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i. To impart skill-based trainings on drudgery reduction and strengthening technical knowledge through critical interventions

ii. To study the impact of capacity building programmes on drudgery reduction in farm practices

Rural prosperity holds the key to sustainable economic development of India. To achieve this, commercial crops play a significant role as they are primarily grown to increase the income of farmers. Among them, tobacco, known as golden crop, has immense potential in improving the farmers welfare and contributed Rs.9740 crore in foreign exchange of the country during 2022-23. Indian tobacco accounts for 10% of the area and 9% of the total production of the world. In the global scenario, India holds second position (~ 750 M kg) after China and it is cultivated in an area of 0.45 M ha (0.27% of the net cultivated area). Among different types of tobacco, Flue-Cured Virginia (FCV) tobacco has its own prominence in commercial farming particularly in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. FCV tobacco has the potential to provide a source of sustained livelihood for the cultivating farmers in general and umpteen small holders in particular. From an outside perspective, tobacco causes severe health and environmental impacts, but for the farmers it is a boon. Although the government policies are focusing on crop diversification, the farmers are not willing to switch over to other crops as FCV tobacco fetches more income. In the current context of the Government of India ongoing focus on ‘Doubling Farmers' Income’ (DFI), FCV tobacco has immense potential in improving farmers income. To achieve this, innovative technological solutions are the key to modern, efficient and sustainable production. Farm operations in FCV tobacco require continuous labor, which demands physical exertion and time. Crucial operations are carried out manually especially by women in FCV tobacco. Coir pith medium pressing in the trays, topping to stop apical dominance and baling of graded cured FCV tobacco leaf which are, labour intensive, tedious, time-consuming & stressful. Lack of access to appropriate farm tools and machinery, the women/men engaged in the activity are unable to avoid the drudgery. To lessen the above drudgery, suitable interventions were developed by ICAR-CTRI viz., poly tray medium pressing tool, hand-held battery-operated topping tool and bale pressing machine. All the technology interventions result in 25-30% saving in inputs and cost of labour. Popularization and training on these technologies certainly reduces drudgery, dependence on labour and saving of time. Keeping this background in view, the present project will introduce the drudgery reduction interventions, technological demonstrations and training programmes in the identified FCV tobacco growing Northern Light Soil (NLS) region of Andhra Pradesh to strengthen their technical knowledge and hands on training. Quantitative data on pre and post intervention analysis will be used to draw the inference and know the impact on the farmers income and drudgery reduction.
 

• Adoption of drudgery reducing technological interventions empower farmers technical knowledge.

• Hands on training improves the farm income through drudgery reduction, resource saving and efficient production.

• Adoption of drudgery reduction technologies reduce the dependence on labour, effective decision making, resource saving, improved labour use efficiency and timely operations.

• Increase scope for rural youth employment through custom hiring centers and community based delivery systems.