Participation of Women in Sugarcane Farming System-A Case Study of Bijnor District (Western Uttar Pradesh)
Sugarcane is an annual crop engaging around 50 million farmers of which approximately half are women. Even though, women form the backbone of sugarcane cultivation, they still tend to exist as “the hidden farmers” with almost negligible access on land, resources, technologies, financial services, markets and even education. Despite their exclusive inputs in sugarcane farming operations like farmyard manure application, sett planting and treatments, hand weeding and detrashing, sugarcane bundling, disposal of trash and plant protection measures, the output of the land controlled by women is drastically lesser than the male counterparts. Against this backdrop the present paper is an attempt to examine the role of women in sugarcane farming in terms of their participation level, their decision making pattern in various activities, time utilization pattern, drudgeries involved and thereby implications. Hence, this study was conducted in Nehtaur Block of Bijnor District of Western Uttar Pradesh. Six villages from Nehtaur Block were selected for the purpose of the study. From these villages, 120 women who were engaged in sugarcane farming selected randomly and each was interviewed personally for the collection of data.
Trends and Pattern of Sugarcane Production in Shahjahanpur District, Uttar Pradesh: A Geographical Analysis
Sugarcane is important commercial crop of India. It is a major source of raw material for not only sugar industry but also other allied group of industries. Sugarcane plays a vital role for the overall socio-economic development of farming community. Uttar Pradesh is one of the leading producers of sugarcane in India. Shahjahanpur district of Uttar Pradesh has been selected as study area which is famous for sugarcane production. The main objectives of present paper are to assess the trends and patterns of sugarcane production in the district and explain the reasons behind the changes in the sugarcane production. The study is based on secondary sources of data. The study reveals that there is uneven trend of area under sugarcane as well as production of sugarcane in the district and it is found that government policies were important determinants for such trends. Jatipur and Dadrol blocks of the district show high concentration of sugarcane crop. The study further reflects that this area is experiencing an ongoing agricultural development pertaining to the sugarcane cultivation.
The relation between the clay content and certain physical properties of a soil
A simple experimental method has been described for measuring certain physical constants of soil, using small brass boxes into which soil passing a sieve of 100 meshes to the inch has been packed by hand. The quantities determined are: (1) The weight of unit volume (100 c.c.s.) of air-dry soil, or the apparent specific gravity. (2) Amount of water taken up by unit weight of soil. (3) Pore space. (4) Specific gravity of the soil. (5) The volume expansion of unit volume (100 c.c.) of soil when saturated. The results for one soil only are given, and discussed, to illustrate the method. With the co-operation of the Science Masters Association it is being applied to a number of soils by various schools. The particular soil used was obtained in six depths as follows: 0–6–12″, 12–18″, 18–24″, 2–3′, 3–4′, and the above constants were determined on each depth. It was shown that (1) and (4) varied inversely with the percentage of clay in the soil, while (2), (3), and (5) varied directly with the clay percentage. The effect on the constants of the larger quantities of organic, matter present in the top two layers of soil was, weight for weight, approximately equal to that of the clay, except in the volume expansion results where the effect if any was within experimental error. It is possible that the fraction fine silt II, whose upper limit of diameter is ·005 mm., has similar effects to the clay fraction.