Gender Factor in Access to Livestock based Information in India

Importance of gender factor in livestock production has been recognized by government and development agencies worldwide including India. Women make substantial contribution in livestock production in India. Out of 22.45 million people engaged in animal husbandry, 16.84 million are women. Increased feminization of agriculture is likely to put greater role and responsibility on rural womenfolk to meet production demands due to rising consumption of livestock products. However, information level of women in animal husbandry remains low as their access to information sources, mass media, visits to credit, veterinary and input related institutions remain limited. Significant differences in information level of women and men livestock owners have been observed even though the participation of women in livestock training programmes is on the rise. Hence, suitable efforts are needed in modification of mode of training, content and training methodologies owing to differential training requirements of women farmers. The study is outcome of extensive literature review covering research thesis, scholarly articles and research reports including the author’s own work for Master’s dissertation.

Dr Devesh Thakur a postgraduate of IVRI is currently working as Assistant Professor in Department of Veterinary and A.H.Extension Education,CSKHimachal Pradesh Agricultural University, Palampur.He has been associated with number of livestock development projects and has authored 10 research/technical articles on livestock issues.