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Women Friendly Technological Approaches for Techno-Socio-Economic Empowerment of Farm Families ? A Case Study of Kanas Block of Puri, Odisha

The women are the backbone of agricultural workforce but worldwide their contribution has been unpaid. Women of landless labour and marginal farm families are the poorest, bearing a heavy burden of work in cultivation of crops along with all household tasks. Identifying gender issues and testing available farm technology for women perspective aimed at improving the status of women in term of increasing employment and enhancing income levels. Most of the farm families in Odisha belong to marginal farmers and landless agricultural labours. Assessment of technology in women perspective is being one of the thrust areas of ICAR-CIWA, were focussed under one SCSP programme in villages i.e. Kantabania, Lokapal and Chhotijodi village, Kanas of Puri district of Odisha. Keeping the problems and needs of the farm women in view gender friendly technologies like backward poultry farming mushroom cultivation, homestead nutritional garden, Custom Hiring Centre (sewing machine), vermi composting, drudgery reducing small tools and impediments, were tested among 100 farm women clientele of 10 SHG. The detail techno-economic assessment of these interventions found that a backyard poultry unit of 30 birds can generate on an average of net profit Rs.25,500/- in a year. Mushroom cultivation can generate an avg. of Rs 16000- 17500/- per 100 of bed in one month. From homestead nutrition garden farm women can get 7.0 kg vegetable per sqm. From sewing of bags and dresses the group earn Rs.40,000 per month at CHC. From 5 vermicompost bed women produce 8 q of manure in 6 months. Use of small and implements like Improves sickle, garden hoe, cultivar, hand hoe, automatic battery-operated sprayer, axe bill hook increased work efficiency, reduces drudgery and alternatively increases the productivity of farm women.