Author(s): Bondipa Dutta, Manoshi B Deka and Manju D Das

Abstract:
The study was carried out in Jorhat district of Assam to determine the personal and socio-economic characteristics of rural women and to study the decision making pattern of rural women in different activities of poultry management. From Jorhat district, two (2) blocks were selected from which 6 (six) villages were selected for the research study. Thus total numbers of respondent were 120. Data were collected with the help of interview schedule. Statistical technique viz., frequency, percentage were used for analysing the data. The studies revealed that majority of the respondents were of lower middle age group, had nuclear and small family, married and educated up to middle school. A large majority of respondent reared poultry for both commercial and household purpose. Data also revealed that independent decision was taken by the respondents in different regular activities such as feeding and watering, closing the bird in the poultry shed, collection of eggs, cleaning and maintaining of poultry shed, culling, keeping the eggs for hatching, selection of poultry bird for breeding and marketing activities such as place of selling, number of birds, chicks and eggs to be sold, purchasing of poultry and number of eggs and poultry for household use. The findings of the present study revealed majority of the respondents belonged to medium socio-economic status, participation in extension programme and contact with extension agent was low in spite of independent to joint decision making in poultry related activities by the rural women. The extension services could not reach the rural women for which they were unaware of new technologies and breeds of birds. Hence, suitable extension programmes should be planned based to perceived problems in study area to increase their efficiency in poultry farming.