the respondents (71.34%) had medium level of productivity followed by 15.33 per cent respondents with low productivity and 13.33 per cent respondents were found with high level of productivity. The mean value 27.61 indicated that on average respondents had medium level of productivity. The coefficients of correlation were worked out to examine the relationship of 21 independent variables with the management orientation of the members of FPC. Almost all the 17 variables viz., education level (0.149), potato farming experience (0.175), size of operational land holding (0.550), area under potato cultivation (0.583), net annual income from potato (0.744), social participation (0.268), farm mechanization (0.824), scientific orientation (0.865), leadership ability (0.812), decision making ability (0.873), risk orientation (0.822), achievement motivation (0.877), economic motivation (0.782), degree of information exposure (0.888) and exposure to training on potato cultivation (0.178), adoption of improved potato production technology (0.340) and knowledge on potato production practices (0.744) showed significant and positive relationship with the management orientation of the members of FPC at 0.01 level of probability. The correlation analysis of productivity of potato with the independent variable indicated that out of the 21 selected independent variables, 17 independent variables were significantly correlated with the productivity of potato by the members of FPC. Among the 21 independent variables, 16 variables viz, potato farming experience (0.152), size of operational land holding (0.377), area under potato cultivation (0.384), net annual income from potato (0.552), social participation (0.195), farm mechanization (0.636), scientific orientation (0.747), leadership ability (0.724), decision making ability (0.711), risk orientation (0.884), achievement motivation (0.849), economic motivation (0.864), degree of information exposure (0.769) and exposure to training on potato cultivation (0.150), adoption of improved potato production technology (0.288) and knowledge on potato production practices (0.631) showed significant and positive relationship with the productivity of potato by the members of FPC at 0.01 level of probability. Only independent variable family size (0.132) showed significant relationship with the productivity of potato by the members of FPC at 0.05 level of probability. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine the contributory effects of selected independent variables with the management orientation. Results of regression analysis revealed that 8 variables, viz., net annual income from potato (b=0.288), farm mechanization (b=0.132), scientific orientation (b=0.118), decision making ability (b=0.182), achievement motivation (b=0.261), economic motivation (b=0.159), degree of information exposure (b=0.224) and knowledge on potato production practices (b=0.090) had positive and significant relationship with the management orientation of the members of farmers producer company at 0.01 level of probability and 3 variables viz., area under potato cultivation (b=0.108), Risk orientation (b=0.150) and exposure to training on potato cultivation (b=0.039) showed significant and positive relationship with the management orientation of the members farmers producer company of at 0.05 level of probability. The value of coefficient of multiple determination (R2) being 0.923 indicated that the eleven independent variables jointly could predict 92.30 percent of the variation in the level of management orientation. Results of regression analysis of selected independent variables with the productivity of potato revealed that among the 17 independent variable, 4 variables viz., net annual income from potato (b=0.202), risk orientation (b=0.361), achievement motivation (b=0.199) and economic motivation (b=0.306) had positive and significant relationship with the productivity of potato by the members of farmers producer company at 0.01 level of probability and 2 variables viz., potato farming experience (b=0.053) and area under potato cultivation (b=0.167) showed significant and positive relationship with the productivity of potato by the members of farmers producer company of at 0.05 level of probability. The value of R2 (0.837) indicated that 6 independent variables selected for the study were efficient in predicting the productivity of potato by the members of FPC. The 6 independent variables fitted in the linear regression analysis could predict 83.70 per cent of the variation in the productivity of potato by the members of FPC. Path analysis was done to get a clear picture of how the chosen independent variables affected both directly and indirectly the level of management orientation and productivity of potato by the members of the Farmer Producer Company. The results of path analysis in management orientation revealed that the highest direct effect on the management orientation was exhibited by net annual income from potato (0.274) which was followed by achievement motivation (0.263) and degree of information exposure (0.209). The maximum indirect effect was exhibited by the degree of information exposure (1.315), which was followed by scientific orientation (1.218). The highest total effect on the management orientation by the members was exhibited by degree of information exposure (1.524) and followed by scientific orientation (1.312). In case of productivity of potato the results of path analysis revealed that the highest direct effect on the productivity of potato was exhibited by risk orientation (0.363) which was followed by economic motivation (0.315) and area under potato cultivation (0.231). The maximum indirect effect was exhibited by the achievement motivation (0.832), which was followed by economic motivation (0.769). And the highest total effect on the productivity of potato by the members was exhibited by risk orientation (1.108) followed by economic motivation (1.084). The most important constraints faced by the majority of the respondents (82.66%) is the ‘Blight problem’ in production faced by the members of FPCs. The other constraints faced by the members in order of importance were ‘Lack of availability of good quality seeds’ (75.33%), ‘Unavailability of fertilizers in planting time’ (68.00%), ‘High cost of good quality inputs’ (62.66%) and ‘Labour shortage problem during the planting and harvesting time’ (59.00). Regarding marketing constrains majority of the respondents (86.33%) perceived that ‘Lack of proper market place’ was the most important constraint faced by the members of FPCs. The other constraints faced by the members in marketing of potato were ‘Lower market price due to import from other states’ (78.66%), ‘Involvement of middleman in the marketing system’(64.33%), ‘Low price given by the brokers’(59.00%), ‘Inadequate storage facility’ (49.66%) and ‘Increasing charge of cold storage’ (35.33%).
