Knowledge Level of Tribal Farmers on Processing of Non-Timber Forest Products in Meghalaya, India

Abstract

The study entitled “Knowledge Level of Tribal Farmers on Processing of Non-Timber Forest Products in Meghalaya” aimed to explore the knowledge level of tribal farmers regarding the processing of NTFPs, to find out the relationship between knowledge and profile characteristics of tribal farmers and to enlist the constraints faced by the tribal farmers in two districts of Meghalaya i.e., East Khasi Hills and Ri Bhoi district, with respondents from eight villages. An ex-post facto research design was followed and based on the availability of NTFPs in the villages and dependency, a total of 160 participants belonging to Khasi tribes were purposively selected for data collection using pre-tested interview scheduled. The study revealed a mean knowledge score of 28.17 with a half-standard deviation of 1.48. Among the respondents, more than two third i.e., 68.75 per cent had low to medium knowledge and 31.25 per cent demonstrated high knowledge levels. Correlation analysis revealed significant positive relationship between knowledge level and educational status, material possession, annual income, extension contacts and scientific orientation at the 0.01 level of significance. Marketing pattern and market orientation showed significance at the 0.05 level, while fatalism exhibited a negative correlation at the same level. The top three constraints faced by tribal farmers were insufficient infrastructure for processing and storage, lack of adequate knowledge and difficulties in accessing markets due to remote locations and poor transportation networks which need policy interventions by the concerned governmental bodies or agencies including departments or ministries of agriculture, rural development, food processing and transportation.