SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.2 Conclusions
problems were mentioned by the Sanial women of the study area. The problems were ranked in a decreasing order of Problem Confrontthion Index (PCI) which ranged from 124 to 392.
The problems in descending order of Problem Confrontation Index (PCI) were as follows:
Lack of necessary agricultural land (PCI score-392) Lack of capital (PCI score-378)
Lack of extension workers (PCI seore-341) Lack of quality seeds (PCI scorc-270)
Lack of communication facilities (PCI seorc-222) Lack of sufficient fertilizers (PCI score-212) Lack of sufficient insecticides (PCI score-184) Lack of knowledge on IGA (PCI seore-161) Lack of marketing opportunities (PCI score-145) 10.Lack of co-operation of male (PCI score-124)
agricultural income generating activities. Particularly, workers of both the government organization (GO) and the non-government organization (NGO) should provide appropriate technical and management related information to all the Santal women of Santal residing area through continued improvements in extension and other support services.
The study indicates that majority of the Santal women (76 percent) was middle-aged and its relationship with their participation in agricultural income generating activities was not significant. It may, therefore, be concluded that proper emphasis should be given on the Santal women of all age categories by the extension workers in order to encourage participation in agricultural income generating activities.
However, considering the fact that most of the Santal women belonged to the middle-aged group, it would be wise to give proper attention to the middle-aged Santal women and plan to motivate them in participating in different agricultural income generating activities as comparatively larger number of the Santal women are members of these group.
Level of education of the Santal women had significant relationship with their participation in agricultural income generating activities.
This means that high literacy rate as well as higher educational level among the Sanial women of the study area might have influenced in their participation in agricultural income generating activities. But, it was observed that 67 percent of the Santal women were under the level of primary education. Hence, it may be included that unless immediate steps are taken to improve the level of education of the Santal women, it will be very difficult to get success in participating
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them in agricultural income generating activities. Therefore, establishment of more schools and colleges are suggestcd.
Knowledge on agricultural income generating activities of the Santal women of the study area had significant relationship with their participation in agricultural income generating activities. Through this kind of knowledge an individual farmer becomes aware of the recent information on the various aspects of modern agricultural income generating activities. Consequently, the above facts lead to the conclusion that necessary arrangements should be made to increase knowledge on agricultural income generating activities of the Santal women which would ultimately increase their participation in agricultural income generating activities. Therefore, imparting training on various agricultural innovations should be arranged.
Findings of the study showed that family size of the Santal women had no significant relationship with their participation in agricultural income generating activities. It may, therefore, be concluded that for increasing participation in agricultural income generating activities, extension workers should not concentrate their works only with the large families of the Santal women. Moreover, they should work with all following the principles of extension work.
Farm size of the Santal women had significant relationship with their participation. The Santal women having large farm are generally economically solvent and they always try to avoid labourious and labours-intensive technology/innovation due to scarcity of labours.
But, it was the fact that majority (87 percent) of the Santal women had marginal farms. Considering the above facts, it may be concluded
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that participation in agricultural income generating activities aniong marginal Santal women Santal women should be encouraged.
Findings of the study showed that family income of the Santal women had significant relationship with their participation in agricultural income generating activities. It may be concluded that the availability of the money is more essential to reduce financial hardships to a considcrable extent and to increase participations of the Santal women in different agricultural income generating activities.
Cosmopoliteness of the Santal women had significant relationship with their participation in agricultural income generating activities.
Through cosmopolitcncss an individual farmer becomes aware of the recent information on various aspects of modern agricultural income generating activities. Consequently, he becomes motivated to participate in those agricultural income generating activities as though he is influenced by others. The findings of the study therefore, lead to the conclusion that for successful participation in agricultural income generating activities, the Santal women of the study area need to be more cosmopolite for their better awareness of modem agricultural income generating activities. For this, field-days, tours, fairs etc. should be arranged to increase the cosmopolitencss among the Santal women.
There is significant relationship between extension contacts of the Santal women with their participation in agricultural income generating activities. Extension contacts increase the outlook of the Santat women which lead them to adopt more agricultural income generating activities. It is evident from the fact that majority (75 percent) of the respondents had low extension contact. It may, there lore, be co nd titled that further corn m tin cation plan iii mig and
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implementation by the extension workers of government organizations (GOs) and non-government organizations (NGOs) with the Santal women through effective methods would lead to the multipl ication of their participation in agricultural income generating activities.
5.3
RecommendationsOn the basis of findings and conclusion of the study, recommendations are made as follows:
5.3.1 Recommendations for Policy Issues
Extensive development programmes should be designed and implemented by GOs and NOOs considering homestead as production unit and women as the key operator.
Extension services should be strengthened particularly for women.
Due to social systems and religion, Santal women are reluctant to come in contact with niale extension workers. So, more women extension workers are to be engaged for effective and successful implementation of the development activities.
Need-based training programmes should be developed and implemented extensively to improve the skill of Santal women in different agricultural income generating activities and thereby increase their family income. The important areas of training are -- I) intensive vegetable cultivation, ii) improved techniques for seed preservation, iii) scientific methods of raising poultry, iv) improved management for rearing goat etc.
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Initiatives should be taken to make the inputs necessary for scientific/improved management of various agricultural income generating activities available in the rural areas.
Strategy should be taken to implement homestead development programmes in an integrated approach involving private and public sector organizations.
5.3.2 Recommendations for Future Studies
The present study was carried out in a small area of a particular district. Similar studies may be conducted in other parts of the country to get a clear picture of the whole country which will be helpful for effective policy formulation.
There are few studies conducted so far particularly as to assess the extent of participation of the women from minority groups. In this study the researcher assessed the extent of participation of only the Santal women in agricultural income generating activities. Future studies should be designed considering the women members from other minority groups also to get clear understanding of the extent of participation in agricultural income generating activities of the members of all the minority groups available in Bangladesh.
The researcher selected only four agricultural income generating activities to measure the extent of participation of the Santal women.
It is suggested that for future studies the researcher should consider other important agricultural and non-agricultural income generating activities. Besides, in this study the researcher selected only 10 (tcn) characteristics of the Santal women to correlate participation of the Santal women in selected agricultural income generating activities with those characteristics. it is recommended for future studies that
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the researcher should include oilier important characteristics of the Santal women that might affect their participation. Santal men also can be included as respondents for further studies.
In the present study only participation in some of the agricultural income generating activities was studied but production potential of these activities was not considered. There might be a relationship between productivity of particular activity with the extent of participation that should be considered in future studies. Furthermore, documentation of present production potential of different agricultural income generating enterprises may help to design future research strategy for the development of the rural people who depend on agricultural income generating activities.
To measure participation in different items under post-harvest activities, crops were divided into two groups - i) rice, and ii) other crops. So in future, to gather more information, crops may be grouped as -. cereals, pulse, oilseeds, vegetables, fruits, jute, sugarcane etc. to measure the participation of the Santal women in different post- harvest activities in details.
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