Asian Research Thesis Index

Abstract

Pakistan is a third world country with more than 162 million population. It has varied strata of life with multidimensional livelihood strategies. Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy. It has employed 44.8% of the work force. More than 51% of the country’s population comprises of women. Rural women play a significant role in various arenas of life. Ordinary farm women are the main players in sustaining life activities both at home and farm. They are active participants in agriculture, livestock management and poultry husbandry, also their participation in community development and social relations are recognizable. Whereas in livestock production they look after animals and do primary veterinary care. They also have to perform the domestic chores of cooking, cleaning the house, washing clothes, foster the kids and getting water and fuel supplies for domestic usage. Although they perform all of the above mentioned tasks, however, due to lack of resources, information, and technical guidance, they have to face difficulties to meet the challenges of the time. On account of their diverse preoccupations they lose their life time opportunity of education, nutrition, medicare and security. Due to lack of skill enhancement training, they are lagging behind in crop production, livestock management and post harvest operations resulting low yield of the crops and poor quality of the produce. To probe into the matter, a study was designed. The target area was District Bahawalpur which consists of five Tehsils namely Hasilpur, Bahawalpur, Khairpur Tamewali, Ahmadpur East and Yazman. Out of which two Tehsils were selected randomly and five union councils from each Tehsil were also randomly selected. From each selected union council 2 villages were selected randomly. From each selected village 20 women, who were engaged in agricultural activities, were selected through random sampling, thus making a total of 400 respondents. The data collection were effected under a pre-tested interview schedule designed for this purpose. The data thus collected, were analyzed and interpreted to draw the conclusions and to suggest measures for improvement. The results revealed that the majority of the women were involved in crop production activities such as cotton picking, wheat harvesting and drying of agriculture produce at the ordering of 1st, 2 nd and 3 rd respectively. In livestock sector, activities like whey making, milking, milk storage are the top three activities performed by women. The study also depicted an encouraging response against gender bias in fields like education and training. Most of the women (i.e., 375) selected daily training format for their skill enhancement. Instead of sociological constraints of the area, the dire need of the women is training and education in crop production activities, livestock management, poultry production and drying of fruits and vegetables.

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