International Journal of Social Sciences and Management

272-278

Authors: Arjun Khanal, Punya Prasad Regmi, Gopal Bahadur KC, Dilli Bahadur KC, Kishor Chandra Dahal

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a holistic approach in reducing damage caused by pests without harming the environment. A study on cost effectiveness strategy to disseminate IPM technology was conducted in the Banke and Surkhet districts of Nepal. For assessing the spread of information, farmers were asked a series of questions during the survey to determine knowledge of IPM and degree of IPM adoption. Using descriptive statistics and differences in means, analysis was done on relationships among access to information, IPM knowledge and adoption, and word-of-mouth diffusion of IPM techniques to neighboring farmers. For the evaluation of dissemination methods efficiency and to examine the cost for using the different dissemination methods of IPM technology followed by IPM IL project in Banke and Surkhet district, the cost measurements was focused only on the dissemination methods of IPM technology with a public cost such as mass media, agricultural officers, MPC, collection centre, FFS, CBFs, cooperatives, neighboring farmers, agro-vets and field days. When the number of farmers needing to receive training for one farmer to adopt IPM practices is known, and then that value can be multiplied by the cost per farmer trained which allows in providing the cost per farmer adopting the technology by transfer method. Capacity building in IPM technology development and dissemination in the study area was I/NGOs working in that area. Market Planning Committee of Banke and Surkhet district has played a vital role in disseminating IPM technology in cost effective and efficiently.

285-291

Authors: Kapil Khanal, Kalika Bahadur Adhikari, Shiva Chandra Dhakal, Santosh Marahatta

The study analyzed the factors motivating the farmers for collective action for the management of the Shardikhola Puranchaur Irrigation System of the Kaski district of Nepal in 2019. A cross-sectional data of 184 farmers were collected using a simple random sampling method. A logit regression was used for data analysis. Age of the household head, years of schooling of the household head, presence of fine in monetary terms, number of farmers in a branch of the irrigation system positively motivated farmers in the involvement in the group for the management of the irrigation system. Motivation among farmers for collective action for management of the irrigation system was influenced by a combination of different factors. Therefore, the proper distribution of water at different branches, binding every level of users by law and transparency in the use of the income of the irrigation system must be maintained to achieve the desired results.

299-305

Authors: Pratibha Bist, Prashant Bhatt, Naresh Singh Bist, Rojina Kafle

A seed is the most important input to increase wheat production. A seed is the biological basis of the world food security and, directly or indirectly supports the livelihood of every person on earth. To improve the productivity of wheat seed, it is important to adopt improved seed production technologies. Thus, the presented study was conducted with help of a well-structured questionnaire to assess the socio-demographic characteristics, economic status of producers, land &livestock holding, access to different agricultural services, drivers of seed production, market status and marketing of wheat seed, availability of different inputs, and constraints faced by seed producers during production as well as marketing. 60 formal and informal wheat seed producers were included in the survey. It was observed that the majority of wheat seed producers lacked services such as field inspection, roguing, cleaning, and processing. So, they do not acquire the best possible return from seed production. The number of middlemen involved in marketing of wheat seed is high, thus reducing price received by the farmers for their product. Due to lack of quality input, erratic rainfall, lack of technical support, lack of access to the market, the wheat seed production has not been carried out at its full potential in the study region.

312-319

Authors: Divya Sajan

The study entitled “A study on the awareness of benefits, perceptions of borrowers to problems in finance and Utilisation of Microfinance” was centred in the first cent percent literate district of the nation but confined to the rural areas. The methodology adopted was by using a pretested structured questionnaire and eliciting the response. The results revealed that the awareness with regard to poverty reduction, factors on access and terms of conditions were as high as 98 percent, whereas that on awareness favouring utilisation and updation of knowledge was cent percent. The eight factors in perception included 3 with regard to aspects of financial support, three with regard to preconditions and two regarding compliances to awareness on the first three aspect of perception. 96 to 100 percent agreed to both adequacy and timely release, in case of the second, cent percent agreed that it was properly veted and there were neither conditions or strings attached, in case of compliance it was more than 95 percent. 94 percent of the borrowers used the money for the purpose whereas six percent deviated from the actual purpose. Mixed response was observed with regard to the utilisation however, the study revealed that it generated good amount useful for education, household expenditure, wealth creation and social security. Correlation studies revealed that age, education, occupation levels are all positively correlated with all five factors of awareness but not significant. However, in case of both awareness and perception there was a significant positive correlation between the factors taken up in the study.

333-340

Authors: Jiban Khadka

This study intends to investigate the present situation of teachers' questioning in Nepali school, test the use of questions types, and analyze across the characteristics of the teachers. The data were collected from a survey of 92 teachers of 81 schools including both community and institutional schools. The questionnaire was prepared largely based on Introduction of Core Skills for Teachers (British Council, 2016). The Cronbach's alpha was in the range of 0.7 that ensured the reliability of the questionnaire. The descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were employed to find out the results. The results show that in overall study, as the effective teachers, Nepali school teachers use lower-order questions, higher-order and follow-up questions in a continuum of frequency from lower to higher order irrespective of teachers' selected characteristics. However, the teachers with a few years of experience use lower-order questions, and trained teachers use more frequently follow-up questions to a significant extent. Based on the findings of this study, Nepali school policy makers and leaders can adapt the existing teacher development programs and policies to make effective teaching and learning. Moreover, teachers can also get insights actually at what level they are in questioning techniques, and further, improve their questioning techniques.

191-197

Authors: Mohammad Azizur Rahman, Mohammad Rafiul Azam Khan

The paper aimed at investigating the existing status and the impact of giving promotion on women’s position in the banking industry. The stud was used purposive sampling on 250 employees serving the public, private and specialized banks. Normal frequency distribution as well as inferential statistics (χ2-test) was applied to analyze data. For examining the effect of the number of promotion received by employees on gender position they hold chi-square test statistic was used. The study reveals that there was 85% of male and 15% of female employees worked in the banking industry. It was observed that female employees worked 16.7% of state-owned commercial (SOBs), 13.5% of private commercial (PCBs), and 13.08% of specialized (SPBs) banks (shown in Table 5). Consequently, a few numbers of female employees were at the senior level. The entry level female employees were 25% of female observed. The study also found that there was a strong association between the women’s position and the number of promotion they up gradated. The study has suggested for managerial as well as policy implications the study suggested for further study to treat equally sustaining in the competitive field of financial institutions.

202-213

Authors: Bakhat Bahadur Khadka, Hridesh Sharma, Ananta Prakash Subedi, Shiva Chandra Dhakal

A total of 120 sample households were randomly selected from two municipalities of Surkhet for this study. The primary data were collected by survey questionnaire, direct observation, FGD whereas secondary data of rainfall temperature and rice productivity were collected from different sources. Majority of farmers perceived increase in temperature, decrease in rainfall frequency, decrease in rainfall duration and increase in flooding hazard during rainy season. Trends analysis of temperature and rainfall data over 35 years (1980-2015) showed, increasing trends of maximum temperature (0.06oC/year) and minimum temperature (0.03oC/year) which were in the line with the farmer's perception. Trend analysis revealed that total annual precipitation was decreasing by 3.77 mm/year while monsoon rainfall was increasing by 0.051 mm/year. About 20% respondents had clear knowledge on climate change. The major source of information was media (43.43%) and self-experiences (36.3%). The major climate change adaptation practices adopted by farmers were use of drought resistant varieties, flood resistant varieties, use of electric water pump, and use of local irrigation channel. The study showed that only 39.17% of the respondents know about crop insurance policy and only 6.66% of the total respondents done crop insurance on different crop. The regression analysis showed that rainfall and average maximum temperature has positive effect on yield and production. The study showed that farmers were positive to adapt climate change adaptation strategies. So, government and policy makers should focus on climate resilient adaptation strategies formulation for rice cultivation through intensive research and extension package.

218-223

Authors: Salwana Shamaun, Humaira Siddique, Junaid Subhani, Ali Waqas, . Kalsoom

The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of physical violence during pregnancy and the factors associated with it. Although the whole world has recognized the violence against women is a serious risk to the health and development of the whole country. Butt still, it exists in almost all parts of the world. It is found more prevalent in developing countries as compared to the developed countries. This aspect signifies the socioeconomic aspect of the country. This study was performed by random sampling in gynae units of Jinnah hospital Lahore. Total 100 women were given the questionnaire and collected through the help of department’s personnel. The results revealed the predominance of factors that cause and aggravate the violence against women during pregnancy.

234-241

Authors: Nabin Pandey, Swodesh Rijal, Himal Adhikari, Binod Bhantana, Madhusudhan Adhikhari

Carrot (Daucus carota L.) is an important agricultural commodity in the world. A study was conducted for comparative analysis of demographic, economics assessment, and determinants of carrot production between ward no. 11 and ward no. 15 of the Bharatpur metropolitan of Chitwan district. Altogether 80 carrot growers, 40 from ward no. 11 and 40 from ward no. 15 of Bharatpur metropolitan were randomly selected. Pretested semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect primary information from randomly selected farmers. Carrot growers were interviewed using face to face method in November 2019. Moreover, Two Focus Group Discussion (FGDs) and two Key Informant Interviews (KII) were performed. All the data were entered in Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS Statistics 20) and Microsoft Excel (Ms-2013) and analysis was done by using Microsoft Excel, SPSS, and Stata. In the majority of respondents, Poultry manure cost (37.16%) occupied the major portion of the cost of production followed by seed cost (30.18%). The average gross margin per kattha for carrot production found NRs. 4726.62 and the Benefit-cost ratio (BCR) was 1.50. The probability of cultivation of carrot on large scale was found to be 31.12% higher for the male gender of household head and 27% higher for the schooling of the household head. Farmers use the Nepa Drim, F1 variety which incurred higher cost in the seed. Splitting (26.25%) was identified as the most critical problem followed by cracking (21.15%) in the cultivation of carrot. It is recommended that the farmers involved in carrot farming in the study sites should be provided with Subsidy on seed, proper solution of physiological disorder problems and proper technical knowledge for optimizing the use of resources would help to increase the profit of carrot production in the Chitwan district of Nepal.

248-255

Authors: Anupama Dhakal, Utsab Bhattarai

Our assumption was that the money disbursed in the form of Old Age Allowance (OAA) in Nepal should have helped in lessening at least some of the financial burdens of its recipients while also enriching their social status and honor as senior citizens. With this assumption and the limitations of time and money, Ward Number 33 of Kathmandu District was selected as our study site. The objective of this study to explore and identify key implications of OAA specifically on the aspects of social and economic life of elderlies. The findings of this study are the outcomes of the analysis of data obtained through fifty face to face household surveys and direct observation of the first author during the fieldwork of five months in 2013. The study results revealed moderate implications of OAA on economic as well as social life of elderlies, however with greater insinuations for the earlier facet compared to later. Participants deemed a significant increment in the amount of OAA for its better outcomes. The value of OAA in 2013 was Nepalese Rupees (Nrs.) 500 which was considered very nominal by all participants. Most of the participants argued that the senior citizens in Nepal should also receive decent discounts/concessions at least on all modes of public transportation as well as health facilities. We strongly recommend that the ministries of Nepal, chiefly, Finance; Women, Children and Senior Citizens; and Federal Affairs and General Administration, including their line agencies must undertake timely reviews and rigorous evaluations of the effectiveness of OAA in compliance with the principles of social security system to ensure social security benefits of the senior citizens of the country.

105-112

Authors: Rahman Abidin, Nunuk Suryani, . Sariyatun

Perception is a process of activities based on one's observations of an object that is observed in the form of responses delivered in oral or written form and can affect the value of an object being observed. Student perception is very important to be known in an assessment. The problem in this study is how students 'perceptions of the 360 ​​Degree Virtual Tour-based Historical Learning about the cultural heritage area of ​​the Kapitan and Al-Munawar villages in Palembang especially the Vocational High School of the Teachers' Association of the Republic of Indonesia 1 Palembang. The purpose of this study was to determine and students' perceptions of 360-degree virtual tour-based history learning about the cultural heritage areas of Kapitan and Al-Munawar villages in Palembang City. The research method used in this research is a descriptive qualitative method. Data collection techniques through interviews, observation, documentation and questionnaires. The Analysis Data Technique uses qualitative descriptive analysis. From the results of this study obtained data on student perceptions with an average percentage of 87%, seen from the three indicators namely receiving, understanding and assessing or responding to show that students' perceptions of choosing to agree and strongly agree with the excellent category. Thus, the mobile-based history learning model can improve the quality of learning more effectively and easily accepted by students in order to achieve better and more optimal learning outcomes.

131-151

Authors: Padam Lal Bhandari, Rishi Ram Kattel, Yam Bahadur Thapa, Rudra Baral

This paper examines the value chain alliance and financing of sikki craft in Nepal. Among other crafts, sikki crafts is the potential handicrafts in rural community in Nepal. Sikki (dhakiya) is the natural fiber made from grass and which is being used among Tharu communities as a gift during marriage ceremony of daughter and high export potential in global market. Sikki is more labor-intensive based production, which involvement of women in whole process as well as 79% costs of raw materials have been used from local resources. Lack of awareness, inadequate design, lack of coordination, networking and structures, inadequate business knowledge and inefficient technology were major constraints hindering the growth of this sikki craft sub-sector in Nepal. It was estimated that a total of 630 enterprises can be developed during the five-year period. The study revealed that, a total of NPR 70.5 million will required to manage their enterprises that can create over 1260 jobs. The loan fund to be required from external financial institutions will be NPR 3.9 million, where Government of Nepal can play a catalytic role to help these entrepreneurs obtain such loans from the formal sources through brokerage system charging fees. The return of investment of this product was 66% and benefit-cost ratio was 1.7. From the points of view of value chain financing of sikki craft, the business seems viable to the rural women in Terai’ community of Nepal from employment generation and promotion of Nepalese handicraft in global niche markets.

159-168

Authors: Arjun Karki, Kapil Kafle

Abstract available at: https://www.nepjol.info/index.php/IJSSM/article/view/29958

176-182

Authors: Laxmi Paudyal

Newborn baby should be assessed immediately soon after the birth and the APGAR (Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, Respiration) score is the most commonly used, simple and most effective method of immediate newborn assessment. The aim of the study was to compare the newborn APGAR score on first and fifth minute in two different mode of delivery; Normal Vaginal delivery (NVD) and Cesarean Delivery (CD) and its contributing factors. A cross-sectional study design with comparative research approach was adopted to conduct the research. Total 200 singleton babies (100 NVD and 100 CD) were selected and APGAR score was checked in the first and fifth minutes from baby’s birth record. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results showed that 88 and 95 percentage of neonatal APGAR scores in 1st and 5th minutes were more than seven, respectively. There were no significant statistical differences between APGAR score of 1st and 5th minutes in two methods of delivery (t=0.067 and 0.066 on 1st minute and 5th minute respectively, p>0.05). However, premature newborns, low birth weight, mother’s age and weight of mother, no of parity has effect on APGAR score. The study findings concluded that not the method of delivery has any effect on the low Apgar score of babies on birth but the factors such as prematurity, maternal age, mother’s weight, no of parity, low birth weight has significant association on low APGAR score of babies.

55-69

Authors: Rishi Ram Kattel, Punya Prasad Regmi, Moha Dutta Sharma, Yam Bahadur Thapa

This paper examines the consumers’ preference and willingness to pay Nepalese large cardamom in the global market. A total of 255 respondents were surveyed using structural questionnaire in KoBo Toolbox online survey during 2019-2020. The Logit model was used for assessing factors determine consumers WTP and WTP regression was used to assess the monetary value of additional WTP price premium. Average age of the respondents were 29.21 years and 16.70 years of schooling. The average household size was 4.87 members. Two-third of respondents were male and 39% respondent’s occupations were service. About 92% respondents belonged to Asia whereas 38% from urban city origin. One-fourth of respondents had US$ 5000 and above annual income. Consumers were willing to pay price premium of 34.56% for Nepalese large cardamom while about 33% additional WTP for organically certified once. About 40% respondents willingness to pay of Nepalese large cardamom whereas 65% expressed their additional WTP on organic certified. Average price paid for cardamom was US$ 19.6 per kg whereas the WTP additional amount for Nepalese cardamom was US$ 6.92 per kg and US$ 6.6 per kg additional for organic certified once. Major determine factors on WTP of Nepalese cardamom were preference based on color, size, household expenditure and knowledge. Additional WTP of Nepalese large cardamom price premium were determined by preference based on color, size and part of cardamom used. The results can significantly contribute to improving value added practices of Nepalese cardamom based on consumers’ preference.

78-85

Authors: Ketemaw Tiruneh Muluye

The purpose of this research was to examine the implementation of Active Learning Strategies (ALSs) in logic and critical thinking classrooms by focusing on freshman students of Gondar University. For this purpose, a concurrent triangulation mixed approach and case study design were employed. The data were collected through questionnaires (n=361), interviews and document analysis. Accordingly, the utilization of ALSs in logic and critical thinking classrooms is found to be negligible. Though buzz group discussions and presentations were found to be preferable as compared to other ALSs, they are utilized in a rare manner. Factors related with the directives of the Ministry, motivation of the instructors and students were found to have an influence on the utilization of ALSs. This implies though the Ministry claims that it is committed for the utilization of ALSs, its directives are not found to be complimentary with its rhetoric for the utilization of ALSs.

12-16

Authors: J. Shanmuganathan, A.S. SathishKumar, S. Thiriveni Sripriya

At the heart of all outstanding organizations is a culture that promotes productivity and quality by valuing and creating high trust relationships. Sound business practices are essential to success, but without trusting relationships that are forged each day at all levels, organizations are limited and distracted by events and symptoms that dampen morale and discourage performance. Regardless of how sound the business practices are, the business will be limited in growth and long-term profit if strategies for integrating and valuing all people are not a part of the plan. To achieve this cultural mindset where all members of the workforce feel valued requires effort, strategy and commitment the need is for the organisations to have leaders with high emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence has become a popular topic in the business press in recent years. Although the importance of the term “emotional intelligence” is of recent origin it has helped develop competencies that are required in many leaders. Emotional Intelligence has become a vital part of how today's leaders meet the significant challenges they face. Emotional intelligence is defined as a person’s self-awareness, self-confidence, self-control, commitment and integrity, and a person’s ability to communicate, influence, initiate change and accept change. Emotional Intelligence can help leaders in an ever more difficult leadership role, one that fewer and fewer people seem capable of fulfilling. And in the middle of the "Talent War", especially at the highest levels in organisations, emotional intelligence can give developing leaders a competitive edge. The idea that success in both life and in work -at least where managing people is a significant factor becomes highly credible so organisations have recognized how their best leaders and managers need to develop their understanding of themselves and others.

21-29

Authors: Ratna Mani Nepal

Political leaderships in the global south emerged in course of anti-colonial movements or movements against domestic authoritarianism. The leaderships in these liberation movements also laid foundation for social and economic development of the respective countries, besides political transformation. This article analyzes economic thinking of BP Koirala of Nepal, who led the land-locked country to transform from Rana oligarchy to political democracy. Information by interviews and narrative analysis show that BP's economic perspectives were in germinal form, though he discussed on varieties of issues such as industrialization, land reform, tax, foreign aid, technology and planning. BP's concept on these economic issues represent desire and aspirations of a land-locked underdeveloped country Nepal in the fifties, which was about to relieve it from Rana oligarchy and embark into socio-economic modernization. His ideas were contextual that refer to his ideals of democracy and socialism and his affiliation with foreign leaderships and institutions. Besides the pursuit of economic development, BP's views on economy represent his political strategies to counteract feudal social and political order, seek his leadership's legitimacy, and build a broader coalition for political objectives. Nevertheless, BP's economic views seem to be people centric and hence tend to influence governments as prescription policies.

38-41

Authors: Shovita Dhakal Adhikari, Edwin R. van Teijlingen, Pramod R. Regmi, Preeti Mahato, Bibha Simkhada, Padam P. Simkhada

A growing number of online electronic resources present academic work. We are not focusing here on specialised electronic databases that store bibliographic research data, such as Medline, PubMed, ASSIA, ERIC, JSTOR, but databases or social networking websites /platforms for academics/researchers that profile research, academic and professional activities, such as SCOPUS, WoS (Web of Science), Academia.edu, KUDOS, ORCiD, ResearchGate, LinkedIn, Google-Scholar and Mendeley. We discuss databases or platforms can promote the profile of an individual academic, highlighting their research interests, grants and publications. These databases are good outlets for Early Career Researchers (ECRs) to build, improve and promote their public profile. However, the level of efforts requires to open an account or to maintain these databases regularly can be a daunting task for some scholars. This paper outlines some of these key databases and their functions and reflects on advantages and disadvantages of engaging with the most popular ones. We remind the reader that many of these databases require academics’ attention and input, and thus create more work.