5 DAYS SKILL TRAINING PROGRAM ON “ADDITIONAL INCOME THROUGH HOMESTEAD TECHNOLOGIES” FROM 02.09.2024 TO 06.09.2024 BY KVK, WYRA

Women played and continue to play a significant role in the conservation of basic life support systems like land, water, flora and fauna. That women play a significant and crucial role in agricultural development and allied fields including in the main crop production, livestock production, horticulture, post-harvest operations, agro forestry and fisheries. The recognition of their crucial role in agriculture should not obscure the fact that farm women continued to be concerned with their primary functions as wives, mothers and homemakers. Despite their importance to agricultural production, women face severe handicaps as they are the largest group of landless labourers due to lack of proper technical skills. The studies have shown that women farmers play an important role in agricultural development of the country but are comparatively less educative than male farmers due to certain socio-economic and cultural constraints. They need more accurate, reliable and quick information along with male farmers for agricultural development as a whole. Rural women received most of the agricultural information from interpersonal and mass media sources than from trained personnel. The adoption of skill trainings in rural areas is influenced by factors like farming situation, resource availability, needs and aspirations of these women belong to different socioeconomic and cultural backdrops. Further, inadequate skill training services, high level of illiteracy among rural women, socio-cultural restrictions, low paying-capacity and lack of interest may be obstrucles for non-adoption or low adoption of different improved homestead technologies. In this context, to provide options and at the same time help in income generation to farm women / rural youth, a five days skill training programme on “Additional income through homestead technologies” from 02.09.2024 to 06.09.2024 was organised by KVK, Wyra scientists Dr. Jessie Suneetha W, Dr. V. Chaitanya and Mrs. P. S. M. Phanisri. The skill training included paintings on cloth, candle making, hand embroidery and bangle making as these are simple skills that can help rural women to decorate their households as wells as generate additional income. The participants were demonstrated the preparation of biofertilisers using vegetable waste and cold pressed oilseed cakes as many households in rural areas now a days do not possess cows or buffalos to prepare animal based biofertilisers.