No abstract

Conscious efforts to address the gender issues in fisheries sector and the involvement of more women through explicit support to their participation are yet to be undertaken intensively in North Eastern region of India. Therefore, the study was conducted to know the level of participation of women in fisheries activities in Manipur and to identify the different constraints perceived by them while participating in fisheries activities. One hundred and twenty women who were involved in different fisheries activities formed the sample of the study. A semi-structured interview schedule was used to collect the information through personal interview. The data was analyzed by using frequency, percentage, 'Z' test. Empowerment index was also developed for the study to know the level of empowerment after participation in fisheries activities. The participation of women was found maximum in aspects of capture fisheries, followed by post harvesting, marketing of fishes and stocking of fish seeds. Most significant participation under the post harvesting practices was value addition (3.40), cleaning and grading (3.40) and transporting (2.93). The 'Z' values revealed that, there was significant difference in index values of empowerment of rural women before and after taking up fisheries activity, which clearly revealed the fact that participation in fisheries activity significantly contributed for enhancement in empowerment. Lack of access and control over resources (1.80), low access to credit (1.74), lack of confident in technical issues (1.60), lack of women friendly aquaculture technology (1.50) were the major constraints identified in empowerment of women through participation in fisheries activities.

Purpose: Livelihood diversification is a sound alternative for higher economic growth and its success or failure is conditioned by the interplay of a multitude of factors. The study of the profile of the farmers in which they operate is important to highlight the factors leading to success in diversified livelihoods. Design/Methodology/Approach: A total of 160 households of farmers were selected randomly and were interviewed to collect primary data for the study. To measure the success of diversified occupation a success-failure scale was developed following the steps used by Singh et al., 't' statistics was used to compare the two groups. Discriminant function analysis was used to identify the factors determining success and failure in diversified occupation. Findings: The study revealed that 53% of the diversifiers were successful in their diversified activities. Around 62.50% diversifiers under the high success category were adopted non-farming nature of diversification along with farm diversification. Number of livestock holding, resource mobilisation potentiality, contact with extension personnel, distance from market, share of non-farm income, credit-seeking behaviour and dependency ratio were major characters discriminating successful diversifiers from unsuccessful diversifiers. Practical Implications: The paper would be useful for the researchers and policy-makers to assess and compare the livelihood security of different rural communities in the country. Originality/Value: The study was originally conducted by the authors. Nothing similar has been previously published or is currently under consideration for publication by another journal.

Aquarium fish keeping has been emerging as a popular hobby in Tripura. The study was conducted in the West Tripura district of Tripura in the year 2015-2016 among 100 randomly selected hobbyists of aquarium fish keeping. The data collected through observation and personal interview of the respondents revealed that majority of them were middle aged (36-50 years), all are literate and 50% of them were graduates. Around 39% of the hobbyists were businessmen. Further, the majority of the respondents (38%) were found to be spending ` 50-100 per month to manage their aquariums. Majority of the hobbyists (89%) liked to keep Gold fish (Carassius auratus) in their aquarium followed by keeping shark (Carchardon carcharias) and Koi carp like Milky carp and Malina carp (Cyprinus carpio). Small to medium sized aquariums between (2×1×1) ft to (3×1×1.5) ft were having highest preference. Around 69% of the hobbyists were having medium level of adoption score in different improved practices of ornamental fish keeping and aquarium management and the adoption index of the study area was 68.09. The variables like knowledge, education, information management behaviour and income were having significant positive relationship with adoption level. On the other hand, 67% of the respondents had medium extent of knowledge score. Gross majority of them (80%) flagged cleaning of tank to be their major issue whereas, 43% of them perceived that lack of scientific guidance regarding ornamental fish keeping and aquarium management was the major problem causing concern in continuing with the hobby.

No abstract