PARTICIPATION OF THE SAOTAL FARMERS IN AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES OF CARITAS IN DINAJPUR DISTRICT
Date
2012
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
HAJEE MOHAMMOD DANESH SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY, DINAJPUR
Abstract
The main purpose of this study was to describe 10 selected characteristics of the Saotal farmers,
to determine the extent of participation of the Saotal farmers, to explore the relationship
between the selected characteristics of Saotal farmers and their participation in agricultural
activities of CARITAS and to identify the problems faced by the Saotal farmers in agricultural
activities of CARITAS. Data were collected using interview schedule from a sample of 96
Saotal farmers selected by multistage random sampling procedure from 10 villages of Birol and
Chirirbandar upazila of Dinajpur district during 01 September to 15 October 2012. Ten selected
characteristics namely age, educational qualification, farm size, agricultural training received,
annual income, credit received, cosmopoliteness, NGO participation, extension communication
exposure and attitude towards NGOs of the Saotal farmers were considered as independent
variables while their participation in agricultural activities of CARITAS constituted dependent
variable. The dependent variable was measured based on three aspects of agriculture namely
crop cultivation, livestock rearing and homestead plantation and finally overall agricultural
participation was determined by summing up these aspects. Among the 21 (seven from each)
selected activities of crop cultivation, livestock rearing and homestead plantation the top
participation of the Saotal farmers were use of modern seeds, cleaning cowshed and preparation
of ideal pit respectively. In case of overall participation, highest proportion (60.42 percent) of
the Saotal farmers had medium participation compared to 34.38 percent low and only 5.20
percent high. Among the 10 selected characteristics of the Saotal farmers, six namely
educational qualification, farm size, agricultural training received, annual income, credit
received and extension communication exposure showed positive relationships with their
participation in agricultural activities of CARITAS while other four namely age,
cosmopoliteness, NGO participation and attitude towards NGO were not correlated. The top
three problems faced by the respondents in participating agricultural activities were application
of insecticides, problem in training and pruning, and regular feeding of cattle, while the least
problem was preparation of ideal pit.
Description
Bangladesh is a very densely populated country with a population of about150
million of which 1.2 million are tribal (BBS, 2010). The overall economy of
Bangladesh is not satisfactory. It is a low-income country, with per capita income
of $848in Fiscal Year 2012. Poverty persists at a very high level. About 40 percent
of total population lives below national poverty line (World Bank, 2010) and 25
percent of those are classified by governments as ‘extremely poor’ who cannot
afford an adequate diet. However, the ethnic minorities of the country are also
living in poverty. The economic condition, political freedom, and the state of
human rights are sharply different case of the Saotal people. There are about 45
tribes in Bangladesh among them Chakma, Saotal, Mog, Murung, Tipra, Kuki,
Luci, Khashia, Garo, Hajong, Koach, Monipuri are important. Among the tribes in
Bangladesh Saotals are lived at northern part of Bangladesh especially at Dinajpur
district. The tribes are, occupying one percent of the total number of households of
Bangladesh. In ancient times the tribal people who lived in hilly areas used to
practice ‘Jum’ cultivation but who lived in flat areas they did as like as general
people do. The tribes of Bangladesh have significant contribution in the national
economy especially in crop cultivation, livestock rearing and forestry.
Keywords
Locale of the Study, Population and Sampling, Variables of the Study and their Measurement