eChapters

ABSTRACT

This study critically examined the access of women farmers to Information and Communications Technology (ICTs) as against their male counterparts. The study was conducted Kapasiaupazila of Gazipur district. A total of 120 respondentswere selected using proportionate random sampling technique and interviewed through structured questionnaires. Data collected were subjected to descriptivestatistics, Chi-square and rank test. The results indicated that the women folk, despite their dominancein agricultural activities, were dominated in terms of access to and full participation in the use of ICTs. In terms of access to agricultural information through ICTs, it was evident that, people in the study area capture the advantages of increased number of ICTs to access information related to their farming business. Most of respondents valued ICTs as easy, fast and convenient way of communicating agricultural information and also allow more contacts among the farmers for family farming along with increase income of the family people in the community. Chi-square analysis on the relationship between socio-economic characteristics of the respondentswith their access to ICTs showed that age, education and innovativeness have significant relationship with therespondents’ access to ICTs. Kruskal Wallis rank test showed that there was a significant difference inthe gender access to and the uses of ICTs (P d” 0.005) with the male dominating the female gender. Chi-squareanalysis revealed that age and educational background and innovativeness of the respondents had significantrelationships with their access to ICTs (P d” 0.005). On the other hand religious/cultural barriers, language barriers and cost of possessing and accessing ICTs were the main reasons for gender disparity in gaining access to ICTs.

INTRODUCTION

According to the World Bank, youth present an opportunity for a sustainedeffort to participate in nation’s development process because they possess greaterenergy and potential and have the capacity to drive positive change. Stimulating growthof employment in the agricultural sector remains paramount priority in countries with alarge agricultural sector, as improvements in agricultural productivity can generatemore and better jobs in most developing countries (World Bank, 2008). Youth who possess non-farm skills are 1.4 times more likely to move out ofagriculture. Their age has significant role in favor of shifting out of agriculture, becauseoccupational mobility was higher among younger farmers (Sharma and Bhaduri, 2012). India has the largest youth population in the world. About 70 per cent of India’spopulation is below the age of 35 years, making India the youngest nation in the World. According to some estimates, the proportion of population under 25 years in India is 51per cent. Some experts refer to this large proportion of youth as “demographicdividend” because greater proportion of the population is young and in the workingage-group which can lead to economic growth. However, out of the youth population of460 million, only 333 million youth in India are literate and unemployment rate ishighest (10.6 per cent) among youth (CIA World Factbook, 2012).

ABSTRACT

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has become one of the basic building blocks of modern society. Young people are the world’s largest resource in development. Forty percent of the world’s population is under 20 years of age while 66 per cent of the total population in the country is below the age of 35 and this youth play very important role in adoption of ICTs. Present study is concerning with Information and Communication Technology, importance of ICTs on youth and rural peoples of our country, the importance of ICTs is not the technology as such, but its enabling function in facilitating enhanced access to information and communication across large distances. It involved development and need of Information and Communication Technology. It also focused on strategies for sustained ICTs growth in India and development ranking of some selected countries. India has been ranked 121^st among 157 countries in terms of progress in the realm of information and communication technology.

ABSTRACT

Small holdings in developing countries have long been associated with poor farming practices, intensive labour and low income, which make the sector unattractive to a new generation of farmers. Lack of youth interest and involvement in agriculture affects the sustainability and survival of family farms. This interest in farming is further strengthened by ICT providing access to markets and information to boost production. Researchers found that youngsters easily grasp the ICT applications, acquire information, and jump onto new market opportunities. Considering the above facts the present paper will address the issue of the role that ICT can play in invoking the interest of youth in farming.

Keywords:ICT, youth, farming, sustainability

ABSTRACT

The conventional agricultural extension service in India is mainly provided by extension workers visiting farmers to provide agricultural advisory services. This system of extension service provision faces a number of challenges including the few number of extension workers and limited resources. The effectiveness of an impact-driven, radio-based extension service delivery system that has been introduced in some rural areas of India. The system aims to enable extension workers to reach many farmers with minimum efforts. However little is known about the effectiveness of this new extension service delivery system. In rural areas, farmers have started sharing agricultural related information and best practices. Some farmers have also started to change their farming practices. This brings a new finding that farmers can adopt and practice easily what is aired by their fellow farmers in the community radio stations.

ABSTRACT

With the developing world still depending on agriculture to a great extent and rural people depending on it for their livelihood, it comes as no surprise that family farms have been the focus of development in recent times. Family farms have been legacy for most of the farmers and along with it being principal livelihood option for many, the increasing need of agricultural extension services for these farms become more important. But at the same time, the huge gap between the number of famers or farm households and the extension personnel is a reality. And to bridge this gap, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can play a significant role. Another purpose it serves is making agriculture attractive to the young people engaged in farming, mostly by compulsion. ICTs like web portals, mobile phones and social media are the most popular and most widely used and can enhance the interaction among researchers, extension personnel and farmers. The youth today are hooked to the internet and their 1^st major activity on the web is social networking. Also, mobile phones are the most popular form of ICTs as has been proven by the sheer number of subscribers worldwide. And these tools, used appropriately, can change the whole structure of agricultural communication. ICTs can be an important part of communication strategies, connecting the youth to peers and professionals. It is true that the ‘apps won’t plough the fields’ but they will definitely help the youth do the job better. ICTs can prove to be a great catalyst in engaging agricultural community in family farms making agriculture attractive and sustainable again.

ABSTRACT

Information Technology includes computers and communication technology along with associated software. I.T. can be defined as the technology of creation, processing, storage, retrieval and transmission of data and information. Transmission of data and information between through local national, regional and global telecommunication channels are not new to us. Computer networks have been the real facilitators of data and information interchange in the individual and corporate levels. LANS and WANS are the good examples of it. Developing countries have a critical stake in how successfully they cope with the trade, environmental, energy, healthy, agricultural, industrial, population and other challenges facing them as they enter the information age. The World is experiencing an explosive growth of IT at the moment. There have been tremendous impacts of I.T. on the trade, commerce and industries of the globe.

ABSTRACT

A detailed survey was carried out in all the 19 rural blocks of Birbhum district of West Bengal. Pisciculture is a powerful income generating activity (IGA) by the women Self Help Group (SHG) members related to poverty reductionand employment generation for a vast section of the rural society. Self Help Groups are non-formal cooperatives that are causing a silent revolution in rural India through micro credit and various other economic activities involving women are the major change agents. Nearly, thirty thousand SHGs have been formed in Birbhum district of West Bengal that had made a notable success in micro finance. This study has focused on the functioning of 38 women SHGs of Birbhum district comprising 644 members mainly belonging to Below Poverty Line family. Totally 38 SHGs have been selected for the study. Each group had it unique name and consists of about 10 to 18women members. Information was elicited from all the members of 38 women SHGs, which together formed 644 members, constituting the study sample. The data were collected with the help of semi-structured interview survey schedule. The survey was carried out during the year 2009. Different social class of these fisher women members of the SHGs were assisted under Swarnjayanti Gram SwarojgarYojana. These SHGs were found to save a portion of their meager income and pool that money for their inter-lending among them at an interest decided by the SHG. The survey revealed that cash credit and project loan was used for better sustainability and enhancement of income from pisciculture. Most of the cultural water bodies i.e. ponds were under lease condition. Self Help group members particularly belonged to scheduled caste community actively take part in retail marketing of fish in rural areas. Empowerment of women was undertaken through training and other assistance given by local Panchayat, NGOs and Govt. Officials. The SHG women members increase in self-confidence, leadership qualities, skill to undertake pisciculture and marketing, knowledge of book keeping, enhanced income, linkage with bankand protest against social injustice.

ABSTRACT

Information is the data that have been put into a meaningful and useful context and communicated to a recipient who uses it to make decisions. Information is needed because of it affects individuals living activities. The present age has rightly termed as an ‘information age’. Information cannot provide finance, inputs or infrastructure. But, it can help in creating awareness about technologies and mobilise people to use them. It also helps in imparting training to people, organising community and ultimately the development of the whole nation.

The present study was undertaken to assess the information needs of young farm women (18-35 age group) with respect to kharif paddy cultivation. The study was conducted in Bolpur sub-division of Birbhum district, West Bengal. Results of this empirical study indicated that farm women wanted to know more about selling of product, pest control, nursery raising and disease management. The study also revealed that most preferred sources of information for the young farm women personal localite sources.

Key words: Young farm women, information needs, personal localite, personal cosmopolite, kharif paddy

ABSTRACT

Women are vital human resources and play a significant role in agricultural and allied sectors undertaking both on-farm and off- farm activities. Yet their contribution has not been recognized and they are considered as invisible workers. Considering this, the present study has been conducted to analysis the constraints faced by farm women in agriculture and allied sectors. A total of 100 farm women were selected as respondents through proportionate random sampling. The selected respondents were interviewed personally using pre-tested well structured interview schedule. The finding showed that the major constraints that farm women faced were limited access to productive resources like land, credit, input, extension services, storage and technical assistance, their absence from decision-making process, less wages and their illiteracy also hindered their progress. Women perform all un-mechanized agricultural tasks and perform multiple tasks, which add more burden to them.

ABSTRACT

Agriculture can act as a catalyst in accelerating growth and reducing poverty. Agriculture can be an important engine of growth and poverty reduction. But in spite of its futuristic capabilities, the sector is underperforming because the productivity is reduced because of the constraints faced by the women in agriculture and allied sector. The women are the backbone of agricultural workforce but worldwide their hard works have mostly been unpaid. They have to perform most tedious and back breaking part of work in agriculture, animal husbandry and at homes. The tribal women play a significant and crucial role in agricultural development and allied fields including in the main crop production, livestock production, horticulture, post harvest operations, agro / social forestry, fisheries, etc. Tribal women have to manage, often, complex and multiple livelihood strategies. Their activities typically include producing agricultural crops, tending animals, processing and preparing food, working for wages in agricultural or other rural enterprises, collecting fuel and water, engaging in trade and marketing, caring for family members and maintaining their homes. Women’s participation in rural labour markets varies considerably across regions, but invariably women are over represented in unpaid, seasonal and part-time work, and the available evidence suggests that women are often paid less than men, for the same work.

ABSTRACT

Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and Good Dairy Farming Practices (GDFPs) is the need of hours because of the several burgeoning issues like-climate change, low food quality etc. GDFPs concept was introduced in 2004 by International Dairy Federation/Food and Agriculture Organization (IDF/FAO) and it was later updated in 2011. GAPs ensure quality food produce that ultimately leads to better heath. Good Agricultural Practices for dairy farmers is about implementing sound practices on dairy farms – collectively called Good Dairy Farming Practices. These practices need to ensure that the milk and milk products produced are safe and suitable for their intended use, and also that the dairy farm enterprise is viable into the future, from the economic, social and environmental perspectives. Since, dairy farmers are in the practice of producing food for human consumption, they must have confidence in the production of safety and quality of the milk. Since the introduction of the concept in 2004, the importance is growing in various countries, and agencies including private, individual farm house or farmers etc. GAPs and GDFPs underpin the production of food and milk that satisfies the highest expectations of the food industry and consumers. Both of these practices are capable of bring good prices to the farmers at their door steps. But the real issues are that both the practices are labour intensive and requires extra care — so, here the concept of ‘family farming’ may come handy. Today, in Punjab and Haryana due to urbanization the land has become too costly and that’s way these days the whole attention of the farmers including their sons’ are on real estate and that is threat to our sustainable development. So, if we want to attract and retain youth in Agriculture then GAPs and GDFPs are panacea for that- as both have greater scope to fetch fair and remunerative prices of the agricultural produce and product.

ABSTRACT

The future of any country depends on how the youth are moulded. Employment is the key to economic and social development and providing youths with job opportunities is a major issue for all countries irrespective of their level of development. Villages have become a source of cheap labour for growing cities. Meanwhile, rural communities are deprived off the services of rural youth. Increasing pressure on land is compelling youth to get out of farming. In India, there are 639 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) located in every district and also known as the AKC (Agriculture Knowledge Centre). One of the mandate of KVKs is to impart vocational trainings to rural unemployed youth, landless laborer, school dropout boys and girls. The Hisar Districthas been divided into nine blocks and three sub divisions covering 274 villages, with average annual rainfall about 400 mm and the soil type issandy to sandy loam. Sh. Joginder Singh s/o Sh. Mahender Singh, 10+2 passed, 26 yrs. old youth was engaged in traditional cultivation of agricultural crops on his farm at village Saharwa (Hisar). In 2010, he came in contact with KVK, Hisar and got trainings from this centre. He was motivated to diversify his traditional system of agriculture with integrated farming system of vegetable production+ dairy farming+ horticulture+ boundary plantation of agro-forestry multipurpose tree species. With this diversified farming system, his income increased many folds i.e. Rs. 35000/acre to Rs. 4.40 lac/acre/year.

ABSTRACT

Agriculture is backbone of our country, India is lives in its villages, these are all vibrant statements about our nation and our farming system but now the situation has been turned out in to urbanization in terms of migration.UN also announces this year (2014) as an international year of family farming in this context, the real status of FF in India is a biggest question mark. This means FF is not happening as expected even though Tamil Nadu is one of the familiar state across India for family farming but due to lack of youth involvement in agriculture, Family Farming is not happening in a full-fledged and unfortunate thing is it is even more decreased. If this situation persists over a period of time, the above said vibrant statements will become spiritless, hence the solutions for this problem is Indiais reverse migration and every home should have farmer. These are all possible, if the youth is attracted towards farming and adopt Family Farming System (FFS). The statistics says in Tamil Nadu, 13 percent of youth only involved in farming and the population according to the census 2011 is about 7.2 crore, which means meager youth were involved in farming. Although Tamilnadu is one of the fastest growing urban state yet more than half of the population lives in villages and noticeable fact is more than half of them are under the age of 30. So that youth isthe only and powerful source to make agriculture through Family Farming. We believe that if and only if agriculture becomes intellectually, economically viable and bounty which fetches rewards, the younger generation of Tamilnadu will be interested to take forth farming as profession and make Family farming as an attractive one. This paper will explain possible areas to attract youth in Farming and adopt Family Farming System.

ABSTRACT

Engaging youth in agriculture has been a prominent topic recently and has risen up the development agenda, as there is growing concern worldwide and also in India that young people have become disenchanted with agriculture. Over 60 per cent of the world’s rural population is made of youth, with half of them being young women and girls. Due to their limited access to assets (in particular land), markets, finance and education and skills training, rural youth are often unemployed or work informally – often in unpaid, very low-skilled, insecure and sometimes hazardous jobs. If young people living in rural areas do not find enough incentives, profitable economic opportunities and attractive environments in which to live and work, they will continue to migrate to cities. This trend would not only contribute to the mega urbanization and growing urban unemployment that is already under way, but is expected to affect global food production: who will then feed the global population that is projected to reach 9.2 billion people by 2050. With most young people around 85% living in developing countries, where agriculture is likely to provide the main source of income it is vital that young people are connected with farming. Currently around the world we’re living in an era where rapid urbanisation has led to a decline in rural populations and for the first time ever the majority of the world’s population lives in a city.

ABSTRACT

Income generating activities are considered as those initiatives that affect the economic aspects of rural youth’s lives through the use of economic tools such as credit and subsidy. If the youth in farming is not economically free and self-earning, he has to depend on others or migrate to the urban cities in search of jobs. Agriculture, self-employment and wage employment are the basic tools to fulfill the desire of economic independence. In the past, agriculture was placed on the top position as an income generation option and self-employment and wage employment to rural youth was the 2^nd and 3^rd priority respectively. Income generating activities such as dairy activities, goat and sheep rearing, poultry unit, bamboo products making, pickle making, leaf plate making, keeping powertiller, husking mill cum wheat grinding machine, tractor etc. Further, there are various self employment and wage employment opportunities through rural development programmes like Prime Minister Rojgar Yojana (PMRY), Swarnajayanthi Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY), Pradhan Manthri Gram SadakYojana(PMGSY), Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP), Training of Rural Youth for Self -Employment (TRYSEM) etc. These are the best programmes especially for the upliftment of the rural youth to enhancing their income level. Some of these programmes are now helping rural youths to become more and more independent and free from economic dependence.

INTRODUCTION

Farming acts as the primary occupation of majority of the population in India. According to National Sample Survey Estimate, about 49% of the Indian population is dependent on agriculture and allied industries (GOI, 2014, CIA, 2012) making it the largest source of employment to the people of India. Although, being a second largest food producing country in the world (Sarkar, 2009), the contribution of agriculture to the GDP has been declining. The contribution of agriculture to Indian GDP has declined from 30% in 1991 to 15% in 2011-2012 to 13.7% in 2013 (Economic Survey. 2013-2014). This decline is also accompanied by a decline in the participation of people in Indian farming sector. In fact between 2001 and 2011 about 9 million people have quit farming, which is about 2 million more than the decline noted in the previous decade (GOI, 2011). This figure equates to about 2035 farmers quitting farming per day. The recent census (GOI, 2011) also highlighted that for the first time in four decades an absolute decline (about 7%) in the cultivators has been noted.

INTRODUCTION

The trend of rising unemployment is compounded by the existences of regional imbalances in development, within the country, which have collectively accelerated the phenomenon of migration. The history of migration is the history of people’s struggle to survive and to prosper, to escape insecurity and poverty, and to move in response to opportunity. In developing countries like India, migration mostly takes place not due to the so called the full forces of the destination place, as usually happens in case of developed countries, but because of poverty, unemployment, natural calamities and under development of the origin place. Migration in developing countries like India is still viewed as a survival strategy. In India internal mobility is critical to the livelihoods of many peoples, especially for people from rural areas. In the Dindigul District of Tamil Nadu, NREGA works have stemmed migration from many villages. Ministry of Rural Development (2006). It has been conceptualized that, creating job out of NREGA programme will check the migration of the people from one place to another. In Pusa block, of Samastipur district the NREGA is in operation for about two and half years. It is with this background the present article has been presented with the specific objectives toexplore the extent ofmigration check among NREGA beneficiaries, running in this block.

ABSTRACT

Economic growth of a country depends upon the skills of its people and the application of knowledge, inherited or acquired by them. Optimum utilization of human resources undoubtedly leads to considerable degree of economic development of a country. There are over one billion youth (aged 15 – 24) in the world today. Eighty five (85) per cent of these youth live in the developing world, where 99 per cent of population growth is occurring. Around 50 per cent of the population in developing countries live in rural areas. Some 61.5 per cent of youth live in Asia. Many youth are unable to reach their potential because of poverty and associated hunger and poor health. Also, education and training is often of poor quality and is irrelevant and inappropriate for the needs of rural youth and of the labour market. So although many youth today are more educated than their parent’s generation, they often do not possess employable skills. Even when good education and training are available and youth have been well trained, obstacles still exist, such as social customs (for example, caste and traditional values), lack of support mechanisms and lack of access to capital. Corruption is also a problem, as are structural impediments (institutional and governmental). Also, because youth numbers are growing faster than the rate of job creation, too few decent employment opportunities are available for the number of youth seeking them. The result is that a large number of youth are unemployed or underemployed. Not only do these youth lack income, they lack a means of gaining respect and a sense of belonging in their communities. Inability to find decent employment means youth often find employment in the informal sector, with poor working conditions and pay. Rural youth will often look to urban areas for employment and move to cities that adversely affect the household farming in India.

ABSTRACT

Agriculture is an important economic activity in India, contributing around 50% for the employment generation and 14% to the total gross domestic product (GDP) of the nation. Being a subsistence activity, agriculture shares maximum contribution in the national economy. However, the income generated from agriculture is not sufficient to engage the rural youth in farming profession. Lack of economic incentives coupled with other factors like lack of infrastructure for education, and opportunities for employment lead to the migration of the rural youth to the urban areas. Migration of human population can be both interstate as well as intrastate to establish a new permanent or semi-permanent residence. According to the 2001 census, total number of migrants is 314 million by the last residence. Of these 85% of the migration is intrastate while 13% migration is interstate. Approximately 20 million people have migrated from rural areas to urban areas; the reason for migration was predominantly marriage for females, and employment and education for males. This phenomenon has resulted in decrease in the work force in the villages leading over labour population in urban areas – those results in low wages due to competition and wide spread poverty. The situation becomes worse when the youth drop out from the formal education system and move to the urban areas in search of better employment opportunities. This unskilled labour constitute the labour class in the urban areas, and due to the low wages received by them, they remain economically vulnerable. This situation is aggravated by the biased government policies for the rural youth, lack of awareness and ever spreading poverty. Thus, it is important to understand the factors responsible for the youth migration from rural to urban areas and effect of this migration on both rural and urban economy. This paper highlights the issue of youth migration from rural areas to urban areas in search of better education and employment opportunities and its consequences. Further, the policies are described in brief for the involvement of the rural youth in rural economy.