Samastipur District Research Articles

Socio-economic profile and training needs of beekeepers in Samastipur district of Bihar

Bee benefit, the plants not only increasing their yield, but also improve crop quality since beekeeping does not compete for inputs with other farming or crop, it is an ideal programme for integration. Keeping the importance of beekeeping a study was undertaken to find out the socio-economic and psychological profile and training needs of beekeepers. The study highlighted that majority of the respondents belonged to middle to young age group, medium to high level of family education, socioeconomic status, innovativeness and risk bearing capacity. The results also showed that majority of respondents had low to medium level of extension contact and size of land holding, respectively. In respect to training needs of beekeepers in different areas, it was found highest in protection of bee pests, diseases and other hazards followed by the business of bees, beehive products and their extraction, processing and medicinal values, management of bee colonies during different seasons and essential operations.

Constraints faced by elected women village Panchayat members in role performance

Women have been an integral part of social structure not only because their importance in the perpetuation of human race but also by virtue of their significant contribution in socio-economic progress. Despite this, time and again they have been subjected to discrimination due to gender bias and have been denied equality of status and opportunities in social economic and political spheres of life. The present study was an effort to know the profile of elected women village Panchayat members and constraints faced by elected women Panchayat members in role performance. Total seventy five women representatives randomly selected from Pusa and Kalyanpur block of Samastipur district in Bihar. The study reveals that majority of the women members of the Gram Panchayat were within 35 years of age (73.33%), 46.66 per cent of respondents were from forward caste, a large majority (98.66 % and 97.33%) of EWVPMs were married and were housewives only, respectively, personally possessed low (up to 8 standard) level of education (48.0%) and also had high family education (29.33%). They by and large enjoyed a nuclear family (64.00%) but the majority had 3-5 members (42.66%), these respondents owned land up to 2.5 acre (58.66%) and lived with low material possession (84.0%). The family income of more than half of the members (64.0%) of respondents had low income group below 20,000 annually, having as many as (42.66%) of the members had mixed house (76.0%) of respondents had not membership of any social institution. Out of 11 constraints of role performance by EWVPMs, 8 viewed as most serious were lack of resources for development work (90.66%), lack of fund on time for carrying out the work of the projects (88.00%), lack of knowledge to the members (82.66%), nonavailability of persons well versed with the rural projects (80.0%), lack of interest in Mukhiya for developmental works (80.0%), carelessness among villagers for development works (74.66%) lack of education among Panchayat members (69.33%) and bribery and misappropriation of funds (54.66%). The maximum number of EWVPMs considered economical constraints to be acting as the greatest hindrance in the way of their role performance (93.33%).

Community participated management of chaur (floodplain) fisheries: A case study of mahisar chaur in Samastipur district of Bihar, India

Mahisar chaur, situated in north-eastern part of Samastipur district of Bihar, is spread over 607.29 ha area with an average water depth of 2.5-3 m. The chaur was flood prone and remained inundated with water for most part of the year and hence was not suitable for agriculture. With collective efforts of land owners, a drainage canal along with sluice gate was constructed to manage the flow of water in the chaur to take up both the agriculture and fishery enterprises in the chaur. Now the chaur is being successfully utilized for fishery by a cooperative society of land owners during the period of water logging (June/July to October) and for agriculture, by individual farmers during November to April. The present study investigated into income and employment generation and management practices of chaur (floodplain) in Samastipur (Bihar), India for suggesting suitable measures to improve production and productivity from the resource. For the purpose, primary data was collected from 60 sample respondent by personal interview method with the help of pre-tested questionnaire specially designed for the study. Fishery and agriculture was the two enterprises undertaken by land owners in the chaur. During rainy season when entire chaur isinundated with water fisheries is practised with community participation while agriculture is practiced during rabi season by individual farmers on their land holdings. Cropping intensity in chaur was 199.05 percent which indicate about two time use of same area for different economic activity. The overall net income from both the agriculture and fishery in chaur was INR 43,041.94 (US$ 791.08) per hectare per annum and employment generation was 78.11 man days per hectare per annum. The contribution of agriculture in total income was 69.52 percent while that of fisheries was 30.48 percent. Retention of water in central part of the chaur for rearing of juveniles caught during draining out of chaur may improve fish productivity which in turn may increase income and employment opportunity and share of fisheries in total income.

Arsenic and other elements in drinking water and dietary components from the middle Gangetic plain of Bihar, India: Health risk index

This study investigates the level of contamination and health risk assessment for arsenic (As) and other elements in drinking water, vegetables and other food components in two blocks (Mohiuddinagar and Mohanpur) from the Samastipur district, Bihar, India. Groundwater (80%) samples exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline value (10μg/L) of As while Mn exceeded the previous WHO limit of 400μg/L in 28% samples. The estimated daily intake of As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn from drinking water and food components were 169, 19, 26, 882, 4645, 14582, 474, 1449 and 12,955μg, respectively (estimated exposure 3.70, 0.41, 0.57, 19.61, 103.22, 324.05, 10.53, 32.21 and 287.90μg per kg bw, respectively). Twelve of 15 cooked rice contained high As concentration compared to uncooked rice. Water contributes (67%) considerable As to daily exposure followed by rice and vegetables. Whereas food is the major contributor of other elements to the dietary exposure. Correlation and principal component analysis (PCA) indicated natural source for As but for other elements, presence of diffused anthropogenic activities were responsible. The chronic daily intake (CDI) and health risk index (HRI) were also estimated from the generated data. The HRI were >1 for As in drinking water, vegetables and rice, for Mn in drinking water, vegetables, rice and wheat, for Pb in rice and wheat indicated the potential health risk to the local population. An assessment of As and other elements of other food components should be conducted to understand the actual health hazards caused by ingestion of food in people residing in the middle Gangetic plain.

Impact of bee keeping training on socio-economic status of rural women

Bee keeping is an ideal activity for the socio-economic development of rural people. It does not require any sophisticated equipments and the technology employed is simple and within easy grasp of illiterate rural people. The study was conducted in Pusa block of Samastipur district selected purposively. A list of women trainees, who have obtained from Apiculture Research Training Centre, Pusa. From these lists 50 trained women were randomly selected who have attained seven days duration of training programme. Equal no of untrained women beekeepers, who have not undergone any skill oriented training, were also selected randomly, to serve as control group. Hence, trained from seven village selected for this study. The majority of trained as well as untrained women belonged to middle age group as (31-50years). Bee keeping was adopted by most of the backboard cost it was not influenced caste system of the society. Most of the trained women were belonged to high category of education while untrained women, maximum 50.00 per cent of respondents belonged to low level of education. Maximum percentage of trained as well as untrained respondents were enjoyed in laborer followed by farming, business and service, respectively bee keeping was adopted by most of the small family size. Most of the rural women preferred nuclear family and also it is in product. The maximum respondents do not possess any land in both groups hence they have opted divested to words bee keeping occupation for this livelihood. The percentages of women in for categories were more or less same in two groups i.e., trained and untrained. Maximum respondents had lived in pucca house and enjoy with traditional materials like radio, chair, cycle, watch indicating medium level of economic in study village. Both of groups one almost similar with respect to social participation. Bee keeping training might have somehow or the other helped in developing compel, tines among the trained group. As for as economic motivation trained as well as untrained women maximum percentage fell under the medium economic motivation category.

Acceptability and utility of an innovative feeding toolkit to improve maternal and child dietary practices in Bihar, India.

Dietary practices in India often fail to provide adequate nutrition during the first 1,000 days of life. To explore the acceptability and utility of a low-cost and simple-to-use feeding toolkit consisting of a bowl with marks to indicate meal volume and frequency, a slotted spoon, and an illustrated counseling card to cue optimal dietary practices during the first 1,000 days. In Samastipur District, Bihar, India, we conducted 16 focus group discussions and 8 key informant interviews to determine community acceptability and obtain feedback on design and delivery of the feeding toolkit. We conducted 14 days of user testing with 20 pregnant women, 20 breastfeeding women 0 to 6 months postpartum, and 20 mothers with infants 6 to 18 months of age. The toolkit, which is made of plastic, was well accepted by the community, although the communities recommended manufacturing the bowl and spoon in steel. The proportion of pregnant and breast-feeding women taking an extra portion of food per day increased from 0% to 100%, and the number of meals taken per day increased from two or three to three or four. For children 6 to 18 months of age, meal frequency, quantity of food consumed during meals, and thickness of the foods increased for all age groups. Children 6 to 8 months of age who had not yet initiated complementary feeding all initiated complementary feeding during the testing period. Simple feeding tools are culturally acceptable and can be appropriately used by families in Bihar, India, to improve dietary practices during the first 1,000 days of life. Research is needed to assess whether the tools promote dietary and nutritional improvements over and above counseling alone.

A Comparative Study on Apiculture Technology among Trained and Untrained Women

The present study aimed to assess the 'level of skill' of rural women about scientific apiculture practices and to find the relationship of different characteristics of women with their level of apiculture practice skill. Total 100 respondents were selected from Pusa block of Samastipur district. Seven villages were selected purposively in which 50 trained who have received training from Apicultural Research Training Centre , RAU Pusa to serve as experimental group and equal number of untrained women who have not undergone any skill oriented apiculture training programme were also selected randomly to serve as control group. The study indicated that the trained women differed significantly over the untrained women in respect of their improvement in skill. The proportion of trained women was more in 'high level of skill' of improved apiculture practices in comparision to the untrained women. Multiple regression analysis revealed that three characteristics i.e. caste family education and economic motivation contributed positively and significantly towards improvement in level of skill of recommended technologies among trained women. Hence, it can be said that training has positive impact on apiculture practices of women beekeepers.

Value chain analysis of maize seed delivery system in public and private sectors in Bihar.

Bihar has emerged as one of the most promising states for maize production in India, where it is cultivated in all the three seasons, viz. kharif, rabi and summer. This offers an opportunity for strengthening maize supply chain from seed to end-use. Different systems of maize seed delivery co-exist in the state. This study has been conducted in the Samastipur district (the largest maize growing district) of Bihar in 201011 and is based on surveys of seed producers, farmers, seed distributors, private seed companies and public research institutions as to understand the delivery system of maize seed in a value chain perspective. The study has mapped the value chain of public and private seed systems and has brought out the need for a greater emphasis on integration of different stakeholders involved in the chain. Appropriate backward and forward linkages of maize growers with seed companies are likely to generate better returns from maize. The enabling environment from the government policies to support services needs to be reoriented towards enhancing efficiency in seed delivery in the state.

PAPAYA DISEASES IN BIHAR: AN OVERVIEW

Papaya occupies an important position among fruits grown in Bihar. Over the past two decades this crop has experienced considerable reduction in yield due to attack of various diseases. According to an estimate, yield reduction up to 50% has been observed within last 18 years. So a systematic survey was conducted during 2000-08 in different districts of Bihar viz., Samastipur, Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, Siwan, Saran, Katihar, Saharsa, and Bhagalpur to quantify losses due to major diseases of papaya in the state. During the survey two viral diseases were recorded i.e. leaf curl and Papaya ring spot virus. Leaf curl incidence varied between 12 to 27%, while PRSV incidence was most rampant showing cent per cent incidence in all the districts under the survey. Disease symptoms were some times visible in the nursery too. No variety showed tolerance/resistance against the disease. Due to severe disease incidence, area under papaya cultivation is shrinking every year. The entire papaya varieties viz. Pusa Dwarf, Pusa Nanha, Pusa Delicious, Red Lady, Coorg Honey Dew and the local ones were found susceptible. In Samastipur district, after first fruiting, all the leaves of the plant dropped due to severe PRSV attack and gradually the papaya plants succumbed to death. In some cases, papaya plants produced new tiny leaves (rosettes at the top) but affected plants produced very poor yield i.e. less than 10 kg/plant. It is very difficult to continue the crop stand even up to 2 nd year fruiting due to heavy pressure of PRSV in the state. Among fungal diseases damping off, collar rot and fruit rot, were frequently observed in all the districts under survey with varying level of incidence. Damping off disease was recorded only in nursery, while collar rot disease was recorded at various stages of plant growth. Fruit rot disease was incited by a number of fungi though Colletotrichum gloeosporioides was predominant. Fruit rot was observed at different stages of fruit growth but immature fruits were highly prone to this disease. This study may serve as a guide for planning effective management of papaya diseases in this part of the country.