Wednesday, February 16, 2011

WOMEN ARE THE BACKBONE OF INDIAN AGRICULTURE – DR KANG

LUDHIANA, FEBRUARY 16:(Gurzent Singh)

"Indian economy is agriculture-based and women are the backbone of agriculture. They play productive and reproductive roles and perform multifarious tasks at multiple levels be it a family, community, market, information, technology, finance, agriculture, etc.," stated the chief guest Dr Manjit Singh Kang, Vice-Chancellor, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), while inaugurating a two-day XIX Biennial Workshop of All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Home Science here today. The workshop has been organized by the College of Home Science, PAU, in association with Directorate of Research on Women in Agriculture (DRWA), ICAR, Bhubaneswar.

Speaking on this occasion, Dr Kang said that empowerment is a multi-dimensional and multi-layered concept and key to development is the empowerment of women for facilitating them in carrying out different roles as per the need. Home science with its multifaceted approach can play a pro-active role in improving the quality of life of rural families with special focus on rural women, said he. Dr Kang stressed that the educational component using print and electronic media needs to be strengthened to facilitate the process of capacity building. Drawing the attention of policy makers, administrators and field functionaries, Dr Kang urged upon them to formulate future frameworks with emphasis on socio-economic and regional variations so that the women are accorded equal opportunities, their potential contribution is acknowledged and put to good use by their societies. He highlighted that last year at PAU convocation, most of the medals and merit certificates were won by girls. \'The gender mainstreaming is taking place\', he said adding that it is good that women are excelling in every field.

Dr V.V. Subramanian, Assistant Director General (Extension), ICAR, said that women are integral part of agriculture and play an important role in post- harvest technology, value addition and in agri-operations such as transplanting. Development of technologies which integrate with the existing system of agriculture, climate and social fabric are of utmost importance, added he. Capacity education is required to empower women to combat nutritional deficiencies and minor ailments of their families. The world is competitive and there is need for inclusive plan and inclusive growth, said Dr Subramanian adding that women can play a great role .

Dr Krishna Srinath, Director, DRWA, highlighting the activities and technologies developed by All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) in Home Science, remarked that the project aims to improve the quality of life of rural families in general and the farm women of economically weaker sections in particular. She added that women are the nation's most precious human resource which needs to be exploited to its fullest extent for sustainable development of society. Dr Srinath said that AICRP has contributed significantly to home science for 30 years by involving the participation of women, not only in agriculture related activities but also in home management activities. She emphasized on the need to have organized programmes on home science in order to make it information science. She dwelt on the activities of DRWA and the network of coordinated research carried out by home scientists in nine states on five thematic areas including women empowerment, drudgery reduction, social interventions, etc.

Dr S.S. Gosal, Director of Research, PAU, said that women, being an important segment of society, play a crucial role in development process. For holistic development of agriculture and allied field, home science is important for planning future research objectives said Dr Gosal adding that capacity building of women needs to be addressed through well-developed e-learning modules. He said that PAU has 45 AICRP projects operated in different areas and that the project on home science is doing remarkably well.

Two technical sessions were held which were chaired by Dr Smita Roy and Prof VK Tewari. The scientists from different centers presented their work and suggested the necessary modifications. An exhibition on the home science technologies developed by different centers was held in the examination hall in which the chief guest and delegates showed keen interest.

Earlier, Dr Neelam Grewal, Dean, College of Home Science, welcoming the chief guest, registrar, comptroller, deans, directors, additional directors, coordinators of research and other dignitaries, and participating delegates from different parts of India. She laid stress on the need to review and reorient research objectives to suit the contemporary and emerging needs of farm families.

Dr (Mrs) J.K.Sangha, Coordinator of Research (Home Science), pointed out that there is a continued inequality and vulnerability of women in all spheres of life which need to be looked into. She proposed a vote of thanks to all.
News From: http://www.7StarNews.com

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