Economics of Small Tea Farming System (STFS): An in-depth Study of North Bengal,India

The study was conducted to find out the pattern of labour engagement (both family andhired labour), price realization of different type of small tea growers and economic analysisof the small tea growing system. Small tea growers of Jalpaiguri and Uttar Dinajpur districtof West Bengal were selected purposively. The present study mainly considered primarydata for analysis and a small amount of secondary data was also collected from records ofConfederation of Indian Small Tea Growers’ Association (CISTA) and Self-Help Group(SHG) registers. It has been found that there is a variation in price of green leaves in bothdistricts and higher rates are observed in the month of March. SHGs with own processingunits were found to fetch higher prices compared to other units because of their collectivebargaining power, absence of middlemen and owing co-operative processing units. Numberof such SHGs, with processing units were found in Jalpaiguri district whereas, UttarDinajpur district recorded no SHG with own processing units. The economic analysis alsopresented a clear picture about fixed and operational cost, gross return with or withoutdividend and benefit cost ratio.

The Mediating Effect of Disability Acceptance in Individuals with Spinal Cord Injury Participating in Sport for All

The purpose of this study is to examine the importance of disability acceptance among individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) participating in the Sport for All program through self-help group activities with other individuals with SCI. This study investigated whether disability acceptance mediates the relationship between self-efficacy and life satisfaction and between sense of belonging and life satisfaction. Subjects were 142 individuals with SCI participating in the self-help group with other sports activities including para table tennis, swimming, wheelchair rugby, and weight training. A simple mediation effect analysis showed that disability acceptance significantly mediated the relationship between self-efficacy and life satisfaction (indirect effect, b = 0.219) and between the sense of belonging and life satisfaction (indirect effect, b = 0.289). The results suggest the importance of disability acceptance for individuals with SCI participating in “Sports for All” programs.

Factors Responsible for Participation of Self Help Group Farmers in Vegetables and Fruits Promotion Council Kerala, India

Self Help Groups (SHGs) are farmer-led cooperatives in which all members work together to solve issues and take advantage of opportunities through participatory action following cooperative decision-making for the members' overall growth. In this context, a study was conducted in Palakkad district of Kerala to identify the factors responsible for the participation of farmer members in SHGs of Vegetables and Fruits Promotion Council Kerala (VFPCK). A proportionate random sampling technique was employed to collect data from 68 respondents and analyzed using mean score then ranked accordingly. The factors like economic, social, personal, organizational and marketing factors may be responsible for members to participate in VFPCK. The results of analysis revealed that marketing, organizational and economic factors were the important factors responsible for the participation of farmer members in VFPCK. Membership to a farmers’ group improves access to technology, training and output markets and consequently increasing expected profits. The results of this study have implications as to which factors need to be addressed to encourage farmers to participate in the SHGs of VFPCK.

Nationwide Awareness Campaign and Call for Dental Screening for HHT in Germany

Background: HHT is a rare, systemic, inherited disorder in which patients suffer from telangiectasias, especially of the facial skin, lips and oral mucosa, as well as visceral vascular malformations (VM). The diagnosis of HHT is often delayed for decades. However, early detection of VMs can reduce morbidity and mortality. Methods: In 2018 a nationwide awareness campaign addressing all dentists in Germany consisted of one published article and two reminders about HHT. As a proxy for the effectiveness of the campaign, researchers measured the number of first-time inquiries from patients and physicians about HHT documented by the German HHT self-help group from September 2016 until September 2019.Results: A total of 411 first contacts with the German self-help group were documented, mainly via internet platforms (internet forum (n = 130) and Facebook® (n = 189)). For 9% of those patients (n = 36/411) the physician or dentist (physician: (n = 31/36, 86%; dentist: n = 5/36, 14%) informed patients about the disease HHT and the self-help group. Before publishing the first article about HHT no dentist referred patients to the German self-help group; afterwards, 5 patients received information about HHT from their dentist and contacted the patient organization for the first time. After each publication in June, September and December 2018 the number of new contacts increased. Contacts via phone and e-mail had the highest relative increase. Conclusions: The repeated call for dental screening for HHT in Germany lead to increased awareness of this rare disease; more patients with possible HHT received information about the condition. The authors conclude that targeted campaigns may contribute to a shorter diagnostic latency resulting in increased quality of life and life expectancy in HHT. Clinical Trials.gov ID: CT03549949

IMPACT OF SHGS ON ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT OF RURAL WOMEN OF JORHT DISTRICT OF ASSAM THROUGH SELF HELP GROUP

The self-help group (SHG) approach is a crucial tool to eliminate poverty and improve the status of women entrepreneurship and financial support for the better means of living. The present study is a descriptive study of the SHGs. A sample of 60 SHGs consisting of 300 members have been taken to study the various aspects of the SHGs. A multistage purposive cum simple random sampling method was adopted. 54.66 per cent of the respondents belonged to middle aged group followed by 50.33 per cent having land in between 1.0 acre-4 acres, educated upto HSLC (40.33%). Small scale business like selling agrobased items was the major occupation (47 per cent) of the members of SHGs. Majority (82.00 %) of the SHGs members belonged to nuclear family followed by semi pucca (41.00 per cent), and small family (79.33 per cent). 64.09 per cent of members belonged to only one social organization, 68.67% respondents were encouraged to take loans from SHGs / Govt. fund and 70.00 per cent members were increased their asset value. The major finding of the study reported that level of income of women has increased very much after joining the group and has positive relation between income and savings of women group members in the study area.