VETERINARY AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY
EXTENSION
INTRODUCTION
“The proverbial saying that dairying
is women industry sounds true and it seems truer in tribal areas”.
The tribal and indigenous people of
India constitute an important segment of the Indian population. They are duly
listed in the Constitution, which also accord them special rights and
privileges. It also analyses the process of tribal empowerment, particularly
through the 73rd Constitutional Amendment and the consequent legislations
for tribal self-rule. Both the Government and the Non-Government Organizations
(NGOs) have been engaged in their sociology-economic development ever since
Independence.
But the question is whether the tribal have benefited from the various development
interventions and been empowered
in the country’s federal structure in terms of governance and political participation?
Livestock farming considered as key
asset for tribal livelihood. It offers advantages over other agricultural
sectors and is an entry point for promoting gender balance in tribal areas. In
most societies, all household members have access to livestock and are involved
in production; livestock activities are a daily occupation: animal products
such as eggs and milk are produced, processed and marketed throughout the year,
without seasonal restrictions in the all livestock-keeping communities, with
women responsible for the bulk of the work. Livestock production systems offer
the potential for introducing a wide range of project activities relating to
gender mainstreaming, including improved production methods, and redistribution
of intra-household tasks and responsibilities (Swiss Agency for Development
& Co-operation, 2000).
India
ranks first in livestock population. As per livestock census 2003, cattle &
buffalo population of country is 185.2 million 97.9 million respectively.
Livestock is an important segment of agriculture in India as it makes major
source for small, marginal & landless tribal farmers in country. It makes
multifaceted contribution to socio-economic upliftment of the tribal poor.
Women's involvement in Dairy enterprise and development has
been a long-standing global tradition. Women accounted for 93% of total
employment in dairy production (World Bank, 1991).The Female
Economic Activity Rate (FEAR) ranged from 55.6 percent in Australia and 55
percent in Indonesia to 82.9 percent in Mozambique. For India, the FEAR
was 42 percent (Avinashlingam, 2011).
India has a rural and agro based socio
economic domain. 54% of Indian work force is engaged in agriculture, where 37%
of them are women workers. Dairy animals keep tribal women busy for much longer
time than any other animal-related task. In tribal areas they are engaged in
different tasks from dawn to dusk such as feeding and watering of farm animals,
preparing feed for animals, cleaning the animal housing/sheds and making dung
cakes for use as fuel. After milking the animals, it is processed to make curd,
butter, lassi, khowa and ghee. Some families may prepare cottage cheese as
well. The sale of milk as, such ghee & khowa, fetch a lot of income for the
rural households. No doubt it is largely the women-generated income.
The time spent and work
participation in animal husbandry activities are like the two sides of a coin.
It seems that women participate more in animal husbandry than crop farming
because livestock rearing provides them with a continuous and consistent income
and food (Fami, 2006). But it is found that Socio-economic profile of tribal
dairy enterprise women significantly affected their time spent in dairy
enterprise activities (Borgohain et al. 2011).
The work participation rate and role
performance of tribal women in agriculture and allied sectors is high as
compared to their male counterparts and contribute lion's share to the family
income (Suman et al. 2011).
Socio-economic & psychological profile of tribal dairy enterprise women
significantly affected their decision making role & thus the creditability
to their work. (Fami, 2006).
In tribal communities, much of the
work with regard to animal management has to be looked after by women due to
migration of men for work. A Government report indicates that though 85% of the
rural women are engaged in livestock activities but their share in income is
not so high. Despite their considerable involvement and contribution, women’s
role in livestock production has often been underestimated or ignored. However,
in many cases, the income from dairy animals does not remain in the hands of
women and neither does the decision regarding sale and purchase. Gender-blindness
is the result partly of a paternalistic bias, and partly due to the attitudes
of the women themselves, who may be conditioned by their culture and society to
underestimate the value of their work (IFAD, 2007). As a result, it is
difficult to obtain information on the role of women in dairy enterprise from
existing research and project reports. In addition, women’s work is rarely
reflected in national statistics (Niamir-Fuller, 1994).
In spite of the fact that the women
are backbone of dairy enterprise her hard work is mostly been unpaid. She does
most tedious & back- breaking task in agriculture, animal-husbandry &
homes. As most of the work and decision-making by women takes place at the
household level, while men take the cattle/ buffalo for grazing and participate
in public meetings that relate to Animal Husbandry. Almost all important
decisions are taken jointly by both the man and the woman heading the
household. These decisions include which animals to sale and at what price,
disease diagnosis and treatment of sick animals, and calf selection.
According to IFAD, decision making,
information access, control, training and management of such resources as breeding practices, fodder production
practices, feeding practices, health care practices, management practices, marketing
practices etc. empower women and lead to an overall positive impact on
the welfare of the household as well as dairying in the region. Ownership of dairy
animals & partnership in milk & milk product sale is increasing women’s
decision-making and economic power within both the household and the community.
It is also a source of cash and an open up access to credit. The management,
processing and marketing of dairy products generate more income than most of
the activities women tend to be involved in, and bring benefits for the whole
family. Animals provide raw material such as dung, skins, and bones. Processing
of these materials can be an important source of additional employment and
income for poor tribal women. Owning, controlling and benefiting from dairy
animal & dairy products increases women’s self-esteem and strengthens their
role as producers and income generators within the household and in the
community. Dairy animal ownership & partnership in market sale of milk
& milk products increases the likelihood of gaining access to credit (IFAD,
2007).
Keeping this in view, for overall
livelihood empowerment of tribal women involve in dairy enterprise of Amravati
district, it is needed to undertake the study on decision
making towards improved dairy management practices by the tribal women of
Amravati district.
Objectives of study:
1.
To study
the socio–economic profile of tribal women in dairy enterprise.
2.
To study the time utilization pattern of
tribal women in dairy enterprise.
3.
To assess the extent of decision making of
tribal women in dairy enterprise.
4.
To study the relationship between socio–economic
profile and decision
making
towards
dairy enterprise by tribal women.
5. To find out the constraints and suggestions about improved dairy
management
practices
of tribal women.
Limitations of study:
Since the research is carried out by a
Post-Graduate student of Nagpur Veterinary College, Nagpur, it has some
limitations similar to the works of other student researcher viz. limitation of
finance, time, physical facilities, and required resources etc.
No comments:
Post a Comment