Decision- Making Profile of Tribal Farm Women in Meghalaya

Women in general plays pivotal role in farming in North Eastern Region. Thisstudy aimed to analyze decision making behavior of tribal women in farming in West Garo Hills district of Meghalaya. 150 tribal women involved in farming were selected by Proportionate Random Sampling technique. It was found that the majority of tribal women involved in farming belonged to middle age, higher rate of illiteracy, living in joint families and their size of land holding are of medium size. The level of agriculture progressiveness and knowledge in agriculture was medium. Majority of farm women were having no social participation. About 57 per cent tribal farm women were in low average annual income group (<Rs 5000). The most important observation from the women farming community was their favorable attitude towards modern agriculture and medium level of economic motivation and agriculture experience. The participation of women in decision- making were found to be medium level whereas as the decision- making behavior of the tribal farm women significantly and positively correlated with agriculture progressiveness, knowledge in agriculture and social participation, and were negatively correlated with age and family size. It was found that though tribal farm women in Meghalaya had fairly high level of agriculture progressiveness and knowledge in agriculture, the level of participation in farm management decision- making is still quite low. Though they occupy an important position in their social system, male dominance can still be seen in decision- making areas.