Central Rice Research Institute Annual report...2011-12

supplied in the seed chain. In order to find appropriate
substitution to the old variety Swarna, demonstrations
were conducted to show the yield potential of Pooja,
Satyakrishna and Swarna Sub-1. The average yield per
hectare as found out were 5.55 t ha -1 , 4.37 t ha -1 and 5.30
t ha -1 for Pooja, Satyakrishna and Swarna Sub-1, respectively.
The variety Swarna as reported from the adjacent
local plots yielded less than the said varieties by
44%, 16.66%, and 16.67%, respectively. Evaluations
made by farmers on the varieties revealed that the grains
of Satyakrishna did not remain intact after milling
which was a cause of concern for the farmers. The rubber
sheller facility was not available for the farmers of
the locality. Although Swarna Sub-1 is recommended
for flash flood situations, its performance in the rainfed
situation was taken up basing on the demand of the
farmers. Farmers expressed their satisfaction on the
performance of the variety due to its higher yield over
Swarna and less susceptibility to pests and diseases.
Assessment of effectiveness of KVK
programmes on sustainable development of
farmers
A study was conducted in two KVK adopted villages
i.e., Sanimula and Garada in Jagatsinghpur district
of Odisha to assess the impact of OFTs on rice in
effecting changes in knowledge level of farmers. The
study was taken up in a before-after experimental design
with no control group. Efforts were made to ensure
effective participation of farmers in the trials conducted
by KVK, Jagatsinghpur. Out of farmers having
participation in the OFTs, 30 respondents were selected
randomly. The knowledge level of the respondents
wasassessed on three major aspects viz, crop management,
insect pest and disease management and weed
management before and after the trials.
The findings revealed that there were remarkable
changes in knowledge level of farmers in all the three
aspects due to their participation in the on-farm trials
(Table 49). The pre-participation mean knowledge level
increased from 26.5% to 86.1% indicating an overall
gain of 59%. A tangible impact of the OFT was that the
rice variety ‘Varshadhan’ – the technology tested in the
OFT, was subsequently adopted by cent percent of the
respondents.
Gender Issues in Rice Farming
Income generating opportunities for tribal and
disadvantaged farmwomen through
entrepreneurship development on rice-based
farming system
An action research on empowerment of tribal
women engaged in rice-based farming activities was
conducted in Balasore district of Odisha. One hundred
twenty farmwomen from three villages were selected
through random sampling. They were organized into
twelve Self Help Groups consisting of 10 members in
each group. Eight income generating activities in ricebased
farming systems were selected for empowering
women depending on the capacities and opportunities
they had. Extension methods viz., group approach,
training, demonstration and advisory services were
organized for the group on the identified interventions.
The results of major income generating activities
taken up by the farmwomen revealed that most of the
respondents had taken up ‘integration of other crops
viz., oilseeds, pulses and vegetables after rice’ which
ranked first. The other income generating activities taken
up by the respondents in descending order were ‘preparation
of different value added products from rice’‘fish
farming along with other crops’, ‘kitchen gardening’,
‘livestock rearing’, ‘dal making’, ‘extraction of oil from
available oilseeds’ and ‘mushroom cultivation’ (Table
50).
An index to measure the extent of empowerment
was developed by identifying nine relevant indicators
viz., education, land ownership, ownership of other
assets (other than land), control over income contributed
by her to the family, control over the income of the
Table 49. Distribution of respondents according to their mean knowledge level before and after participation
in OFTs
Pre-exposure Post-exposure Change in
Areas mean knowledge mean knowledge mean knowledge
Crop management(0-25 score) 7.0 (28.0) 22.5 (89.9) 15.5 (61.9)
Insect pest & disease management(0-13 score) 3.0 (23.3) 10.7 (82.3) 7.6 (58.7)
Weed management(0-12 score) 3.2 (26.9) 9.9 (82.2) 6.6 (55.3)
Overall knowledge levels(0-50 score) 13.3 (26.5) 43.0 (86.1) 29.8 (59.5)
(Figures in the parentheses indicate percentage)
98 CRRI ANNUAL REPORT 2011-12