DRUDGERY ASSESSMENT OF WORKERS IN MAKHANA PRODUCTION IN BIHAR
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Date
2022
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Dr.RPCAU, Pusa
Abstract
Makhana, also known as foxnut or gorgon nut, is an aquatic plant endemic to South East Asia and China that belongs to the Ferox species of the Nymphaeaceae family. Its scientific name is Euryale ferox. Fortunately, the majority of its commercial cultivation is restricted to India, and even then, primarily to the northern regions of Bihar. Makhana is primarily produced in the districts of Madhubani, Dharbanga, Sitamarhi, Saharsa, Katihar, Purnea, Samastipur, Supaul, Kishanganj, and Araria. The Makhana seed is used to prepare a variety of sweets, including roasted and popped sweets. When makhana is grown for its vegetables, the fully formed, almost-matured fruits are harvested before they burst, and they are then sold as premium vegetables in the marketplaces. Young fruits and leaf petioles are consumed as salad in some areas of Manipur. It is regrettable to say that women's contributions to Makhana production in Bihar have not yet been emphasised. Even the seeds of matured fruits are used to prepare a variety of local cuisines. Research on women in Makhana production is frequently hampered by a lack of data because this field of study has been slower than others to acknowledge the significance of gender. To evaluate the socioeconomic, participation, drudgery, and musculoskeletal issues in Makhana production at the state or national level, very few studies have been
undertaken. . In light of these factors, the current study was carried out in the wellknown
Makhana-growing district of Madhubani, Bihar, in order to evaluate the socioeconomic profile, the participation of workers in various Makhana production
system activities, drudgery, and musculoskeletal issues in Makhana production. The employees' tasks include making ponds, planting seeds, transplanting seedlings, harvesting, and collecting seeds from pond muck. Female responders and their husbands tend to focus on seedling transplantation and harvesting. Women are involved in the first roasting, second roasting, storing at room temperature, and packing of pop Makhana, according to the processing perspective, and a few of the female respondents also worked with their husbands on the Makhana production system.
Age was found to be positively connected and significant with the laborious tasks required in cleaning the pond or field, transplanting, filling in gaps, weeding, applying pesticides, and harvesting using the correlation co-efficient and fisher t test. The results suggest that as respondents' ages rise, so does their level of pain. The Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) is used to assess respondents' musculoskeletal problems over the previous 12 months, including neck pain (67 percent), right wrist/hand pain (52 percent), and lower back pain (78 percent). Next, respondents' inability to perform routine tasks over the previous 12 months was assessed for in their neck (80 percent), shoulder (50 percent), elbow (43.4 percent), and lower back (80 percent) (73.3 percent). According to an ergonomic assessment of workers in the makhana processing industry, the average resting heart rate is 85.9 bpm, the working heart rate can reach 112.86 bpm, and the recovery heart rate is 104.36 bpm—a little less than the average working heart rate. The results showed that the cardiac costs associated with work and recovery was 134.83 bpm and 92.33 bpm, respectively. The sum of the cardiac costs associated with work and recovery, or 227.16 bpm, represents the entire cardiac cost of work. It is determined that the mean physiological cost of work is 22.71 bpm.