Need of Rural Women in Practicing Post Harvest Activities of Brinjal Production: assessment for capacity strengthening

The main objectives of this study were to determine the extent of need for capacity strengthening of rural women towards post harvest activities (PHAs) of brinjal and to explore the relationship of ten selected characteristics of the rural women with their extent of need for capacity strengthening. A total 80 women from two villages of Bakta Union under Fulbaria upazila of Mymensingh district was randomly selected for data collection. A pre-tested interview schedule was used to collect data from the respondents during April to May 2008. All of the respondents had high extent of need for capacity strengthening while none of them had low. All the women had the highest extent of need for capacity strengthening in management skill and need for physical facilities. Education and ability to cope with uncertainty showed significant negative relationship with their extent of need for capacity strengthening. The rest of the variables did not show any significant relationship. The major problems faced by the women in using the PHAs of brinjal were unavailability of sale center, lack of knowledge on PHAs of brinjal, scarcity of money, lack of marketing facility, lack of cold storage and processing materials.