Contribution of the Tribal Farm Women in Livestock Management

Women are the critical input in livestock management. Women's involvement in livestock production is a long standing tradition in India, where domestic animals have been an integral part of the family farming system. Although most of the work related to dairy farming is carried out by the women; their role has been ignored. Hence, the study on analysis of different roles performed by the rural women and the factors affecting them are of paramount importance to the planners, decision makers, governments and extension workers involved in the process of rural development. Keeping this fact in view, the present study has, therefore, been premeditated and undertaken in Navsari district of the South Gujarat with specific objectives. The frequency of involvement of tribal farm women was seen the highest in cutting and bringing a fodder followed by compost making, watering, feeding, milking to animals, cleaning of cattle shed and so on. The relationship between independent variables of the respondents and their involvement in animal husbandry was found negative for all of the independent variables except type of family. Selection of fodder and feed was dominantly decided by farm women followed by sale of milk and its products, whereas the decisions regarding sale and purchase of animal, selection of animal breed and keeping herd size of herd were taken jointly by family members.