JEE Journal of Extension Education Vol. 27 No. 4, 2015 1 -Ph.D Scholar, Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Sociology and 2 - Professor and Head, Training Division, Directorate of Extension Education, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore - 3. Farmwomen are the backbone of Indian agriculture. Growing food has been an interminable saga of their life (Suganthi, 2013). Like other rural women, tribal farm women also play an important role in agriculture. Farmwomen play vital role within home as housewives in managing the domestic affairs and they work as co-partners in the farming profession. No field operation is beyond the reach of women (Indumathy, 2013). They have been playing significant role in Home, farm and Allied activities (Das et al., 2011). The day of the tribal farm women is starting from early morning and ending in late evening. They remain engaged with home, crop and livestock management throughout the day (Chauhan, 2009). This study was therefore designed to explain the decision making pattern of tribal farm women related to home, farm and animal husbandry practices. Results of the study reveal that tribal farm women play dominant role in making decisions related to animal husbandry Pattern of Decision Making of Irula Tribal Farm Women in Nilgiris District T.N. Sujeetha1 and S. Palaniswamy2 ABSTRACT A Study was undertaken to find out the pattern of decision making of the Irula tribal farm women of Nilgiris district in farm and home. The study revealed that Irula tribal farm women took self decision in the case of irrigating fields (85.00) followed by using plant protection measures (83.33) in case of farm management and in cases like selection and preparation of food (100.00), and decorating the house (70.00). They had least participation in decisions like construction of new house (63.33) followed by borrowing and giving loans (38.33). enterprise. Whereas, they had least participation in decisions regarding farm operations. It is surprising to note that except home decoration, in most of the areas of home management the decision was dominated by male/husband. It indicates that the development of any family in Indian context ignoring the farm women is out of the imagination. It’s an uphill task for government, policy makers and for all to empower the farm women. METHODOLOGY Nilgiris district was selected for the study by simple random sampling based on the highest tribal population percentage recorded in the district. Out of four blocks in Nilgiris district, Kotagiri and Udhagamandalam blocks were purposively selected because of the prevalence of more number of tribal farm communities. Among the six tribal communities, Irula community was selected Received : 22 Sep, 2015; Accepted : 09 Jan, 2016 Journal of Extension Education5570 for the study because this community is actively engaging themselves in farming. A sample of 60 tribal farm women from the Irula tribal community were considered as the respondents of the study. The response of respondents regarding the decision making was collected in “By self without consulting”, “Consulting the spouse or elder”, “Consulting all the family members”, “Help others in decision making” and “No participation in decision making”. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION The data collected from the Irula tribal farm women regarding their decision making pattern in farm management are presented in Table 1. The data on decision making pattern of the Irula farmwomen with respect to farm management from the above table clearly depict that the Irula tribal farm women took self-decision in the case of irrigating fields (85.00), using plant protection measures (83.33) followed by maintenance of cattle (81.67) and quantity and type of fertilizers to be used on the farm (61.67). The tribal women consulted with their spouse or elders in decisions related to buying farm equipment/ machinery (100.00), selection of seeds (85.00) followed by selling of milk and milk products (81.67) and borrowing money for farm operations (78.33). But the Irula tribal women had least Table 1. Decision Making Pattern of Irula Farm Women in Farm Management (n=60) No % No % No % No % No % 1. Introducing a new crop variety 26 43.33 34 56.67 2. Borrowing money for farm operations 13 21.67 47 78.33 3. Buying farm equipment/machinery 60 100.00 4. Quantity and type of fertilizers to be used on the farm 37 61.67 23 38.33 5. Subscribing farm publications 60 100.00 6. Hiring farm labourers 14 23.33 46 76.67 7. Adopting new farm practices 35 58.33 25 41.67 8. Deciding about area under each crop 20 33.33 40 66.67 9. Selection of seeds 9 15.00 51 85.00 10. Irrigating fields 51 85.00 9 15.00 11. Using plant protection measures 50 83.33 10 16.67 12. Selling surplus farm produce 14 23.33 46 76.67 13. Buying/selling land 17 28.33 43 71.67 14. Maintenance of cattle 49 81.67 11 18.33 15. Selling of milk and milk products 11 18.33 49 81.67 16. Buying and selling cattle 36 60.00 24 40.00 17. Size of the poultry 23 38.33 37 61.67 18. Selling eggs and poultry birds 23 38.33 37 61.67 Sl. No. Decision making Areas By self Without consulting Consulting the spouse/ elder Consulting all the family members No participation in decision making Help others in decision making 5571Pattern of Decision Making of Irula Tribal Farm Women in Nilgiris District participation in case of decisions like subscribing to farm publications (100.00) followed by buying/selling land (71.67). This finding is supported by Chauhan (2009). The decision making pattern of Irula tribal women in home management is given in Table 2. It indicates that the self decisions were made by the Irula farm women in case of No % No % No % No % No % 1. Construction of new house 22 36.67 38 63.33 2. Household repairs 17 28.33 43 71.67 3. Decorating the house 42 70.00 18 30.00 4. Deciding education of children 18 30.00 42 70.00 5. Deciding occupation of children 43 71.67 17 28.33 6. Settling marriage of children 27 45.00 33 55.00 7. Purchasing household articles 37 61.67 23 38.33 8. Selection and preparation of food 60 100.00 9. Borrowing and giving loans 37 61.67 23 38.33 10. Deciding manner of saving 21 35.00 39 65.00 11. Attending religious ceremonies/functions 13 21.67 47 78.33 12. Attending social gatherings in the village 18 30.00 42 70.00 Sl. No. Decision making Areas By self Without consulting Consulting the spouse/ elder Consulting all the family members No participation in decision making Help others in decision making Table 2. Decision Making Pattern of Irula Farm Women in Home Management (n=60) Selection and preparation of food (100.00), decorating the house (70.00) followed by purchasing household articles (61.67). The Husband dominated decisions were found in cases like household repairs (71.67) followed by deciding occupation of children (71.67). The Irula women consulted all the family members only in the case of attending religious ceremonies/functions (78.33), attending social gatherings in the village (70.00) followed by settling marriage of children (55.00). Most of the Irula women did not participate in decisions like construction of new house (63.33) followed by borrowing and giving loans (38.33). The main reason behind their lack of participation in these decisions is that most of the Irula community do not construct their own houses, as they depend on the government fully for their construction of house. The findings of the present study were similar to findings earlier reported by Praveena et al., (2005). CONCLUSION The inference can be drawn from the findings that adivasi farm women were taking self-decision in case of decorating the house and selection and preparation of food. Rural farm women do not play dominant role in making important decisions related to farm Journal of Extension Education5572 management whereas the decisions regarding animal husbandry enterprise were dominated by them. REFERENCES Chauhan,N.M.2009 Role of Tribal Farm Women in Crop and Animal Husbandry. Paper Presented in National Seminar at JAU, Junagadh on 31st August-2009. Das, M., N.N. Puzari and Dr. B.K. Ray. 2011. Impact of Training on Skill and Knowledge Development of Rural Women. Agricultural Extension Review, April-June, 22(2):26-29. Indumathy, K., P. Muthiah Manoharan, S. Sangeetha and M.V. Karuna Jebamary. 2012 Relationship between Socio-Psychological Characteristics and Attitude of Jawadhu Tirbes towards Tribal Development Programmes. Journal of Extension Education 25(4): 5154 -5159. Praveena, P.L., M. Achuta RamaRao and P.Venkata Rao, 2005. Decision making pattern of Rural Women in Farm Related Activities. Agricultural Extension Review.17 (6):3-5. Suganthi, N., J. Venkatapirabu and P. Muthiah Manoharan. 2013. Cultural Characteristics of the Tribal Communities. Journal of Extension Education. 25(1) : 5054- 5008.