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Moonty Baruah ¹, Swapnali Borah ²

Affiliations
1 Department of Family Resource Management, College of Home Science, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, Assam, IN
2 Department of Family Resource Management, College of Home Science, Central Agricultural University, Tura, Meghalaya, IN

Abstract

Energy has been recognized as basic requirement in every aspect of human welfare. Energy is a fundamental requirement for subsistence in the form of cooking, heating and lighting and at the same time it is a necessary input in productive processes such as agriculture, transportation and industry. In India, the household sector is one of the major energy consuming units accounting for half of the country's energy demand which is nearly double quantity of energy consumed by agriculture and industry. A sample of hundred households was selected for the study from the rural areas of Tura, Meghalaya. The objective of the study was to estimate per capita energy consumption per household. The study on energy consumption pattern in rural households of Tura revealed that non-commercial sources were used in greater amount as compared to commercial sources. The per capita consumption of firewood was 1.48 as compared to L.P.G. which was only 0.08.

Keywords

Commercial Fuel, Non-commercial Fuel, per Capita Consumption

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Nandita Bhattacharyya ¹, Moonty Baruah ¹, Nasima Farhanaali ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Family Resource Management, College of Home Science, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, Assam, IN

Abstract

Tea is the most important plantation crop and the largest organized agro-based industry in India. This industry is highly labour intensive industry where both male and female workers are engaged. The present study was conducted in Jorhat district of Assam (India) to ergonomically assess around 150 workers engaged in different activities in tea garden. Majority of the male (81.9 %) and female (75 %) workers had ectomorph body type. Postural analysis showed that angle of deviation was highest during the digging activity for males whereas for females, it was found to be maximum during deep skiffing. The average working heart rate values was highest during digging for male and of the females deep skiffing was considered as moderately heavy. The grip strength of the male workers was found to be higher for both the hands than the grip strength of female workers. Data also revealed that majority of the workers both male (93.33%) and female (100%) were found to suffer from back pain. Hence, a continuous awkward standing posture, adverse environment and working conditions increased drudgery and decrease productivity of the workers.

Keywords

Ergonomic, Cardio-vascular Stress, Physical Fitness Index, Drudgery

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Swapnali Borah ¹, Moonty Baruah ²

Affiliations
1 College of Home Science, Central Agricultural University, Tura, Meghalaya, IN
2 Faculty of Home Science, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, Assam, IN

Abstract

No Abstract

Keywords

Women Workers, Health Hazards, Cashewnut Industry

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Nasima Farhanaali ¹, Nandita Bhattachary ², Moonty Baruah ²

Affiliations
1 A.I.C.R.P. on Home Science, Department of Family Resource Management, College of Home Science, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat Assam, IN
2 Department of Family Resource Management, College of Home Science, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat Assam, IN

Abstract

Pruning is a vital operation in tea gardens to limit the top growth and to rejuvenates the tea bush and brings it to growth of new pluckable shoots. Pruning is an exceedingly repetitive task and usually carried out with forceful exertion that involves movement of hand muscles, shoulder and wrist joint. In this study, an effort was made to modify the pruning knife used for light pruning activity in order to minimize drudgery involved in the activity and to increase work efficiency of the tea workers. It was limited to the light pruning activity only since it is the standard recurring pruning carried out in Assam. Thus, the present study is an attempt to ergonomically evaluate drudgery involved in light pruning activity using conventional and improved pruning knives. Eight physically fit tea workers (four male and four female) without having any physical disability and chronic ailments were selected for the field trial of the improved pruning knife. The results showed that improved pruning knife was found to be very effective in reducing drudgery of tea workers in terms of physiological workload, grip fatigue and musculoskeletal problems as compared to existing pruning knife. The curved or 'S' shaped handle of the improved knife makes the workers to grip it comfortably with lesser shocks while striking the tea bushes. In addition, the weight of the improved knife was kept balanced between blade and handle which allows the workers to prune effortlessly with clean cut.

Keywords

Physiological Workload, Rating of Perceived Exertion, Grip Fatigue, Musculoskeletal Problems, Pruning Efficiency

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Swapnali Borah ¹, Moonty Baruah ²

Affiliations
1 Department of Family Resource Management, College of Home Science, Central Agricultural University, Tura Meghalaya, IN
2 Department of Family Resource Management, Faculty of Home Science, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat Assam, IN

Abstract

Women are the main working force in cashewnut industry of Meghalaya, which is in North Eastern part of India. Raw cashewnut requires an elaborate process of sun drying, roasting, shelling and peeling of testa to become suitable for human consumption. Shelling of hard outer shell of cashewnut is time and labour intensive which create severe musculoskeletal problem. Twenty women labour were selected purposively for the study and intensity of body pain, perceived joint discomfort, muscular fatigue of hand grip, postural deviation and relationship between demographic factor with dependant variable i.e. musculoskeletal problem were recorded. Results show that majority of the women felt severe to very severe pain in fingers, wrist and upper and lower arm of both hands and upper and lower back and they perceived more than intolerable joint discomfort while shelling cashewnut. It was also observed that grip strength of the right hand decreased by 6.59% and left hand is 3.23% after completion of the work and also observed that the deviation of spinal column due to squatting posture is more (11.95%) in the lumber region than the cervical region (3.5%). Further analysis shows that there existed a significant positive correlation in between age and intensity of body pain (r=0.552) of women labour and also in between years of involvement and MSD (r=0.576).

Keywords

Musculo-skeletal Disorder (MSDs), Back Pain, Hand Grip Strength, Body Ache Syndrome And Postural Deviation

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Manorama Devi ¹, Leena Das ¹, Moonty Baruah ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Family Resource Management and Consumer Science, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat (Assam), IN

Abstract

Online shopping is purchasing items from internet retailers. Recently it has witnessed a tremendous growth resulting in greater use of this tool by the traders. Also the competition in e-commerce is intensified. Therefore, it becomes more important for online retailers to understand the online shopping behaviour of the consumers. Consumer behaviour has been always of great interest to marketers. The knowledge of consumer behaviour helps the marketer to understand how consumers think, feel and select from alternatives like products, brands and the like and how the consumers are influenced by their environment, the reference groups, family, and salespersons and so on. For the present research work 120 samples were selected randomly from four wards of municipality area of Jorhat Assam and a multistage stratified random sampling method was adopted in order to select representative sample. Findings revealed that majority of the consumers have average shopping behaviour. Age of the respondent is negatively correlated whereas education and income has strong positive correlation with online shopping behaviour.

Keywords

Consumer, Consumer Behaviour, Online Shopping, Online Shopping Behaviour.

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Pallavi Talukdar ¹, Moonty Baruah ¹, Pinky Saikia ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Family Resource Management, College of Community Sciences, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat (Assam), IN

Abstract

Waste management is the collection, transport, processing, managing and monitoring of waste material which is produced by the act of human and generally carried out to reduce their detrimental effect on environment, human health and aesthetic. Waste management has been considered as one of the major problem in developing and developed country. Rapid urbanization and population growth contributes to generation of huge quantity of agricultural waste in the country, causing environmental degradation. Conversion of agricultural waste into organic resources or organic fertilizer is an effective approach to address proper waste management in urban and semi urban areas. A sustainable agricultural production in the country can be achieved either through low input sustainable agriculture or organic farming. Amongst the Asia and Pacific regions, Peoples’ Republic of China produces highest quantity of agricultural waste, followed by India. It is estimated that nearly 700 million tonnes of organic waste is generated annually in India which is either burned or land filled (Mane and Smita, 2011), and nearly 700 million tonnes of annually generated organic agricultural waste can be easily converted to organic fertilizer through Vermicomposting, which in turn will promote organic farming, employment generation and decrease pollution. Organic farming by vermicompost can sequesters huge amount of atmospheric carbon and bury them back into the soil as soil organic carbon, improving soil fertility and also mitigating global warming.

Keywords

Waste Management, Sustainable Agricultural Production.

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Manorama Devi ¹, Leena Das ¹, Moonty Baruah ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Family Resource Management and Consumer Science. Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, Assam, IN

Abstract

Shopping was once perceived as an activity of going out, exploring various stores and shops across the town, shifting through a myriad of options and finally settling down to purchase a product with full satisfaction. Now that the technology is skillfully trying to make a person think smartly, without exerting much physical energy, we see that even shopping has been engulfed under grip of changing lifestyle. With online shopping spreading its wings gradually, the experience of 'touch and feel1 concept is slowly fading among the consumers. Online shopping or electronic shopping is a part of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the internet. A survey was conducted in the Jorhat town of Assam to know the online shopping scenario among the consumers with the objective to identify the category of population inclined for online shopping and the factors influencing the consumers for online shopping. For the present research work, 120 samples were selected randomly from four wards of municipality area and a multistage stratified random sampling method was adopted in order to select representative sample. The findings of the study revealed that the young generations are very active in the activities of online shopping and most of them are females. The results of the study have given detailed information regarding the change in shopping behaviour of the consumers.

Keywords

Consumer, Online Shopping, Shopping Behaviour, Factors.

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