Means for retaining farming communities in semiarid regions of Gujarat state

Abstract

SUMMARY :Developmental programme are carried out to support small holder farming communities for their livelihood. The research study was conducted in Panchmahal district of Gujarat to understand the nature of agricultural system, socio-economic status, cropping and livestock rearing pattern for implementing suitable interventions. It was found that agriculture productivity was less intensive and majority of farmers had inclination towards rearing of buffaloes. Majority of the respondents did not have higher level of education and had an average 4.35 acres of land for cultivation. The system of feeding is mostly stall fed and did not found any significant impact over milk yield of animals in comparison with grazing system. The milk co-operative societies played greater role for monetary incentive among most of the respondents. It is suggested that the nature of feeding system, changing preference to rearing of livestock, agricultural cultivation and dependence of dairy societies by smallholders need to be given adequate consideration in promoting location specific technologies. How to cite this article :

Assessing behaviour of farmers in linking to village institution: dairy society’s perspective from semiarid regions, Gujarat, India

“…This had created stress on natural resources, changing lifestyle and prevalence of diseases affecting livestock. However, poor availability of quality livestock service has been a constraint (Ravikumar & Chander, 2011).Adopting low cost locally available technological alternatives may be sustainable in such smallholder system (Ravikumar et al, 2015). Thus accessing financial service and technology through such service improvise household income .…”

“…These institutions enable farmers to seek information and such interactions indirectly make them toinitiative driven individuals (Hansen, 2015). Ravikumar et al (2015) indicated that for improvising livelihood strategies in semiarid regions role of dairy cooperative societies need to be focussed.…”

Community Oriented Ectoparasite Intervention System: Concepts for On-Farm Application of Indigenous Veterinary Medication

“…Many developmental activities are carried out to support farming communities for their livelihood (Ravikumar et al, 2015a). Animal husbandry departments cater to health service for enhancing or sustaining productivity of livestock.…”

“…In Indian context only 5.1 percent of farming community could access information on animal husbandry (Chander et al, 2010). It was amply illustrated that under smallholder production system location specific technologies need to be considered with support of livestock owners (Ravikumar et al, 2015a;Gaikwad et al, 2015). Hence, an alternative approach is needed wherein clients should themselves assess the technology for its wider adoption.…”

People's Knowledge for Addressing Societal Needs: Lessons Learnt while Engaging Farming Communities as a Part of Research System

“…This is more pertinent in rain-fed areas, wherein larger variations in agro-ecological and socio-economic conditions were noticed in short distances (Vandenban and Hawkins, 1998). The type of feeding system, preference to livestock species, method of cultivation and dependence on dairy societies by smallholders in these regions needs to be given adequate attention while promoting location-specific technologies (Ravikumar et al, 2015a). It is ideal to unearth the tacit knowledge of knowledge holders for innovation promotion activities of traditional knowledge system.…”