Training Need Assessment of Rural Women Regarding Crop Production Practices (Published)
In the rural areas of Pakistan, farmers mostly use their family labor including women for production of crop. Rural women are very active in diverse agricultural activities (i.e. pre-harvest, post-harvest). Women from poor households engage in a variety of income-generating and expenditure-saving activities. They are twice as likely as men to be involved in agriculture related activities. Pakistani rural women lagging behind as compared to other developed country women due to many reasons like lack of training programme about new techniques of crop production, lack of resources, little support by agricultural extension services etc. Therefore, the present study is designed to assess the training needs of the rural women in crop production Karor Lal Eson, District Layyah, which will be helpful for extension organizations to develop their future strategies for rural women. A sample of 120 female respondents was selected randomly from Tehsil Karor Lal Eson, District Layyah through multistage random sampling technique. The results of the study revealed that a large majority (70.8%) of the respondents were illiterate. A simple majority (50.8%) of the respondent spent 2 to 4 hours in land preparation and sowing practices. While about one-fifth (19.2%) of the respondents spent 2 to 4 hours in broad casting of seed/fertilizer. However, in crop production activities including broadcasting of seed/fertilize (mean= 3.35), plant protection (mean= 3.52), thinning (mean= 2.84) and grading of seeds (mean= 2.81) they were less competent and need to educate and train about these tasks.
Keywords: Crop, Pakistan, Production Practices, Rural Women, Training
Socio-Economic Factors Affecting ICT Utilization by Youths in Fish Farming In Kaduna State, Nigeria (Published)
Background ICT brings forth new development surfacing in agriculture. Youths need to improve their ICT abilities for the promotion of agriculture. This study was carried out in Kaduna state Nigeria. Objective the broad objective of the study was to determine the socio – economic factors that affect the utilization of ICT in fish production by youth in Kaduna State. Methods 100 youths were randomly selected and administered questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, regression and correlation analysis. Results The results showed that age, education, pond size, quantity of fish produce and training contributed significantly to ability to use ICT in fish production. Some factors were found to be positively related to ICT utilization. Age, education and training made positive contributions at 5% level of probability. Conclusion It was therefore concluded that youth need resources (education and training) in order to utilize ICT in food production. It is recommended youth need empowerment and training to utilize ICT for food production
Keywords: Age, Education, Empowerment, Pond Size, Production, Training