Impact analysis of women centric technological interventions in rural dairy farming

Abstract

Women continue to lack adequate access to extension, technology, market and credit despite their active involvement in major activities of crop and dairy farming. ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Karnal implemented a research project titled, “Empowerment of farm women through livestock technologies” during 2015-2017. Two women groups were formed in Pingli and Jundla villages of Karnal district, Haryana, India with 20 members in each group to facilitate the technology diffusion in dairy farming based on their identified needs, interests, preferences and level of knowledge and skill through participatory approach. The impact of interventions was assessed based on pre and post interventions by developing a set of indicators for each intervention in 2018. The findings revealed that the farm women not only gained economic returns due to introduced technologies, but also motivated fellow farm women to adopt the use of cream separator, supplementing yeast in cattle feed, mechanical lassi maker/butter churn, pouch making machine, preparation of value added dairy products for home consumption and marketing, cultivation of bajra napier for throughout the year fodder supply, cultivation of berseem fodder variety BL-42, head load manager for carrying fodder and dung and chaff cutter with safety net. These technologies were found to significantly increase their work efficiency, reduce drudgery and contribute to additional income among the adopted families. A participatory approach and convergence of development agencies would facilitate farm women empowerment and serve as role model for fellow women in dairy farming.