PERCEPTION OF TRIBAL FARM MEN AND WOMEN TOWARDS AGRICULTURE

The present study was undertaken during October 2021 to November 2022. Four tribal dominated districts of Assam were purposively selected from four Agro climatic zones to analyze the perception of tribal men and women farmers towards agriculture. Three hundred and twenty respondents consisting of both tribal men and women farmers of a household constitute the final sample size of the present study. Measurement of perception was done by including some relevant statements which were grouped into five broad areas namely: Economic dimension, Social dimension, Technology dimension, Work environment dimension and other dimension. A total of 33 statements were taken and the responses were obtained in a five-point continuum of agreement representing ‘Strongly agree’ ‘Agree’, ‘Undecided’, ‘Disagree’ and ‘Strongly disagree’ assigning a score of 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 respectively for the positive statements and reverse scoring pattern for the negative statements. The results revealed that there existed significant differences in the perception between men and women respondents. Less than two third (64.38%) number of women respondents had medium to high level of perception while in men, it was observed that 51.88% belonged to the medium level towards agriculture. The finding of the study will be helpful to the extension agency, policymaker and administrators in developing appropriate extension strategy for the tribal farming community to develop more favorable perception towards agriculture for its sustainability.