A Study on Affordable Homestead Implements for Stress Reduction on Body Parts amongst Farm Workers of Khammam District, India

Abstract

The rural populations consisting of marginal and poor farmers are dependent on labourers for all farm related activities like sowing / planting of paddy, harvesting of agricultural and horticultural produce and application of pesticides which can be very costly. These labourers also face a lot of problems in sowing / planting of paddy as it has to be done by  bending down continuously or during application of pesticides to cotton fields drift can be major health concern and harvesting different produce like bhendi due to its thorny spikes and capsaicin content of chilies. In view of this, KVK, Wyra, Khammam has assessed cost effective homestead implements and is relentlessly trying to popularize them. These included use of protective clothing during application of pesticides, rolling stem applicator for controlling sucking pest in cotton, knitted gloves for bhendi plucking and chilli finger guard for its plucking.  These simple and cost-effective farm implements helped farm women in drudgery reduction, ergonomic stress on various body parts, improved work efficiency, decreased labour cost and body allergies. Protective clothing reduced itching, irritation, skin allergies, burning, vomiting, headache and faintness over a month’s time, rolling stem applicator was ecofriendly and decreased the amount of chemicals, knitted gloves for bhendi plucking reduced the bruising and repeated damage to fingers during harvesting and chilli finger guard. The reduction in stress on body parts automatically improved the work efficiency among farm workers.