A Comparative Study on Profile Characteristics of Farm Men and Women in Paddy Cultivation: A Study in Shivamogga District

Abstract

The slogan “RICE is life” is most appropriate for India as this crop plays a vital role in our national food security and is a means of livelihood for millions of rural households. Major Rice growing districts of Karnataka are Bellary, Davangere, Mysore, Mandya, and Shivamogga. The study was conducted in Shivamogga district since Shivamogga district comes under medium productive region of Karnataka state. The study revealed that one third (38.33 %) of farm men had a high level of education whereas, less than half of the respondents (43.34 %) of farm women had a medium level of education. A little more than half (50.00 %) of farm men and farm women belonged to small-sized landholding categories. Concerning extension contact, it is observed that a more significant number (53.33%) of farm men had a medium level of extension agency contact, nearly half (46.57 %) of farm women had a low level of extension contact. Most (43.34 %) of the farm men and around forty percent of farm women had medium-level extension participation. It is evident from the study that farm women stay lower in most of the profile characters than men and there exists a   diversification in socio-economic status, psychological behavior and participative nature of farm men and women due to various gender issues. Hence, this paper throws a light on the comparison of profile characteristics of farm men and farm women who are paddy growers of shivamogga district, where it clearly depicts the profile characters that are low in women than men and that can be taken as a lead to educate the male dominated family to find out the push factors missing for farmwomen and the best way it can be improved. It also helps the policy makers and extension agents to concentrate more on women to improve their socio-economic, psychological and communicational characters in society by suggesting location specific feasible solutions, that further improves the efficiency of farm men and women in paddy cultivation.