An Analytical Study on Conservation of Natural Resources by Tribal And Non-Tribal Women in Udaipur District of Rajasthan
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Date
2006
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MPUAT, Udaipur
Abstract
Environment is nature’s gift to be enjoyed and shared by all. Understanding of the environment becomes imperative to realise that natural resources are the very part and parcel of the system. India has abundant natural resources and its economy depends on proper exploitation of these resources. Industrialization, urbanization, burgeoning population etc are the some causes, responsible for environment degradation since past decades. Therefore, conservation and management of these natural resources is imperative, so that these are protected, preserved and used so wisely.
The scenario of availability of natural resources in Udaipur district of Rajasthan is quite impressive. The total geographical area of the district is 14,62,109 hectares, which comprises different types of soils, such as inceptsols, entisols, vertisols and alfisols. The net and gross irrigated area was 92680 and 95762 hectares in year 2002-03. The total forest area cover for the district has been estimated as 310279 Sq. Km. or about 37.42 per cent, which is highest percentage in the state. Similarly livestock population is 3087317,of which 1038263 crore are cattle and 530405 crore are buffaloes. Government and different other environmental agencies emphasize conservation of these natural resources. But little effort has been made to study the role of women in conservation of natural resources. Considering the importance of aforementioned facts, an investigation entitled “An Analytical Study on Conservation of Natural Resources By Tribal And Non-Tribal Women in Udaipur District of Rajasthan” has been undertaken with the following specific objectives:
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*Ph.D. Scholar, Deptt. of Extension Education, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, Udaipur.
** Prof. & Head, Deptt. of Extension Education, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, Udaipur.
1. To study the extent of involvement of women in planning and execution stages of conservation of natural resources.
2. To study the knowledge and training needs of women regarding recommended conservation practices of natural resources.
3. To find out the attitude of women toward conservation of natural resources.
4. To explore the indigenous practices used by women with regard to conservation of natural resources and their scientific validation.
5. To find out the constraints faced by respondents with respect to conservation of natural resources and suggest appropriate module for their better conservation.
The present study was conducted in purposively selected Udaipur district of southern Rajasthan as large number of non-government organisations and other environmental agencies are working for the conservation of natural resources. Udaipur district consists of eleven panchyat samities; of these, two-panchyat samities viz., Girwa (tribal) and Badgaon (non-tribal) were selected based on plenteous natural resources. Thus, in all, eight villages; four from one tribal and four villages from one non-tribal panchyat samiti were taken up for the study. After knowing the actual number of tribal and non-tribal women in each village, a proportionate random sample of 200 respondents was selected from these villages. That way, 100 tribal and 100 non-tribal women were the respondents.
An interview schedule was specifically developed and standardized keeping in view the objectives of the study. Data on structured tool were collected personally from the respondents through face-to-face interview technique. To arrive at the findings and conclusions, various statistical measures viz., mean, MPS, rank, frequency, standard deviation, paired t-test percentage and Z test were used. The overall study reports the following main findings:
1. It was found that majority of the respondents belonged to the age group of 26 to 42 years. These were from scheduled tribe group and following agriculture as only occupation. Majority of the women were illiterate and had joint family of medium family size. More than half of the women had membership of one organization.
2. The study revealed that majority of the respondents had medium level of involvement. Maximum involvement was found in execution stage, while minimum involvement was observed in case of planning stage. A significant difference in involvement between tribal and non-tribal groups of respondents was observed regarding conservation of natural resources.
3. Majority of the women had medium level of knowledge regarding conservation of natural resources. They possessed maximum knowledge about soil conservation practices and minimum knowledge regarding water conservation practices. It was also found that there was a significant difference in knowledge between tribal and non-tribal women with respect to conservation of natural resources.
4. The study indicated that more than half of the respondents needed moderate training needs about conservation of natural resources group. It was also found that livestock conservation practices as very much needed area of training by women. However, respondents expressed forest conservation practices as least importance training need. No significant difference between tribal and non-tribal women was found with regard to training need for conservation of natural resources.
5. Majority of the respondents had moderately favourable attitude toward conservation of natural resources. Both tribal and non-tribal women had agreed with 11 statements out of 20 statements of attitude such as villagers’ participation in soil and water harvesting structures, use of improved grass seedings for increase agriculture production etc. While for remaining items i.e. importance of pits for afforestation, raising plants at the village common land etc. Tribal women comparatively expressed their negative and neutral attitude than non-tribal women. It was also found that there was no difference in attitude of tribal and non-tribal women toward conservation of natural resources.
6. The study revealed that nearly half of the respondents had been using indigenous practices at medium level. Further, majority of the sampled women had been always using indigenous practice of pond sediment for increasing the silt and clay content in the soil and decrease the infiltration rate. Scientific validation of indigenous practices had also been done on the basis of experts’ opinion. Some practices were found to be scientific by all experts’ like vegetative barrier, diversion ditches and use of khadin, while, some of them were considered unscientific by few experts’ i.e. stone wall terraces, stone wall techniques. Whereas, few experts’ were uncertain for some of the practices viz; earthen field bunds, thorny barrier etc. that needed further research.
7. The study indicated that half of the respondents had perceived medium level of constraints. Constraints related to livestock conservation were the most severe bottlenecks faced by the women followed by soil and forest conservation constraints. However, the least expressed constraints were water conservation constraints. In order to overcome the constraints, appropriate modules were suggested by researcher for conservation of soil, water, forest and livestock. It was found that there was a significant difference between tribal and non-tribal women with respect to constraints encountered by them.
On the basis of findings, it is recommended that emphasis should be given on organization of interactive multi media training module for illiterate women beneficiaries to overcome their knowledge gap regarding water conservation practices. In order to promote women’s involvement in conservation of natural resources, quota of women’s representative in user committee be made essential so that their large-scale participation could be ensured. Awareness and reward have to be further made to motivate women to change their negative attitude toward conservation of natural resources. Those indigenous practices, which were scientifically validated under the study area, should be disseminate to other areas for better conservation of natural resources. For effective functioning, skill oriented training programmes, demonstration and exposure visits related to livestock conservation aspect should be conducted by environment agencies and policy planners on the basis of training needs identified by the sampled women. Further, the training modules which are being suggested by investigator to overcome the constraints faced by respondents in study area are also required to be adopted by government and concerned agencies for their minimization.
Description
An Analytical Study on Conservation of Natural Resources by Tribal And Non-Tribal Women in Udaipur District of Rajasthan
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Citation
Khandelwat and Sharma, 2006