Applying the Method of Paired Comparison Technique to Determine the Most Critical Issue Associated with the Livelihood Security of the Tribal Farmers of Meghalaya
Deepa Thangjam *
School of Social Sciences, College of Post Graduate, Studies in Agricultural Sciences, Central Agricultural University, Meghalaya, 793103, India.
J. K. Chauhan
School of Social Sciences, College of Post Graduate, Studies in Agricultural Sciences, Central Agricultural University, Meghalaya, 793103, India.
R. J. Singh
School of Social Sciences, College of Post Graduate, Studies in Agricultural Sciences, Central Agricultural University, Meghalaya, 793103, India.
Ram Singh
School of Social Sciences, College of Post Graduate, Studies in Agricultural Sciences, Central Agricultural University, Meghalaya, 793103, India.
L. Hemochandra
School of Social Sciences, College of Post Graduate, Studies in Agricultural Sciences, Central Agricultural University, Meghalaya, 793103, India.
L. Devarani
School of Social Sciences, College of Post Graduate, Studies in Agricultural Sciences, Central Agricultural University, Meghalaya, 793103, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Ensuring livelihood security of the tribal farmers of Meghalaya has been the main focus of the policymakers. To accelerate the process, it is necessary to identify the most serious issue encountered by the farmers of the region. This paper presents a list of agricultural issues associated with the livelihood security of the farmers. Using survey data from beneficiary farmers of Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) project of College of Post Graduate Studies in Agricultural Sciences (CPGSAS), Umiam, Meghalaya and College of Home Science (CoHSc), Tura, Meghalaya, Central Agricultural University, Imphal [CAU(I)], the method of paired comparison is applied to prioritize the list of issues. The data was collected in the year 2018 from 390 beneficiary farmers from Ri-Bhoi district and West Garo Hill of Meghalaya state. The result indicates that crop diseases and pest infestation were the most critical issue. Both present and future policymaker need to intervene according to the need base situation of the farmer to ensure their livelihood security.
Keywords: Livelihood security, Tribal Sub-Plan, paired comparison and prioritize