PARTICIPATION OF SANTAL WOMEN IN AGRICULTURAL INCOME GENERATING ACTIVITIES (IGA) IN DINAJPUR DISTRICT

Abstract

The main purpose of the study was to determine the extent of participation of the Santal women in agricultural income generating activities (IGA) in Dinajpur district and to explore the relationships between the selected characteristics of the respondents and their participation in agricultural income generating activities (IGA). The study was conducted in five upazilas of Dinajpur district namely, Birganj, Biral, Sadar, Birampur and Nawabganj. Data were collected from 100 Santal women by using a pre-tested interview schedule during the period from September 20 to October 20, 2006. Appropriate scales were developed to measure the variables of the study. Correlation(s) test was used to ascertain the relationships between the concerned independent and dependent variables of the study. Findings revealed that age and family size had no significant relationship with their participation in agricultural income generating activities (IGA), while level of education, farm size, annual family income, cosmopoliteness, extension contact, innovativeness, knowledge on agricultural income generating activities (IGA) and attitude towards agricultural income generating activities (IGA) had significant positive relationship with their participation in agricultural income generating activities (IGA). In this study, 40 items of agricultural income generating activities (IGA) were selected to measure the extent of participation of the Santal women. Out of these, three items participated by majority of the Santal women in descending order of Participation Index (P1) were (i) "Nursing the kids of goat", (ii) "Feeding of goat" and (iii) "Winnowing of rice". The study revealed that highest proportion (58 percent) of the Santal women had low participation in agricultural income generating activities (IGA) compared to 28 and 14 percent having medium participation and high participation respectively. Besides, the Santal women indicated 10 problems regarding participation in agricultural income generating activities (IGA). Out of these, three problems in descending order of Problem Confrontation Index (PCI) were (I) "Lack of necessary agricultural land", (ii) "Lack of capital" and (iii) "Lack of extension workers".