ICAR - Central Arid Zone Research Institute

A one day on-campus training programme on ‘Value addition of fruits and vegetables’ was organized for farm women at Krishi Vigyan Kendra CAZRI, Jodhpur on 13th July 2015. Twenty one farm women from Gangana and Pal Village of Jodhpur were participated in this programme. Dr. A.K. Misra, Head, Division of Livestock Production Systems & Range Management, and Officer-In-charge, KVK Jodhpur discussed about the importance of training programme for women empowerment and livelihood security. Women are strong drivers of change in dryland farming system. About 70% of the agricultural work on farms is done by women. Women could increase their farm productivity by up to 30% if they had the same access as men to productive resources, i.e. land, capital, technology, information, training, etc.. Men tend to focus more on economic gains, whereas, women’s ultimate concerns tend to food sovereignty and nutrition, conservation of biodiversity and natural resources. Sh. R.R. Meghwal, SMS (Agronomy) emphasized on role of women in decision making related to agriculture operations at farm. The other topics covered were importance of fruits and vegetables in human diet, techniques and methods of preservation. Dr. Poonam Kalash, SMS (Home Science) and Smt. Savita Singhal, ACTO, demonstrated the process of preparation of value added products like tomato chutney, lemon pickle, and lemon squash to farm women. Exposure visit was also conducted at CAZRI Museum and Solar Energy unit to acquaint farm women with CAZRI technologies and utilization of solar energy. The training programme was coordinated by Dr Poonam Kalsh, SMS Home Science.

(Source: ICAR-CAZRI, Jodhpur)