eChapters

Potato is an important crop of the world and grown in almost all the states in India. Apart from India, potato is grown in more than 100 countries but the intensity of cultivation varies considerably. For example in the Netherlands 19.6% of the total arable land is cultivated with potatoes. The figures for Germany, Peru and USA are 10.1%, 5.6% and less than 1% respectively. India ranks fourth in area (1.29 m ha) and third in production (25.23 m ton) in the world. The productivity of potato depends mainly on the quality and quantity of planting materials and the agronomic management practices adopted. Most of developing countries including India experience release of high yielding varieties, development of adequate agronomic and pest control measures but the gap between supply and demand of good quality adequate quantity seed has to be the major constraint in increasing its productivity. The seed production in India is mainly confined to the North-Western part both in the hills and the plains, because of favourable weather and low incidence of aphids (vectors responsible for viral diseases) in this regions.

1.1 Introduction

Agriculture and allied sector contributes nearly 18 percent of gross domestic product in Indian economy and more than 70 percent population is dependent on agriculture and allied sector. In this sector, livestock is an integral part and it provides essential commodities and livelihood to the majority of its population. Livestock sector provides sustainability and stability to the national economy by contributing farm energy and food security. During last decade, the annual growth rate for livestock population maintained and in contrast the crop production remained stagnant or increased marginally. Between 1983 and 1999, the per capita consumption of milk increased by 37 percent and meat, egg and fish by 24 percent.

Every nutrient has its specific functions to play in the biological system. As we know there are six nutrients i.e., water, carbohydrate, protein, fat, minerals and vitamins and each of these have different functions, it will be discussed separately for each nutrients.

2.1 Water

Water is the ideal dispersing medium because of its solvent and ionizing powers which facilititates cell reaction and due to its high specific heat which helps to absorb the heat of these reactions with a minimum rise of temperature. Lean adult body contains about 70 percent of water, though the amount varies from embryo to mature animals.

Developments of feeding standards

Feeding standards are statements or quantitative descriptions of amounts of one or more nutrients needed by the body. Since the beginning of nineteenth century, scientists worldwide started formulation of standards for feeing the livestock and poultry and as such with the advancement of science the standards were developed from time to time. For convenience all such standards are grouped under major 
3 headings based on principles of standards. These are comparative type, digestible nutrient system and production value type.

4.1 Ration and balanced ration

A ration is the feed allowed for a given animal during a day of 24 hrs. The feed may be given at a time or in portions at intervals. Balanced ration may be defined as the ration that provides all essential nutrients to the animal in such a proportion and amounts that are required for the nourishment of the particular animal for 24 hrs.

The potential value of any feed for supplying a particular nutrient can be determined by chemical analysis but the actual value of the feed to the animal can arrived at only after making allowances for inevitable losses that occur during digestion, absorption and metabolism. The first tax imposed on feed is that represented by the part of it which is not absorbed and excreted in the feces.

This may be defined as the factor present in feeds/ fodders or trees leaves and impair some aspects of animal metabolism, produce adverse biological effect in animal production. These are referred mostly as toxic factors because of the deleterious effects they produce when taken by the animals. The term ‘toxic factor’ however, is misleading because there is an implication that the substances are lethal beyond certain level of intake.

Diseases of metabolic origin are commonly known as metabolic disease viz., bloat, acidosis, milk fever, hypomagnesimia, pregnancy toxaemia etc. However, few common metabolic diseases encountered in herd/ flock management are discussed in the chapter. Among these diseases bloat, acidosis and ketosis are generally occurs due dysfunction in rumen. In the rumen, microbial fermentation occurs due to unique structures and environment. Microbes converts fibrous feeds which are of no use for human beings to important product viz., milk meat, hair and fibre etc. Some bacteria and protozoa have isolated from rumen by the researchers and with their fermented products and pathways. Name of the fermented products with the products is presented in the following Table 24.

India over several millenniums has been the treasure land of biological wealth, intellectual knowledge and spiritual wisdom. During both pre and post Vedic periods, arts, science and technology had flourished well in various fields. Indian agriculture to some extent is much traditional and dates back to about 10,000 years. India with its traditional crop varieties and crop production technologies was able to feed its population and also exporting some selected produces to other continents. All the Indian villages had been the self sufficient, self sustained and self reliant units. The development of modern agricultural production was achieved by creating large scale specialized farm production units, increased mechanization and use of chemical inputs.

Warren (1987) defined indigenous knowledge as local knowledge, knowledge that is unique to a given culture or society. This knowledge is the information base for the society, which facilitates communication and decision making. Indigenous knowledge is passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth.
 
Carter (1988) while describing the nature of indigenous knowledge indicated that IK is highly localised and restricted. Local environmental factors and cultural conditions govern the revolution of IK these vary between countries, regions and even farm to farm.

This chapter contains the description of the Indigenous Traditional Knowledge practices as subject wise manner viz, Traditional varieties, Crop management, Crop protection measures, Post harvest methods, Storage structures, Farm tools, Medicinal plants, Ethnoveterinary practices, Fisheries and others related to agriculture.

Traditional Varieties

Crop Management Practices
DSIR/TPDU/TIF 056 and E-28-GO-GOI Research Scheme on “Documentation and Preservation of Agricultural Traditional Knowledge through Farmer Participatory Approach”

Crop Protection Measures
DSIR/TPDU/TIF 056 and E-28-GO-GOI Research Scheme on “Documentation and Preservation of Agricultural Traditional Knowledge through Farmer Participatory Approach”

Post Harvest Methods
DSIR/TPDU/TIF 056 and E-28-GO-GOI Research Scheme on “Documentation and Preservation of Agricultural Traditional Knowledge through Farmer Participatory Approach”

Seed Storage Structures
Seed Storage Structure
Kuluppai / Kulumai (Mud Pot)
Th. Gopalakrishnan, 52 years old is residing in A.Edayapatti village in Manapparai taluk of Trichy district. He is educated up to 10^th standard and has agriculture as his primary occupation. He possesses a post harvest storage structure called ‘kuluppai/kulumai’.

It is a storage structure used to store grains, which is suited to all ecosystems. This structure is invented by ancestors and maintained for more than 100 years until now. 

Agricultural Tools
DSIR/TPDU/TIF 056 and E-28-GO-GOI Research Scheme on “Documentation and Preservation of Agricultural Traditional Knowledge through Farmer Participatory Approach”

Medicinal Plants
DSIR/TPDU/TIF 056 and E-28-GO-GOI Research Scheme on “Documentation and Preservation of Agricultural Traditional Knowledge through Farmer Participatory Approach”

Fisheries
DSIR/TPDU/TIF 056 and E-28-GO-GOI Research Scheme on “Documentation and Preservation of Agricultural Traditional Knowledge through Farmer Participatory Approach”

Weeds are the plants which grow where they are not wanted or simply plants growing out of place. A plant may be desirable in one situation and a weed in another situation. Those plants that interfere with human activity in crop and non-crop areas are considered weeds. Weeds compete with crops for soil nutrients, water and light; they host insects and plant pathogens harmful to crop plants, and their root exudates and/or leaf leachates may be toxic to crop plants. Weeds also hinder crop harvest and increase the costs of such operations. In addition, at harvest, weed seeds often contaminate the crop produce. Thus, the presence of weeds in crop areas reduces the efficiency of inputs such as fertilizer and irrigation water, enhances the density of other pest organisms, and finally severely reduces crop yield and quality (Labrada and Parker 1999).  Weeds are serious menace in crop production.

1. Classification of weeds based on life cycle (Ontogony)

(i) Annuals: Weeds that  complete their life cycle within a year or season are called annual weeds. They are associated with annual crops and propagated mainly through seeds. Annual weeds are subdivided according to the season of prevalence as follows:

(a) Kharif season  annuals or Kharif  weeds: The weeds that grow during the summer and complete their life cycle during Kharif or rainy season are called Kharif season annuals or Kharif weeds. The kharif weeds complete their life cycle during the warm wet season (i.e. from the month of June to September) and attain maturity with the onset of winter and finally dies.

Ecology is the inter-relationship between organisms and their environment. Weed ecology is study of inter-relationship between weed and their environmneent. Simply, Ecology of weeds means the inter-relationship of weeds with climate, soil, crops and other biotic factors. Terrestrial weed species persist in the soil by virtue of dormant structures, typically seeds or vegetative perennating organs such as rhizomes, tubers and taproots. In dense infestations, the banks of seeds or underground meristems from which new plants may be recruited into adult populations can be exceptionally large. Rao (1968) estimated that in Cyperus rotundus L. tuber populations of 10 million per hectare were possible, whilst Soerjani (1970) calculated that Imperata cylindrica may annually produce six tones of rhizomes per hectare. Typically seed banks of annual weeds in arable soils contain from 1000-10,000 seeds per m2whilst in grassland the upper limit to this range may extend at least to 1 million per m² (Mortimer 1994).

Weeds have some characteristics as follows:

    1.    Weeds are hardy and can grow under adverse edaphic (Soil), climatic and biotic condition.
      Example: Lantana camera,Eupatorium adoratum etc.

    2.    Weeds in general prolific with abundant seed production potentialities.
        Example: Amaranthus viridis, Chenopodium album etc.

No plant in the earth is completely worthless. Weeds have also some beneficial effects although they do much harm in different ways. The beneficial effects of weeds are as follows:

    1.    Most of weeds absorbs nutrient from the deeper layer of soil. When such weeds are incorporated in the soil, they add organic matter content of the soils. As a result, the fertility of plough layer from where plants absorb most of their nutrients is enriched.

    2.    Weeds help in controlling erosion by the soil binding effects of their roots and by forming a living mulch, which resist beating action of rain drops and sweeping action of wind.

Dispersal means the spreading of weeds from one place to another place. Dispersable of weeds generally takes place through seeds and vegetative parts. Dispersal of mature seeds and live vegetative parts of weeds is nature’s way of providing non-competitive sites to new individuals.

    (a)    Dispersal of weeds through seeds: Seeds are protector and propagator of their kind. Weeds seeds remain viable for a long time and their dispersable mainly takes place through natural and human agencies.

There are some weeds which prefer to in crop field and some of them have a distinct association with some crops.

Weeds interfere with man’s utilization of land and water in various ways. The extent of losses depends on the intensity, infestation, time of occurance and type of weeds.

1. Competition between weeds and crops for growth factors

Weeds compete with crop plants for  other factors in the micro-enviroment. Weeds are capable of absorbing more amount of nutrient from soil than the crop plants. In dry lands, weeds exhaust the soil moisture and put the crop under water stress earlier and thus reduce the yield. Weed can compete with productive crop or pasture land or convert the productive land into unusable scrub. Weeds are also often poisonous, produce burrs, thorn or other damaging body parts or otherwise interfere with the use and managemet of desirable plants by contaminating  harvest or excluding livestock.

Plant competition is a powerful force for the elimination of some weaker plants. Plants require nutrients, water, light, Oxygen and Carbondioxide for their growth and development. Weeds compete with the crop for growth factors and the competition is maximum at the early growth stages of the crop. But the competiting ability of the weeds becomes practically nil as soon as the crops attain maturity. Weeds need more nutrients and water than the crop plants. The weeds in general grow faster and shade the crop plant if they are not controlled at proper time and afterwards interfere in the growth of crop plant. Weeds have allelopathic effect on crop growth. Some weeds excrete certain chemicals into the soil which inhibit the germination and growth of other plants in their vicinity and the phenomenon is called allelopathy. Allelopathy is defined as the direct or indirect harmful effects of one plant on another plant through the production of chemical compounds that escape in the environment.

Weed control methods may be classified into two groups as follows:

    1.    Preventive method
    2.    Curative or remedial measures. Curative measures are sub-divided into eradication and control.

(a) Preventive Methods

Prevention is the measures taken to prevent the introduction or spread  of the weeds to new areas and to check the infestation prior to the germination of weed seeds. To achieve this, a wise step to be followed the principle- “Prevention is better than cure”.

A single active ingredient often is sold in several different kinds of formulations as follows:

(a) Dry Formulations
1. Granule (G)

Granule is, a ready-to-use, dry mixture of a small amount of active ingredient with inert carriers. Most are made by applying a liquid formulation of the active ingredient to coarse particles (granules) of some porous material such as clay, sand or plant material. Granule particles are much larger than dust particles; will pass through a 4-mesh sieve but not through an 80-mesh sieve (the number of wires per inch). The herbicide is absorbed into the granule, or coats the outside of it, or both. Inert ingredients may be added to make the formulation handle well. The amount of active ingredient usually ranges from 1 to 15 percent.

Aquatic weeds are those unwanted plants which grow in water and complete at least a part of their life cycle in water. Aquatic weed problem is a global one but more pronounced in tropical and subtropical zones, where warm weather supports profuse growth of aquatic plants. In India, large irrigation projects have been reported to be adversely affected by profusely growing aquatic weeds, that block canals reducing water flow by as much as four-fifths. (Dr. K.T. Chandy,  2010).

1. Harmful Effects of Aquatic Weeds

The important harmful effects of aquatic weeds are as follows
 
    (i)    The aquatic weeds mainly Submerged, immersed, and marginal weeds in and along irrigation canals, ditches, and drainage channels impede water flow, increase evaporation, cause damage to canals and structures and clogs gates, siphons, valves, sprinkler heads, bridge piers, pumps, etc.

(1) Striga
 
Striga, commonly known as witchweed or witches weed, is a genus of parasitic plants that occur naturally in parts of Africa, Asia, and Australia. Witchweeds are characterized by bright-green stems and leaves and small, brightly colored and attractive flowers, Striga has been given the common name of “witchweed” because of attaching to the roots and robbing the host of water and nutrients. The genus Striga (Family: Scrophulariaceae) includes a large number of tropical parasitic or hemi-parasitic plants as follows

The mode of action is the overall manner in which a herbicide affects a plant at the tissue or cellular level. The mode of action is the way in which the herbicide controls susceptible plants. It usually describes the biological process or enzyme in the plant that the herbicide interrupts, affecting normal plant growth and development. Herbicide may act on the life process of plant and dislodge the normal functioning of plants resulting in the death of plants. Herbicides  do damage of plants by inhibiting the biological process of plant as follows:

Herbicides degrade over time. The persists of herbicides is dependent on several factors including light, temperature, and substrate moisture. Several processes are responsible for herbicide degradation and include the following:

    1.    Photodegradation: The decomposition of herbicides caused by duration or intensity of sunlight is called as Photodegradation. Photodegradation occurs when ultraviolet (UV) light breaks chemical bonds of the herbicide active ingredient. Secondary molecules resulting from the cleavage of the parent molecule are generally less effective in providing weed control. Herbicides such as Monuron, Trifluralin, PCP, Chloramben etc are prone to photodegradation. So these herbicides should be applied in evening or incorporated in to the soil just after application in order of avoiding photodegradation.

Herbicides are applied to the soil in hopes of obtaining season-long weed control. It is desirable for the chemicals to control weeds during the season of application, but they should not remain long enough to affect subsequent crop growth.

    1.    Selection of herbicides: The type of herbicide and the method of application can influence the extent of the residual carryover. Herbicides differ in their physical and chemical properties such as water solubility, volatility and susceptibility to breakdown by sunlight, and microbes. When applied at recommended rates, most herbicides breakdown within a few days or weeks after application and impose no restrictions on cropping options in the next year. Some herbicides however do not degrade quickly and can persist in the soil for weeks, months or years following application. The use of residual herbicides can be beneficial as the residues prevent growth of sensitive weed species throughout the season. These residues however can restrict the crops that can be grown in rotation. Some herbicides can remain active in the soil for weeks, months or years. This can be an advantage as it ensures good long term weed control. However, if the herbicide stays in the soil longer than intended, it may damage sensitive crop or pasture species sown in subsequent years. For example, chlorsulfuron is used in wheat (Triticum sp) and barley (Hordeum vulgore), but can remain active in the soil for several years and damage legumes and oilseeds.

1. Herbicide –herbicide interaction

Herbicides cause some effects as follow:

(i) Synergistic: Synergism is defined as the cooperative action of different chemicals in a mixture such that the total effect is greater than the sum of the independent effects (Green et al., 1997). In relation to herbicides, the total  induced by an herbicide mixture is greater than the sum of the responses by each herbicide alone (Anderson, 1996). Synergistic  is often used to describe the effect of drugs working together — where one drug increases the other’s effectiveness. Synergy is the interaction of multiple elements in a system to produce an effect different from or greater than the sum of their individual effects.

There streams of thought are presented in this paper:

One, that rural women are not only the warriors, creative actors in the agricultural scene, or rural areas, but also the urban poor, the  migrants , the homeless, the source of labour supply into the expanding urban spaces, including trafficking.
 
I would then argue [two] that this spread of the location of “rural women” is the phenomena that we should now look at, the connectivity between the old divisions of rural and urban, as it indicates the pressures that the current development paradigms operating in our countries, is putting on the RURAL … and therefore that we should look at the macroeconomic policies that are in place, globally and regionally and  nationally.

Abstract

In this investigation the low dose effects of pesticides were analyzed both in vitro and in vivo in peripheral blood samples from healthy donors and also in farmers occupationally exposed to pesticides. In vitro studies were conducted to assess the toxicity caused by commonly used pesticides like monocrotophos, profenofos, chlorpyriphos, endosulfan, acephate on lymphocytes from peripheral blood samples. In almost all experiments we could determine chromosomal aberrations and DNA damage at 1/10th of LC50 dosage of the pesticides. For analyzing the in vivo effects, epidemiological studies were conducted in pesticide exposed agricultural workers. The 200 exposed volunteers suffered from fever, nausea, headache and other abnormal symptoms and visited the hospital for general health check-up. These cases were taken up for more detailed studies. Five of them (2.5%) showed decrease in RBC, haemoglobin, and increase in WBC with a large number of immature cells. These volunteers were further diagnosed as Philadelphia negative Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) cases based on clinical and pathological examinations. In similar environs, about 3% of the exposed children showed signs of mental retardation and delayed milestones. It is therefore, concluded that clinical evaluations supported by occupational epidemiology could determine CML in exposed individuals (adults). At low doses we have traced the effect of pesticides at molecular level.

Abstract

The paper examines some important issues of gender inequity in Agriculture. The issues are women’s contribution to agricultural GDP and their access to agricultural resources such as land, water, credit and technology. The paper also examines gender discrimination in agricultural wages. The paper is in three parts. The first part examines the contribution of women to agriculture in terms of time spent by women on activities and number of women engaged in productive agricultural activities with the help of the data from time use surveys and the National Sample Survey Organization’s Reports and the 2001 census. The second part of the paper then analyses Women’s poor access to land, water, credit and technology that reduces their productivity. The second part also elaborates how the women’s work is undervalued in the economy resulting in a huge amount of unpaid work in family agricultural enterprises and low wages in paid work. The third part explicitly elaborates the adverse consequences of such imbalance in terms of misallocation of resources to unsustainable agricultural production as against sustainable production.

Abstract

Several methods of composting are in practice in India such as the anaerobic pit composting, Indore method, NADEP method, bio dung method and vermicomposting. Wastes at the domestic, community and industrial level, can be converted to compost as a viable solution in solid waste management, as well as compost production as a viable micro-enterprise functioning as income generation program. Agricultural waste and residues are an excellent resource for composting at rural centres. Beneficial use of this compost in organic farming as well as in soil bioremediation has been well proven.

Abstract

Nutrition is basic to sustainable development being concerned with ensuring food at all times in terms of quality and quantity. As a bridge between food and health it interlinks several variables such as environment and protection from illness and disease, which helps to lead to an optimal quality life. Despite the substantial progress made in India’s food production, serious nutritional challenges continue to threaten her development in human resource development more so rural women are particularly vulnerable to malnutrition. Poor nutritional status of women during adolescence and their resultant vulnerability to anaemia during pregnancy contributes to a higher level of low birth weight children and if it happens to be girl child then the vicious cycle continues. Although food is available through markets at the district and village level, food security at the house hold level becomes a challenge because of lack of purchasing power. Women contribute significantly to agriculture production; on an average their contribution will be around 55-65 per cent. Hence, conscious effort is needed to develop an intervention strategy. One such strategy would be empowerment of women through transfer of technology, which will help in income generation especially during lean agriculture seasons. Priority areas in the field of nutrition for technology transfer would be processing, preservation and value addition of agro based crops. However, training is required for skill upgrading and capacity building of women.

Abstract

Peri-urban horticulture is fast catching on as a viable business proposition. Participation of women is envisaged as a significant input in such an enterprise. Tissue culture propagation or ‘’Micro propagation’ is a good candidate in this context among several biotechnologies available today. Micro propagation as a means of rapidly multiplying plants in a relatively small space irrespective of the season of the year has steadily gained popularity. Planting material in horticultural crops like banana and several other vegetatively propagated crops like ornamentals is in perpetual demand and can be met economically if women launched micro propagation as a peri-urban cottage industry. As against low rates of multiplication with conventional technologies, it is possible to raise thousands of propagules from a single starter-culture in a year’s time using newer technologies. Details of setting up the industry on a home-scale and participation of women in peri-urban areas in this enterprise are discussed in this plenary talk.

Abstract

Bio-intensive pest management modules have been developed by the Project Directorate of Biological Control (PDBC) for management of pests on cotton, sugarcane, rice, citrus and several other crops. These modules lay emphasis on release of bio-control agents like parasitoids, predators and pathogens and reducing chemical pesticide applications to the possible extent. The pre-requisite of any bio-control programme is to have a large-scale supply of beneficial agents. It is at this juncture that women can play a major role. If the biocontrol strategy has to become popular, there should be reliable sources, which can assure timely and adequate supply of quality bio-agents for large-scale field releases. It would be most appropriate to educate farm-women on the importance of natural enemies and to provide them with incentives to start bioagent production units. Again, if the concept of biological control with the involvement of women has to succeed, massive educational programmes should be initiated. Women can become active participants at the village level mass production units, which could cater to the needs of farmers of different regions of our country. This could solve the problems encountered in long distance shipment of bio-agents. Besides creating awareness among women, these insectaries/production units can provide job opportunities for the rural and urban women.

Abstract

Scarcity of resources, economic deprivation, gender bias in wages, prevention from decision making and using income generated by farm activities has made life miserable and unjustifiably hard for rural women. The plight of rural women can be improved by dissemination of latest technologies in agriculture, creating small entrepreneurial outlets for agri-based products, networking of support services for women, development of new and adoption of drudgery reducing technologies, improvement in rural infrastructure to improve the life style and to promote entrepreneurial opportunities, better access to resources, organizing women’s co-operative movement, larger role in decision making, mandatory involvement of women in all agencies and organizations involved in rural development, feedback and follow up of women’s programmes and recognizing the success of rural women by government and its highlighting by media.

Abstract

Although women were not recognized as essential components of Agriculture for a long time, of late due recognition has been given to the role of women in agricultural production and steps have been taken to bring more and more women farmers into main stream, through Shree Shakthi Sanghas and Self Help Groups for women. Special projects aided by outside agencies and voluntary organizations such as WYTEP, IRDP, TRYSEM, DWCRA etc. provide training to farm women.These operations include selection and treatment of seed, protection of the seed or plant material, land preparation, application of manures and fertilizers, sowing or planting, nursery raising, irrigation, weeding, earthing up, pinching or thinning, training and pruning top dressing, plant protection, harvesting, transport and post-harvest operations such as threshing, winnowing, sieving, cleaning, drying, grading, packing and storage, joining hands with men etc. They also do marketing and disposal of the produce. For household use they take care in hulling, flowering, pounding etc.

Abstract

Women become major players in creating sustainable livelihood in rural areas. Though they are the major work force compared to men in agriculture and allied areas, they are considered as invisible entity. Their contribution in total labour force itself is about 55 to 60 per cent. They play multiple roles both in and outside the home by ensuring food security and substantiating nutritional security to the family as a whole. Empowering these women with knowledge and skill to take up vocational income generating activities is prime need of the hour. Further, building their capacities on managerial skills, decision making, and technical competency is also equally important area of concern.

Abstract

One of the major distinctive agriculture extension concepts is the Intensive Agricultural Development Village concept or Village Adoption System, where in the Extension Guides who are working at taluk level select a suitable village and disseminate the need based and innovative technologies released by the University. In this connection Extension Education Unit of University of Agricultural Sciences at Mangalore has adopted Irvathur and Renjala villages of Karkala taluk in Udupi district and several educational activities like Field Trials, Result Demonstration, FLD, Block Demonstration and Integrated Farming System Demonstrations were carried out. Training programmes were conducted on Vermiculture, Dairy farming, Paddy cultivation, Cashew demonstration, IPM on Areca nut, Coconut etc., Besides establishing Milk Producer’s Co-operative Societies in the villages, the key programme observed in the village was Vermiculture. To start with, Vermiculture was tried with one farm woman with 100 worms.

Abstract

Jasmine production in coastal Karnataka was confined to only few farmers with some specified pockets of coasted belt. Only a hand full of farm women in Belman, Manchakal areas were cultivating jasmine successively. The scientists of Extension Education Unit (EEU), Mangalore Campus of University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore visited the area and conducted a Survey during September 2001 and gathered information about farmers practicing jasmine production in the area and came out with some success stories from the jasmine growing belt. The jasmine market was studied especially the demand for jasmine flowers (Udupi Mallige). It was observed that there was huge demand for Udupi Mallige. The extension specialists conducted training programmes in different locations in the coastal belt of Karnataka which are not traditional jasmine cultivated areas. As a result the technology has spread to the entire coastal belt. At present farm women are supporting themselves soley by cultivating jasmine in an area of 3-5 cents with a minimum of 20 bushes. Further, the KVK’s which are working in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts are also working in this direction through On Farm Testing, Frontline Demonstration, Off campus and On campus training.  Since it involves only women labourers, it is one of the most important and viable subsidiary as well as main occupation of the women folk in the district

INTRODUCTION

In the history of human development, woman has been as important as man. In fact, the status, employment and work performed by women in society is the indicator of a nation’s overall progress. Without the participation of women in national activities, the social, economical or political progress of a country will stagnate. Empowerment is a multi-dimensional process, which should enable women to realize their full identity and power in all spheres of life. It consists of greater access to knowledge and resources, greater autonomy in decision making to enable them to have greater ability to plan their lives, or to have greater control over the circumstances that influence their lives and free from shocks imposed on them by customs, beliefs and practices. Generally development with justice is expected to generate the forces that lead to empowerment of various sections of women and to raise their status.

Abstract

Various studies put the percent of rural women engaged in agriculture and related activities in India around 65-70%. A majority of them are from economically and socially deprived category and qualify as “poor” or below poverty line. In rural India women play the role of agricultural labourer, fuel gatherer, food provider and home maker. Both central and state governments have framed and implemented various programmes to improve the living conditions of rural people. Measures have also been taken to provide employment and alleviate poverty. Generally these programmes fall into the category of wage employment, self-employment, housing and habitat development, and watershed development programmes. The last mentioned focuses on various water supply schemes to the rural poor and socially deprived. These programmes are evaluated in this paper. Although they are intended to benefit all the poor and jobless in rural Karnataka, the benefits reach women too because of their role as homemakers and food providers. Be it wage earned or drinking water or shelter, these programmes, if implemented sincerely, make the life of farm women less laborious and more comfortable.