Ergonomic interventions in weeding operations for drudgery reduction of hill farm women of India

Abstract

Weeding is an important time consuming and drudgery prone task mainly performed by hill farm women for almost all crops grown. This directs for interventions in terms of improved technologies (weeder, kutla and hoes) to relieve women from high energy demands, time spent and associated drudgery particularly for weeding activity. The study was conducted in two hill states of India viz. Himachal Pradesh (35 villages and 1500 representative samples) and Uttrakhand (10 villages and 500 representative samples). Experimental data were conducted on representative sub sample of 60 hill farm women of both states to assess physiological workload and musculo-skeletal problems both while working with traditional tools along with improved tools by employing selected parameters viz. physical fitness level, physiological parameters etc. The results showed that heart rate values were more than acceptable limits for task performed with the traditional tools as compared with improved tools. Significant reduction in the heart rate was observed while working with improved tools. Analysis of MSDs showed that the postural stress and severity of pain in various body parts was reduced by adopting new technology. Hence, the use of improved weeding tools is recommended over the existing ones for drudgery reduction. safety, productivity, efficiency and well being of farm women.

Musculoskeletal Disorders in Agriculture: A Review from Web of Science Core Collection

“…Mechanization, technologically adapted tools, low-vibration machinery and the use of exoskeletons prevent MSDs in agricultural workers (India, Colombia, Malaysia, USA, Canada, Lithuania and New Zealand) [28,[209][210][211][212][213][214][215][216][217][218][219][220]. In turn, the use of artificial intelligence, sensors and automation reduce MSDs (the Philippines, Sweden, Finland, Italy and USA) [221][222][223][224][225].…”

“…Developing countries 1 The use of tools and mechanization in Indian agriculture is recommended [210].…”

Ergonomía Del Trabajo Agrícola en Laderas De Cerro en La Zona Central De Chile: Estudio De Caso en Faenas De Riego

“…En la búsqueda de literatura relativa a ergonomía y agricultura, destacan gran cantidad de trabajos efectuados en la India, estudios de antropometría (Dewangan et al, 2008;Dewangan, Owary & Datta, 2010;Chakrabarti, & Bhattachheriya, 2012) de hombres y mujeres agricultores de sobrevivencia para el diseño de herramientas manuales menos riesgosas, técnicas para controlar el trabajo pesado en mujeres (Kishtwaria & Rana, 2012;Mehta et al, 2008), mediciones de fuerza muscular voluntaria en hombres y mujeres (Dewangan, Gogoi, Owary & Gorate, 2010;Agrawal et al, 2009). Otro aspecto se refiere a la determinación de fuerza voluntaria y antropometría para el diseño de tractores (Tiwari et al, 2010;Mehta et al, 2008), evaluación ergonómica del uso de plataformas mecánicas para la cosecha de frutas en altura (Alves-Costa & Camarotto, 2012).…”

“…Respecto al tema de la agricultura en laderas, se registra un trabajo efectuado en India referente a la carga de trabajo de mujeres en labores de desmalezado manual en cultivos de laderas (Kishtwaria & Rana, 2012). A propósito de los temas ambientales, se evalúa la validez, ambigüedad y facilidad de uso de diferentes estándares de medición de carga térmica en países en vías de desarrollo, y puntualmente en labores agrícolas (McNeill & Parsons, 1999).…”

Small-scale farming and gender-friendly agricultural technologies: the interplay between gender, labour, caste, policy and practice

“…One, which argues in favor of increasing farm efficiency and productivity through the use of labor-saving devices (Gulati et al, 2014;Murali and Balakrishnan, 2012). The other, as a measure to reduce women's drudgery onfarms, who are burdened disproportionately as compared to men (Kishtwaria and Rana, 2012;Mehta et al, 2012).Most of the agricultural technologies literature in India can be classified into three broad categories; namely, a) farm mechanization; b) those relating to modernized agriculture related inputs (seed technologies, chemical inputs); and c) associated agronomic practices. In terms of gendered labor implications, the different sets of scholarships in each of these areas highlight different forms of subjective experiences.…”