Changing behaviour of self help group members: Pathway for sustainable rural livelihoods in Eastern India

The study evaluates the behaviour construct of self help group (SHG) members. Data were solicited from randomly selected 100 SHG members of Patna district, Bihar, India at two point of time (in before and after situation), i e during 2008 and 2013. The behaviour construct developed, consisted of 30 items, for which Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of reliability was observed as 0.82. Data were solicited on three-point continuum, viz. No Change=1, Slightly Changed=2 and Highly Changed=3. The mean values of two situations (before and after situation) were compared (z-statistics) to observe the behavioural change among the SHG members. An improvement of 34.91% between pre (46.09%) and post evaluation (81%) and a significant improvement in behaviour of SHG members was observed, which exemplifies the impact of SHG approach in instilling a positive behavioural orientation. Positive behaviour could play a great role in tackling the issues of rural poverty for improving sustainable livelihood security in eastern India. To achieve this rural livelihoods must assimilate the vital facets like (i) formation and stabilization of SHGs, (ii) pro-poor financial and credit support system, (iii) market-driven and decentralized extension system, (iv) diversification towards high-value enterprises,(v) technological intervention and impact assessment, (vi) media-mix for technology transfer, (vii) frequent educational tour/visits and interaction with other SHGs and research institutes, (viii) developing leadership skills, and (ix) strong political will. Nevertheless, extension system needs to be re-oriented and revitalized with new agricultural knowledge base in emerging technologies and methodologies

CONCEPT OF AHARA (DIET) IN AYURVEDA: A CRITICAL REVIEW

Ahara is first among the three significant pillars of Ayurveda. It means that it is one of the fundamental principles ahead which gives health, happiness and harmony along with the nature. One should regularly take such substances which are conductive to the preservation of good health and are able of avoid the attacks of sickness. Such type of diet is called naturally healthy diet. Ayurveda is science of life. Main aim of Ayurveda is to maintain health of a person. Ahara plays importance role to achieve this target. In the modern times, the ways in which the food is prepared and presented have changed drastically. Because of the rapid swiftness of life style towards urbanization, one can have less access to fresh food. Today, the dependency on packaged and processed food has also increased exceptionally. It definitely has some destructive effect on both mental and physical well-being. Today Due to consumption of unwholesome diet society facing so many types of disease. Here the concept of Ahara according to Ayurveda is described.

Information and Communication Technologies for Sustainable Natural Resource Management

The natural resources of most developing countries are under increasing stress, and many nations are increasingly concerned about achieving environmental sustainability through efficient use of land and water resources. As population is escalating very fast and consumer demand for high value agricultural products (fruits and vegetables, animal or fish products, etc.) is also changing rapidly. Hence, there is need to take stronger step by national government to monitor their natural resources and take immediate steps to maintain these resources when being overused. Data generation by visiting the place physically is tedious and time consuming. Modern ICT techniques provide the solution helpful in collecting data without visiting the place from distance. With development of modern technologies, ICTs are of immense use in Sustainable Natural Resource Management. These technologies are time and money saving, accurate compared to conventional assessment. Products of these technologies help the scientists and policy makers for taking appropriate decision in agriculture production. It is thus important to recognize that the dissemination of these land and water-use management practices are largely knowledge-based; therefore, developing countries will be required to make substantial investment in public extension to train small and medium-scale farmers how to use Sustainable Natural Resource Management (SNRM) practices

Market Oriented Advisory Services through Women Advisory Service Providers in Punjab, India: The Case of value addition through food processing

Inclusion of women in scientific and technological endeavors and realizing women’s intellectual potential is a big challenge as they play a decisive role in many facets of agricultural sector in India. Self-help groups (SHGs) have emerged as an effective mechanism for empowerment through group action. Capacity building through training programmes has a positive impact for motivating the rural women to adopt the food preservation technologies which improved the knowledge level significantly. In pluralistic extension system in India public extension plays an important role. Central Institute of Post-Harvest Engineering & Technology (CIPHET-a unit of Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Ministry of Agriculture, New Delhi), made efforts to support the public extension system through commercialization of processing technologies through social capital, capacity building and transfer of processing technologies among peer members and other rural women. The present case study documents the methods adopted by the Women Advisory Services Providers in providing advisory services to Women Self Help Groups in Punjab state of India in food processing sector and thereby making them socially and economically empowered

Impact of self help groups on attitudes of members

An evaluative study was undertaken for measuring the attitude of self help group (SHG) members. Data were solicited from randomly selected 100 SHG members of Patna district, Bihar at two points of time (before and after), i e during 2008 and 2013. The attitude construct was measured by using a Likert-type scale developed by Meena et al. (2008). The study shows a significant improvement in attitude of SHG members on all the five dimensions, viz. socio-economic upliftment; education and training; marketing and entrepreneurship qualities; technology adoption and participatory research; and banking/credit aspects. This favourable attitude of SHG members could be harnessed through knowledge and skill up gradation for diversification towards high value crops for higher incomes. Market information and infrastructure may be helpful to scale up their production and become competitive in the market. The SHGs could be used as an effective mechanism for technology dissemination to support the public extension system, social and mutual learning, institutionalized process of empowerment, conflict management, participatory extension and sustainable and equitable developmen

Conservation Agriculture: Innovations, Constraints and Strategies for Adoption

Untenable use of factors of production is causing severe land degradation and food insecurity problems especially in developing world. Land degradation threatens the ecosystem health and food security worldwide and will remain high priority on international agenda. Conservation agriculture (CA) innovations offer a new paradigm for agricultural research and development. While examining the total innovation-decision process, one can see how the farmers observe innovations (knowledge), relate to images and message within technological innovations (persuasion), formulate a want for item (decision), actively pursue the desire for item (implementation), and ultimately decide whether future uses of technologies / are desirable (confirmation). The adoption of CA innovations can be facilitated by locally identified and specially trained group leaders or by promoters. For the success, farmers will need to be in forefront for helping in identification, development and deployment of CA innovations. Developing and promoting RCT systems is highly demanding in terms of knowledge base. This will call for greatly enhanced capacity of scientists to address the prevailing problems / constraints from a systems perspective and be able to work in close partnerships with farmers and other stakeholders. There is also need to strengthen the knowledge and information-sharing mechanisms. Improvement in coordination amongst various stakeholders like research, extension service, farmers, service providers, agricultural machinery, and manufacturers for transfer of technologies will play a pivotal role in accelerating the Conservation Agriculture

Fodder Production Scenario and Strategies for Revitalizing Fodder Production Technologies

Livestock production is the backbone of Indian agriculture and also plays a key role in providing employment especially in rural areas. This sector has been the primary source of energy for agriculture operation and major source of animal protein for masses. Therefore, India has been the home of major draught, milch and dual-purpose breeds of cattle. Indian dairy production system is complex and generally based on traditional and socioeconomic considerations. However, there has been a rapid change in way of agriculture (i.e. cropping system, water resources, diversification of crops, intensification of agriculture), increasing use of mechanical power, transformation from sustenance farming to market oriented farming, changing food habits etc., All these factors have their impact on animal husbandry practices. Livestock rearing in India is changing fast and there has been a rise in demand of milch cattle as compared to dual or draught breeds. The paper tries to deal with the issues and strategies for revitalizing fodder production in India

Conservation Agriculture: Innovations, Constraints and Strategies for Adoption

Untenable use of factors of production is causing severe land degradation and food insecurity problems especially in developing world. Land degradation threatens the ecosystem health and food security worldwide and will remain high priority on international agenda. Conservation agriculture (CA) innovations offer a new paradigm for agricultural research and development. While examining the total innovation-decision process, one can see how the farmers observe innovations (knowledge), relate to images and message within technological innovations (persuasion), formulate a want for item (decision), actively pursue the desire for item (implementation), and ultimately decide whether future uses of technologies / are desirable (confirmation). The adoption of CA innovations can be facilitated by locally identified and specially trained group leaders or by promoters. For the success, farmers will need to be in forefront for helping in identification, development and deployment of CA innovations. Developing and promoting RCT systems is highly demanding in terms of knowledge base. This will call for greatly enhanced capacity of scientists to address the prevailing problems / constraints from a systems perspective and be able to work in close partnerships with farmers and other stakeholders. There is also need to strengthen the knowledge and information-sharing mechanisms. Improvement in coordination amongst various stakeholders like research, extension service, farmers, service providers, agricultural machinery, and manufacturers for transfer of technologies will play a pivotal role in accelerating the Conservation Agriculture

Economics of Conservation Agriculture: An Overview

Conservation agriculture / RCT offer a new paradigm for agricultural research and development different from earlier one, which mainly aimed at achieving specific food grains production targets. A shift in paradigm has become a necessity in view of widespread problems of resource degradation, which accompanied past strategies to enhance production with little concern for resource integrity. Integrating concerns of productivity, resource conservation and quality and environment is now fundamental to sustained productivity growth. Developing and promoting CA systems will be highly demanding in terms of knowledge base. This will call for greatly enhanced capacity of scientists to address problems from a systems perspective; be able to work in close partnerships with farmers and other stakeholders and strengthened knowledge and information-sharing mechanisms. CA offers an opportunity for arresting and reversing downward spiral of resource degradation, decreasing cultivation costs and making agriculture more resource-use-efficient, competitive and sustainable. ‘Conserving resources-enhancing productivity’ has to be new mission

Economics of Conservation Agriculture: An Overview

Conservation agriculture / RCT offer a new paradigm for agricultural research and development different from earlier one, which mainly aimed at achieving specific food grains production targets. A shift in paradigm has become a necessity in view of widespread problems of resource degradation, which accompanied past strategies to enhance production with little concern for resource integrity. Integrating concerns of productivity, resource conservation and quality and environment is now fundamental to sustained productivity growth. Developing and promoting CA systems will be highly demanding in terms of knowledge base. This will call for greatly enhanced capacity of scientists to address problems from a systems perspective; be able to work in close partnerships with farmers and other stakeholders and strengthened knowledge and information-sharing mechanisms. CA offers an opportunity for arresting and reversing downward spiral of resource degradation, decreasing cultivation costs and making agriculture more resource-use-efficient, competitive and sustainable. ‘Conserving resources-enhancing productivity’ has to be new mission