This document discusses capacity building for farm women in livestock rearing in developing countries. It finds that women play a major role in livestock production but have less access to resources and knowledge. A study assessed the knowledge of 120 farmwomen in 4 villages in Jhansi, India across aspects of breeding, feeding, health care, management, housing and fodder production. It found large knowledge gaps, especially regarding artificial insemination, fodder production systems, post-harvest technologies, and finance/credit. A strategy is proposed to develop women-specific technological training, improve adoption of fodder and animal production practices, and encourage sustainability through stakeholder support and networking.

1. Capacity building of farm women in
livestock rearing
Sadhna Pandey,
Purushottam Sharma
Satyapriya
and R. K. Sharma
IGFRI, Jhansi- (UP)IGFRI, Jhansi- (UP)

2. Back ground
In the developing countries, women in rural areas perform
a variety of functions in the farm households. They act as
• farm producers,
• wage earners,
• care takers of the family,
• looking after nutrition and post harvest managers
• crop production,
• livestock production, horticulture,
• post harvest operations, etc
Women in general and rural women in particular are given secondary
status in the society

3. •Animal Husbandry is predominantly a female affair in case of farmers of
low socio-economic status.
•On an average, a woman devotes 3.5 hours per day for animal husbandry
activities against only 1.6 hours per day devoted by men in this category.
•Women provide 60 percent of the livestock farming labour
•Contribution of woman folk in dairy production system, like in all other land-
related activities, is enormous
• In comparison with men, farm women have more limited access to all
kinds of resources.
•There is a need to change farm women capacity and capability to work and
to improve her knowledge and her skills.
Increasing levels of women’s education provided more
opportunities for women’s employment and increasing total house
hold income (Barbara,2008).

4. OBJECTIVES
• To explore the technological needs of women
farmers related to livestock rearing practices
• To design a strategy for empowering farm
women in livestock rearing based on available
options.

5. JHANSI
4
Villages
30
Respondents
120
Farmwomen
METHODOLOGY

6. •A knowledge test was developed to explore the technological needs of
women farmers in livestock rearing.
•All the recommended practices related to breeding, feeding, health care
and management were included in the test.
•Accordingly their knowledge score was measured in three categories as
low (0-1), medium (>1-2), high (>2-3).

9. Table 1: knowledge level and knowledge gap of women
farmers on various aspects of livestock rearing
Aspects Knowledge
level (%)
Knowledge gap
(%)
Breeding
Artificial Insemination 10.00 90.00
Treatment of chronic anestrus 13.33 86.67
Timely examination and treatment of
subclinical reproductive inefficiency
16.67 83.33
Pregnancy diagnosis 10.00 90.00
symptoms of heat, pregnancy and
parturition
36.67 63.33
care at the time of pregnancy and
parturition
40.00 60.00
Disposal of placenta 70.00 30.00
Drying the livestock before parturition 60.00 40.00
Mean score 32.00 68.00

10. Aspects Knowled
ge level
(%)
Knowledg
e gap (%)
Feeding
Preparation of balanced
ration
40.00 60.00
Feeding to different
categories of livestock
26.00 74.00
Importance of clean water for
drinking
26.67 73.33
Conservation of fodder crops
i.e. Silage, Hay
21.67 78.33
Post harvest technologies
(Leaf meal, bales, pallets)
13.33 86.67
Improvement of low grade
roughages
15.33 84.67
Importance of mineral mixture
and its feeding
13.33 86.67
Mean score 22.33 77.67

11. Aspects Knowle
dge
level
(%)
Knowled
ge gap
(%)
fodder production
systems and practices
Package of practices of
fodder crops
9.33 90.67
Fodder production
systems
6.67 93.33
Mean score 8.00 92.00

12. Aspects Knowledge
level (%)
Knowledge
gap (%)
Health care
Vaccination 40.00 60.00
Identifying a sick animal 50.00 50.00
Isolating the sick animals 23.33 76.67
Knowledge of health care 50.00 50.00
Observing the ecto parasites in animals
at regular intervals
25.00 75.00
Regular deworming of animals - 20.00 80.00
Preventive measures of FMD, HS, BQ,
Mastitis
29.67 70.33
Mean score 34.00 66.00

13. Aspects Knowl
edge
level
(%)
Knowle
dge
gap
(%)
Management
General management 37.33 62.67
Management of
pregnant animal
50.00 50.00
Management of
milking animal
66.67 33.33
Calf management 43.33 56.67
Marketing of milk 26.67 73.33
Finance, Banking and
credit
20.00 80.00
Mean score 40.67 59.33

14. Aspects Knowle
dge
level
(%)
Knowle
dge gap
(%)
Housing and
sanitation
Type of sheds
(Kachcha/ Pacca)
26.67 73.33
spraying of sheds
against parasites
16.67 83.33
Cleanliness of animals,
sheds, utensils and
workers
26.67 73.33
Clean milk production 30.00 70.00
Mean score 25.00 75.00

15. Strategy for women
empowerment
• Development of women specific
technological framework
• Capacity building on improved fodder
production and animal rearing practices
• Encouraging actions for better adoption
• Maintaining sustainability.

16. Development of women specific technological
framework
Need based Improved fodder production
systems
• Fodder production on farm bunds
• Round the year fodder production
• Forage-Food cropping sequence
• Seasonal fodder crops

17. Fodder production on farm
bunds
Women farmers having limited
resources specially land, can
produce sufficient quantity of
green fodder on farm
bunds/irrigation channels
without any additional cost
and land diversion for forages.

18. Round the year fodder
production
Under this system, perennial grasses (BN
hybrid/guinea grass) with seasonal
cultivated legumes (cowpea/berseem)
provide quality green fodder for milch
animals.

19. Forage-Food cropping sequence
• In this system, during kharif season,
fodder crops (sorghum + cowpea) and
during Rabi season durum / aestivum
wheat for grain purpose is grown for family
requirement on the same piece of land.

20. Seasonal fodder crops

21. Seasonal fodder crops

22. Fodder conservation and animal
rearing technologies
• fodder conservation technology such as silage,
Hay
• Crop residue enrichment
• Feed Manger
• Chaff cutter
• Fodder based ration for dairy animals
• Management of anoestrus / silent estrus
• Area specific mineral mixture
• Control of endo and ectoparasites of animals

23. Capacity building on improved fodder
production and animal rearing practices
Information, communication, training,
knowledge and technological package etc.
that assist more involvement of the women
farmers for adoption of the technology
should be imparted to raise awareness
levels of farm women.

24. Encouraging action for better
adoption
Demonstrations involve
measures for encouraging
action leading to adoption
of better technologies for
fodder production and
utilization by farm women.
Capacity should be
developed to respond
rapidly to the proposed
interventions.

25. Maintaining sustainability
The stakeholder investment in terms of intellectual and
capital resources should be intensified. The financial
institutions in the area may support entrepreneurial
endeavor. Networking with other institutions is very much
helpful in providing and promoting their programmes and
services among farm women.