Perceived training needs assessment of tribal farm women engaged in livestock sector of Assam

Abstract

The present study was conducted to assess the perceived training needs of tribal farm women of Assam in Animal husbandry practices. The study was conducted purposively in three numbers of selected districts of Assam which had considerable population of Tribal families belonging to Deori Tribe. Data were collected through a structured interview schedule from 120 tribal livestock owners by personal interview method. The weighted mean score method was adopted for assessing training needs of tribal livestock farmers. The major five thrust areas of animal husbandry practices namely; breeding, feeding, health care practices, management practices and marketing practices were included. The findings of the study revealed management was perceived as the most important area and was ranked first by the respondents for the purpose of training (mean weighted score 2.83). The second rank was assigned to the area of feeding practices with a mean weighted score of 2.67 followed by marketing practices (mean weighted score 2.66), breeding practices (mean weighted score 2.58) and health care practices (mean weighted score 2.46) respectively. Therefore need based training programme should be planned to enhance the knowledge level of tribal farm women. Simultaneously, it can also be suggested that the tribal farm women should be acquainted with improved Animal Husbandry practices in general with respect to management and feeding practices in particular through appropriate extension programmes to obtain more profit from their livestock enterprise.