Training needs of rural women in agriculture: A case study of district Bahawalpur, Pakistan

Pakistan is a third world country with more than 162 million populations. It has multiple strata of life with multidimensional livelihood strategies. Agriculture is the mainstay of the Pakistan's economy. It has employed 44.8% of the work force. More than 52% of the country's population is comprised of women. Rural women play a significant role in various arenas of life. An ordinary farm-woman is the main player to sustain life activities both at home and farm. They are active participants in agriculture, livestock management and poultry husbandry also their participation in community development and social relations is recognizable. Whereas in livestock production they look after animals and their primary medication. They also have to perform domestic chores of cooking, cleaning of house, washing of clothes taking care of children and fetching of water and fuel. Although they perform all of the above mentioned tasks but due to lack of resourc es, information sources and technical guidance, they have to meet the multiple challenges. On the other hand they are deprived of education, nutrition, medication and security. Due to lack of skill enhancement training of rural women, they are lagging behind than the international standards of crop production, livestock management and post harvest operations, resulting low yield of the crops and poor quality of the produce. To probe the matter, the present study the role of rural women in agriculture and their training needs in District Bahawalpur was designed. District Bahawalpur consists of five tehsils namely Hasilpur, Bahawalpur, Khairpur Tamewali, Ahmadpur East and Yazman. Out of which two tehsils were selected randomly and five union councils from each tehsil were also randomly selected. From each selected union council 2 villages were selected randomly. From each selected village 20 women, involved in agricultural activities, were selected through random sampling techn ique, thus making a total of 400 respondents. The data were collected through a pre-tested interview schedule designed for this purpose. The data collected were analyzed and interpreted by using appropriate statistical package to draw the conclusions and to suggest measures for improvement. The results revealed that Short training programs for crop production, livestock care and management, human health and sanitation and handicrafts making for capacity building and skill development of the desert women were intensively required.