International Journal of Social Sciences and Management

75-82

Authors: Raju Poudel, Rishi Ram Kattel, Shiva Chandra Dhakal

The study was conducted in Koshi Province in Nepal to review the status of ginger, large cardamom and tea through trend analysis and Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis techniques. The area contribution of ginger in Koshi Province to the nation was found 34.32%, where the contribution on national production was found 36.61%. Productivity of ginger was found in the increasing trend until 2006/07, slightly decreased in 2007/08 and 2008/09, lowered in 2014/15 A.D. The area contribution of Large Cardamom in Koshi Province to the nation was found 90.9%, where the contribution on national production was found 90.8%. Productivity of Large cardamom was in the increasing trend until 2008/09, slightly decreased in 2009/10 and 2010/11, lowered in 2014/15 A.D. The area contribution of Tea in Koshi Province to the nation was found 90.26%, where the contribution on national production was found 96.73%. In 2003/04 productivity of Tea was in the increasing trend until 2013/14, slightly decreased for five consecutive years (2014/15 to 2018/19), lowered in 2016/17 A.D. All the parameters of production status (area, production, and productivity) of these commodities were found increasing in the national context. Results from study clearly revealed that, collection and auction market point establishment, fixation of minimum ceiling/ floor price, value chain alliance and financing strategy and plan development, effective insurance scheme and access to loan mechanism, post-harvest handling practices at the farm level need to be developed to increase the area, production and productivity of these high value commodities in Koshi Province of Nepal which have great prospects and significance in the global markets.

55-59

Authors: Amaran K, Anbu Krishnamoorthy

This research article investigates the perception of postgraduate students at Pondicherry University regarding agriculture as an occupation. The study examines the demographic characteristics of the participants and explores their perceptions of agriculture. The sample comprises 56.4% female and 43.6% male respondents aged 21 to 28. Most (93.6%) of the participants fall within the 21 to 25 age group. Regarding the family type, most respondents (75.6%) belong to nuclear families, while a minority (20.5%) reside in joint families. Regarding residence, 53.8% of the respondents live in urban areas, while slightly over one-third (46.2%) reside in rural areas. The academic backgrounds of the participants are diverse, with approximately one-third belonging to the social science stream (34.6%), management stream (33.3%), and life science stream (32.1%), respectively. The study reveals that 65.4% of the respondents have a medium level of perception towards agriculture, while 34.6% have a high level of perception towards agriculture as an occupation. The article further presents the results of statistical analyses, including an independent sample t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA). These indicate no significant differences in perception of agriculture as an occupation across gender, nativity, course of study, and family type. These findings contribute to understanding postgraduate students’ perception of agriculture as a career option and provide insights for policymakers and educators in promoting agriculture as a viable and attractive occupation for future generations.

31-35

Authors: Prem Raj Bhatt, Prakriti Neupane

This study was conducted in Kathmandu district to perform comparative economic analysis of small and commercial goat enterprises. In the study the average annual return from large enterprises was found to be six times greater than that of small enterprises. The average annual fixed cost of small enterprises was found to be one tenth of that of commercial goat enterprises. The total average annual variable cost of small enterprises was found comparatively less than that of commercial enterprises, which is more than five times less. The per unit goat cost for the small enterprises is also twenty-five hundred less than that of commercial enterprises. The gross profit per year of small enterprise was around sixty thousand rupees with 9.5% gross profit margin ratio while in commercial goat enterprises gross profit per year accounted almost 4 lakh with gross profit margin ratio 10.45%. Similarly, the average benefit cost ratios for small and commercial enterprises were found similar i.e. 1.10 and 1.12 but break even points varied widely as 18.36% and 56% respectively. The study concluded that there is no significant difference in production costs and income among small and commercial goat enterprises present in Kathmandu district testing at 5% level of significance. It also reveals positive aspects of small goat enterprises and at the same time suggests low functional efficiency of commercial goat enterprises in Katmandu district.

5-9

Authors: Anjali Semwal

Women’s leadership and their effective participation is increasingly on the development agenda of governments. The gender mainstreaming and active involvement of women, who constitute almost 50 percent of population, is very crucial for the development of the rural areas. Women are still disadvantaged due to their limited access to land, credit, technology and resources. Rural women are economically backward. Poverty, illiteracy and caste are the factors affecting the social, economic and political development of woman. Affirmative action to ensure women’s participation in politics is an important step in democratising and engendering local governance. However, it has not been adequate to ensure women’s leadership and their effective participation in local governance, as elected women representatives. At the institutional level, the capacity of local governance structures to implement reforms, institutionalize accountability systems, decentralise functions and facilitate women’s active engagement plays a role in determining whether women are able to emerge as political actors. Social barriers include lack of education, lack of respect for women in PRIs, physical violence against women in public and domestic spheres and oppressive patriarchal and caste structures. In this paper effort has been made to analyse and understand influence of some of social factors, like caste, education and family on women’s participation in village panchayat of Uttarakhand.

16-24

Authors: Deepa Gangwar, Roli Misra

The sugar industry is the most vital industry in India as well as in Uttar Pradesh. Its importance in the state can also be known from the fact that Uttar Pradesh is called the sugar bowl of India. The processing of sugar production is done by co-operative sugar mills and private sugar mills and both the mills are equally important for the bright future of the sugar industry in Uttar Pradesh. In this study, we have attempted to compare and contrast private and cooperative sugar mills. For this, we selected the largest sugarcane-producing area in western Uttar Pradesh, the Bijnor district. This paper is based on both primary data collection and secondary data collection. Primary data was collected through field survey which was undertaken to Dhampur Chini Mill, a privately owned mill with the maximum capacity for crushing sugarcane, and Snehroad Najibabad Mill, a cooperative sugar mill with the lowest capacity. Comparing both the mills it was found that private mill Dhampur is superior in terms of infrastructure, cane crushing capacity, sugar output, and ethanol production. It is more conscious of its corporate social and environmental responsibilities. The cooperative sugar mill doesn't have power cogeneration unit, which should be established, and it makes less revenue than the Dhampur sugar mill generates. The paper concludes with specific policy suggestions to improve condition of cooperative mills.