This issue includes five papers on diverse topics, such as diversification in the cropping pattern, resource use efficiency of dryland cultivators, price behavior of cocoon and raw silk, role of dairy cooperatives in women empowerment, and access to household amenities of the public.

Raju Mandal, in his paper, “Cropping Pattern Diversification Across Assam: Variations and Causes”, examines the nature of cropping pattern and the extent of crop diversification in the plain districts of Assam. The paper investigates the possible impacts of irrigation, agricultural workforce, average size of landholdings, and flood on the choice of cropping pattern and level of crop diversification in the selected areas of the study. After conducting a logit transformation of the diversification index, multiple linear regression model has been used. The results reveal that shallow tube wells-based privately-owned irrigation system and availability of agricultural workforce have a positive and significant impact on the diversification of crops in Assam. However, flood-proneness limits the cropping season, thereby forcing the farmers to confine to the staple crops rather than diversifying.

Sangameshwara Kademani B K, in his paper, “Resource Use Efficiency of Dryland Ragi Cultivators in DPAP-Watershed and Non-Watershed Areas: A Comparative Analysis”, explores the access to resources and resource-use efficiency and productivity of ragi cultivators in the Drought-Prone Area Program (DPAP)-watershed and non-watershed areas in Chitradurga District of Karnataka. The study reveals that the production elasticity of expenditure on seed, Farmyard Manure (FYM), chemical fertilizer, human labor, and bullock labor is higher in the

DPAP-watershed areas than in non-watershed areas. The results reveal that the gross return of ragi cultivators in the DPAP-watershed areas is comparatively higher than those in the non-watershed areas. The average level of gross return is higher in the case of beneficiaries as compared to the non-beneficiaries. The total gain in the gross return of the beneficiaries through technical efficiency is higher than that of non-beneficiaries. The ratios of value of marginal product to marginal fixed cost of major inputs are also found to be higher in the DPAP-watershed areas than in the non-watershed areas.

A Selvaraj and K R Vijaysanthi, in their paper, “A Study on the Price Behavior of Cocoon and Raw Silk in Tamil Nadu”, state that female employees are preferred in mulberry garden or in silkworm rearing in a grainage, weaving center, etc., because of their nature, patience and hard work. However, their work has not always been recognized or rewarded.

The sericulturists have been facing various problems mainly associated with insufficient financial support from the government agencies, climatic hazards, wide fluctuations in cocoon prices, and also, to some extent, inadequacy of extension services. Other problems include rearing sheds, lack of awareness, low literacy level, and lack of adequate baking services. The results of the study indicate that the better price received by the silkworm farmers is the major reason for the high profitability of the enterprise. Based on the findings, the study offers various recommendations to ensure increase in the production of mulberry cocoons, which in turn will generate more employment opportunities and increase foreign exchange earnings.

Jigna Trivedi, P K Priyan and Vinay Bhinde, in their paper, “The Role of Dairy Cooperatives in Women Empowerment”, observe that the people of rural India face a lot of hardships in earning livelihood, and a majority of them are engaged in agriculture and allied activities. Since the income from agricultural activity is not stable, rural people are forced to think of alternative revenue sources. Since the rural people are not well-educated and possess limited skills, the hunt for alternate sources of income is constrained to a few occupations. A majority of them choose dairy development as a source of secondary income. Largely, rural women are engaged in this activity. Besides doing hard household chores, they put all their efforts in cattle rearing and supply milk to the well-established district cooperative dairies working successfully on the ‘Anand’ model. Against this background, this authors make an attempt to study the role of district cooperative dairies in helping the women to be self-reliant, self-employed, self-diligent, and empowered.

Sanjoy Das, in his paper, “Houses, Household Amenities and Living Standard in Nagaland”, examines the status of availability of the type of houses and some important household amenities in Nagaland. The study also undertakes a comparative analysis of the various issues with respect to the country as a whole, for a better understanding of the problems. As far as the availability of basic amenities, like electricity, toilet and bathroom facilities, are concerned the state showed an impressive performance relative to the country, whereas the status of the state in terms of availability of drinking water and LPG connection was not as satisfactory as that of the country during the period under consideration. In the case of rural households, the access to most of the basic amenities was very much limited, compared to the urban households, due to improper implementation of various housing and rural development programs undertaken by the government and lack of public awareness about the programs. In this respect, the state government as well as various NGOs should come forward to create mass awareness among the rural/urban poor, educating them about the different schemes related to housing and rural development.

- L Krishna Veni
Consulting Editor